Common Features of English Taboo Words
COMMON FEATURES OF ENGLISH TABOO WORDS
A Thesis Presented to the Graduate Program in English Language Studies in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Magister Humaniora (M.Hum) in English Language Studies
by Shirley Maya Argasetya Student Number: 046332010
THE GRADUATE PROGRAM IN ENGLISH LANGUAGE STUDIES SANATA DHARMA UNIVERSITY YOGYAKARTA 2009
i A THESIS
COMMON FEATURES OF ENGLISH TABOO WORDS
by
Shirley Maya Argasetya
Students Number: 046332010
Approved by
Prof. Dr. Soepomo Poedjosoedarmo Advisor Yogyakarta, September 28, 2009
ii A THESIS
COMMON FEATURES OF ENGLISH TABOO WORDS
by
Shirley Maya Argasetya
Students Number: 046332010
was Defended before the Thesis Committee and Declared Acceptable
Thesis Committee
Chairperson : Drs. F.X. Mukarto, M.S., Ph.D. ...…………………….
Secretary : Dr. B.B. Dwijatmoko, M.A. ...…………………….
Member : Dr. J. Bismoko …...………………….
Member : Prof. Dr. Soepomo Poedjosoedarmo …...………………….
Yogyakarta, September 28, 2009 The Graduate Program Director Sanata Dharma University
Prof. Dr. A. Supratiknya
iii STATEMENT OF ORIGINALITY
This is to certify that all the ideas, phrases, and sentences, unless otherwise stated, are the ideas, phrases, and sentences of the thesis writer. The writer understands the full consequences including degree cancellation if she took somebody else’s ideas, phrases, or sentences without a proper references.
Yogyakarta, August 22, 2009
Shirley Maya Argasetya
iv LEMBAR PERNYATAAN PERSETUJUAN PUBLIKASI KARYA ILMIAH UNTUK KEPENTINGAN AKADEMIS
Yang bertanda tangan di bawah ini, saya mahasiswa Universitas Sanata Dharma :
Nama : Shirley Maya Argasetya
Nomor Mahasiswa : 046332010
Demi pengembangan ilmu pengetahuan, saya memberikan kepada Perpustakaan Universitas Sanata Dharma karya ilmiah saya yang berjudul :
Common Features of English Taboo Words beserta perangkat yang diperlukan (bila ada). Dengan demikian saya memberikan kepada Perpustakaan Universitas Sanata Dharma hak untuk menyimpan, me- ngalihkan dalam bentuk media lain, mengelolanya dalam bentuk pangkalan data, mendistribusikan secara terbatas, dan mempublikasikannya di Internet atau media lain untuk kepentingan akademis tanpa perlu meminta ijin dari saya maupun memberikan royalti kepada saya selama tetap mencantumkan nama saya sebagai penulis.
Demikian pernyataan ini yang saya buat dengan sebenarnya.
Dibuat di Yogyakarta
Pada tanggal : 28 September, 2009
Yang menyatakan
( Shirley Maya Argasetya )
v ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
I would like to thank Jesus, for the spirit, the love, the strength and the live
He gives, for His unconditional support for enabling me to complete this thesis.
I would like to give my great honor and respect to Prof. Dr. Soepomo
Poedjosoedarmo. This thesis would not have been completed without his guidance, assistance, support and suggestion. My deep gratitude goes to Dr.
B.B.Dwijatmoko, M.A., who always motivated and supported me to finish this thesis. My great appreciation goes to all of the English lecturers at the Graduate
Program of Sanata Dharma University.
The same appreciation goes to those who work in the secretariat, especially to Mbak Lely in the secretariat, those who work in the computer laboratory and in the library. Lastly, I am grateful to my friends in the English
Language Studies for the friendship they have given to me.
My great thanks goes to my big family and the great angel of Mikael
Dylan Shantpillar, for giving me the new world I have not visited before. I love you.
