Tabooed Language Behavior and Euphemisms in Alf Layla wa-Layla Taboos are proscriptions of certain behaviors, for certain people, in certain contexts, and are a well-attested universal human phenomenon. Likewise, avoidance of taboo words, expressions believed to be harmful is a universal pattern of language behavior. Words tabooed are usually related to sex, bodily functions and effluvia, sickness and death, and are rendered indirectly by means of euphemisms (see Allan & Burridge, Forbidden Words: Taboo and the Censoring of Language (Cambridge, 2006)). The focus of this paper is tabooed language behavior in Alf layla wa-layla (the “Arabian Nights”). The tales included in the different collections of Alf layla were on the margin of the pre-modern Arabic literary system, without a recognized canonical status, and were continuously (re)created on account of oral transmission. The strong folk literary component of Alf layla and its essential oral nature is attested in the linguistic register of the tales, despite the (often unsuccessful) attempt to dress them in an acceptable classical Arabic garb when written down. It is for these social, literary, and linguistic reasons that Alf layla bears evidence to tabooed language behavior which is not always along the lines of that found in the canonical elite literature, and therefore warrants a special study. Both the language used by the anonymous narrators in their storytelling, and the reported language behavior of various characters in the tales are closely examined. The pronounced fantastic quality of Alf layla, and the fact that it does not obey the canonical injunction to tell realistic stories and shun the fictitious, allow for the treatment and illustration of numerous taboos, and makes it possible to demonstrate the outcome of their violation. Thus, for example, we vividly see the unfortunate repercussions of uttering the name of God portrayed in an utterly unrealistic fashion. This taboo, interestingly enough, is totally absent from canonical works dealing with euphemisms and taboos like al-Tha`alibi’s (350-429/961-1038) Kitab al-kinaya. This is despite being a very familiar taboo visible in human communities worldwide. The fact that the tales were partly shaped by Arabic written culture is illustrated by eloquent euphemisms using grammar rules as symbols for sexual acts. It is impossible that uneducated folks could understand this type of figurative language. The prism of tabooed language behavior used in this paper is much telling of the key features of Alf layla vis-à-vis the classical Arabic literary tradition.