Yogyakarta, August 20, 2009
Shirley Maya Argasetya
vi TABLE OF CONTENTS
TITLE PAGE ………………………………………………………… i APPROVAL PAGE …………………………………………………. ii THESIS DEFENSE APPROVAL PAGE…………………………… iii STATEMENT OF ORIGINALITY ………………………………... iv STATEMENT FOR PUBLICATION ……………………………… v ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ………………………………………… vi TABLE OF CONTENTS …………………………………………… vii LIST OF TABLES…………………………………………………… ix LIST OF TABOO WORDS ANALYSIS ………………………… x ABSTRACT …………………………………………………………. xi ABSTRAK …………………………………………………………… xiii
CHAPTER I INTRODUCTION ………………………...... 1 1.1 Background …………………………………………………...... 1 1.2 Problem Limitation …………………………………………...... 13 1.3 Problem Formulation …………………………………………… 13 1.4 Research Objectives …………………………………………….. 14 1.5 Research Benefits …………………………………………….…. 14
CHAPTER II REVIEW OF LITERATURE ……………………… 16 2.1 Theoretical Review ……………………………………………… 16 2.1.1 The Importance of Style, Register in Utterances and Semantic Features…………………………………………………. 20 2.1.2 Interrelation Between Language and Society…………… 23 2.1.3 Attitudes Behind the Tabooness of Word…….………… 25 2.1.4 The Characteristics and Meaning of Taboo Words……… 27 2.1.4.1 Function……………………………………….. 33 2.1.4.2 The Effect of Taboo Words…………………… 36 2.2 Review of Related Research……………………………………. 40 2.3 Theoretical Framework…………………………………………. 41
CHAPTER III RESEARCH METHODOLOGY …………………. 42 3.1 Research Data …………………………………………………… 42 3.2 Data Collection …………..……………………………………… 43 3.3 Data Analysis ……………………………………………………. 49
CHAPTER IV ANALYSIS AND DISCUSSION ………………….. 51 4.1 Some Examples of Taboo Words………………………………... 51 4.2 Motivation to Use Taboo Words……….…….………………….. 62 4.2.1 Solidarity…………………… …….….. ………………… 63 4.2.2 Anger……………….…………….……………………… 68 4.2.3 Superiority……………………………………………….. 71
vii 4.2.3.1 Power…………………………………………… 72 4.2.3.2 Stereotype………………………………………. 73 4.2.3.3 Racial Term………………………………………. 74 4.2.3.4 Sexist……………………………………………… 75 4.2.3.5 Homophobic……………………………………… 75 4.2.3.6 Humiliation……………………………………….. 77 4.2.4 Self-Identity…………………………………………………. 80
CHAPTER V CONCLUSION AND SUGGESTIONS……………….. 84 5.1 Conclusion ……………………………………………………….. 84 5.2 Suggestions …………………………………………………….. 86
BIBLIOGRAPHY ………………………………………………………. 89
APPENDICES Appendix 1: Meaning Of Taboo Words Used In Table 2……………….. 92 Appendix 2: Classification of Taboo Words…………………………….. 100
viii LIST OF TABLES
Table 3.1 Categorization Table: a sample………………………… 50 Table 4.2 Examples of Taboo Words in Sentence………………… 52
ix LIST OF TABOO WORDS ANALYSIS
(1) bag ……………. 4 (22) bubba ……………. 65 (2) piss ……………. 7 (23) bullock ……………. 65 (3) lay ……………. 7 (24) nigger ……………. 66 (4) chink ……………. 9 (25) shit ……………. 66 (5) bubba ……………. 10 (26) queer ……………. 68 (6) pig ……………. 11 (27) fuck ……………. 69 (7) gook ……………. 11 (28) sod ……………. 70 (8) fatso ……………. 12 (29) nigger ……………. 74 (9) hooter ……………. 19 (30) dog ……………. 77 (10) shit ……………. 19 (31) bitch ……………. 77 (11) bastard ……………. 37 (32) faggot ……………. 78 (12) chopper ……………. 44 (33) mongol ……………. 79 (13) cock ……………. 45 (34) moron ……………. 79 (14) abo ……………. 45 (35) retard ……………. 79 (15) moron ……………. 46 (36) vegetable……………. 79 (16) bubbby ……………. 46 (37) dick ……………. 82 (17) chit ……………. 46 (38) knocker ……………. 82 (18) ass ……………. 47 (39) tit ……………. 82 (19) bollock ……………. 48 (40) chopper ……………. 82 (20) pillock ……………. 62 (41) pecker ……………. 82 (21) bastard ……………. 64
x ABSTRACT
Shirley Maya Argasetya. 2009. Common Features of English Taboo Words. Yogyakarta: English Language Studies. Graduate Program. Sanata Dharma University.
This thesis is focused on the sociolinguistic study limited to the 221 forms of taboo words. The kind of study is a qualitative research with detail of the samples taken from three dictionaries as the corpus-based lexicography. This research also used internet as the additional support. This study is aimed at answering two questions. The first question is how taboo words can be classified according to the degree of offensiveness and their semantic features and the second question is what motivate the use of taboo words. To answer these questions, the writer started with some of the most common taboo words in English, such as fuck, shit, ass, and expands those words by searching in the internet and looking for the words in the dictionaries. The writer also tried to find the synonym of each of the taboo words in the dictionaries. Then, the writer analyzed the context of the words, based on their meanings in the dictionaries and their usage in the sentences, as cited in the appendices section. The writer searched and collected the taboo words found in the internet and dictionaries. All the data found then were checked in the dictionaries to get valid descriptions of them. By doing this process there are 221 words classified as taboo words in this thesis, taken from Merriam-Webster’s Collegiate Dictionary, Cambridge Advanced Learner’s Dictionary and Concise Oxford Dictionary. Those 221 taboo words functions as the source data in this thesis. To answer the first question the writer analyzed the words one by one, including their meaning and their usage. The taboo words in this research reveal that there are five degrees of offensiveness attaching to those taboo words. Whether one word is taboo or not is determined by this degree of offensiveness, which are vulgar, disparaging, offensive, derogatory and obscene. The forms of taboo words are classified into 13 classifications. They are racial slurs, terms of address, swearword, sexual connotation, excrement, mental or physic defect, homophobic, occupation, parts of the body, physic, object, class of people, negative quality. The most common classification of taboo words are those related to sexual connotation, racial terms and parts of the body.
xi The second question is about the motivation encouraging the use of taboo words. To answer this question the writer analyzed the context of taboo words in the sentences. Based on the research finding, there are five characteristics of English Taboo Words, which encourage the use of taboo words in communication. They are solidarity or intimacy, anger, superiority, humiliation and self-identity. In superiority there are factors of stereotype and power. These factors may encourage the spread of superiority in taboo words. These five characteristics often overlap with one another, one characteristic contains another one. Thus, it is difficult to make a clear and fixed border between one characteristic to another characteristic.
xii ABSTRAK
Shirley Maya Argasetya. 2009. Common Features of English Taboo Words. Yogyakarta: Kajian Bahasa Inggeris, Program Pasca Sarjana, Universitas Sanata Dharma.
Tesis ini menekankan pada studi sosiolinguistik, dengan meneliti sebanyak 221 kata-kata tabu bahasa Inggris. Jenis studi dalam penelitian ini adalah penelitian kualitatif dengan menggunakan data yang diambil dari tiga kamus, sebagai corpus-based lexicography. Studi ini bertujuan untuk menjawab dua pertanyaan. Pertanyaan pertama adalah bagaimana kata-kata tabu dapat digolongkan sesuai dengan tingkat penghinaan dan ciri-ciri semantic kata-kata tersebut, dan pertanyaan kedua ialah apa yang memotivasi penggunaan kata-kata tabu bahasa Inggris. Untuk menjawab pertanyaan-pertanyaan ini, penulis memulai dengan sejumlah kata-kata tabu yang paling sering ditemui dalam bahasa Inggris, misalnya fuck, shit, ass, dan memperbanyak kata-kata tabu dengan menelusuri internet dan mencari di dalam kamus. Penulis juga berusaha mencari sinonim kata-kata tabu yang sudah ditemui sebelumnya di dalam kamus. Kemudian, penulis menganalisa konteks kata tabu, berdasarkan arti yang terdapat di dalam kamus dan penggunaan kata-kata tersebut dalam contoh kalimat yang ada di dalam bagian lampiran pada tesis ini. Penulis berusaha mencari dan mengumpulkan kata-kata tabu dengan menelusuri internet dan kamus. Semua kata yang didapat kemudian diperiksa artinya di dalam kamus, untuk mendapatkan deskripsi valid pada kata-kata tersebut. Dengan melalui proses ini didapatkan 221 kata yang digolongkan sebagai kata-kata tabu di dalam tesis ini, yang diperoleh dari Merriam-Webster’s Collegiate Dictionary, Cambridge Advanced Learner’s Dictionary and Concise Oxford Dictionary. 221 kata tabu tersebut berfungsi sebagai data sumber di dalam tesis ini. Untuk menjawab pertanyaan pertama penulis menganalisa data satu persatu, termasuk makna dan penggunaan kata-kata tersebut. Kata-kata tabu dalam penelitian ini menampakkan adanya lima tingkat penghinaan yang melekat pada kata-kata tabu. Tabu atau tidaknya suatu kata ditentukan oleh tingkat penghinaan ini, yaitu kata-kata yang bersifat vulgar, meremehkan, menyakitkan hati, menghina, cabul. Bentuk-bentuk kata-kata tabu dapat digolongkan ke dalam 13 klasifikasi. Antara lain penghinaan yang menyangkut faktor rasial, julukan atau panggilan, kata makian, konotasi seksual, kotoran tubuh, kelemahan mental atau fisik, homofobia, pekerjaan, bagian tubuh, fisik, objek, golongan, sifat-sifat negatif. Bentuk klasifikasi terbanyak yang paling sering digunakan dalam kata tabu adalah kata tabu yang berkaitan dengan konotasi seksual, julukan yang berbau rasial dan angggota tubuh.
xiii Pertanyaan kedua mengenai motivasi yang mendorong penggunaan kata- kata tabu. Untuk menjawab pertanyaan ini penulis menganalisa konteks penggunaan kata-kata tabu di dalam kalimat. Berdasarkan penemuan penelitian, terdapat lima karakteristik dalam kata-kata tabu bahasa Inggris, yang mendorong penggunaan kata tabu dalam komunikasi. Karakteristik tersebut antara lain solidaritas atau keakraban, kemarahan, superioritas, penghinaan, identitas diri. Stereotipe dan kekuasaan, mendorong tumbuhnya superioritas dalam kata tabu. Kelima karakteristik tersebut seringkali saling tumpang tindih, satu karakteristik mengandung karakteristik lainnya. Sehingga, sulit diambil batas yang pasti dan jelas antara satu karakteristik dengan karakteristik lainnya.
xiv COMMON FEATURES OF ENGLISH TABOO WORDS
CHAPTER 1
INTRODUCTION
1.1 Background
Language and culture are two sides of one coin. With that so close relationship, both of them affect each other and, in certain forms, the existence of them is inseparable. Culture shapes the mind frame of society, their daily activities, how they view the world around them, other people and their environment. From such a culture, the society or the individual living in that culture domain adds color or pattern to the style of language used by them.
Talking activity shows what we want to say and what we want to say is lied in our mind. Then, what is in our mind, mostly, is infuenced by our culture.
As said by Lehtonen (2000: 5), cultural symbols are omnipresent precisely for the reason that they are essential for our survival. Culture is the survival kit of humankind. Being biologically defective, humans must resort to their reflective resources for survival. Then, language and its meanings indeed mark the terrain of human beings, interpreting the reality and producing identities. They are an essential part of our common history, the making of us and our societies.
Therefore, there is an expression saying that ‘people’s language reflects their culture.’ It means that from the type of language people spoken we may see, whether directly or indirectly, how they view the world around them, where they come from, what are their background, what status they have or they prefer in the
1 society, to name just a few. As explained by Blot ( 2003:3), whenever we open our mouths to speak we provide those who hear us, chosen interlocutors and mere bystanders alike, with a wealth of data, a congeries of linguistic clues others use to position us within a specific social stratum. Our particular uses of language may situate us geographically, physically (by sex or age), ethnically, nationally, and, especially in stratified societies, according to class or caste.
Language as one of the media in society to communicate, utter ideas, emotions and make relationship with other people, contains cultural values living and developing in the environment where the language is used. Language, it can be said, is a result or a product of culture, however, language also affects the existence and the continuity of that culture.
As explained by Deborrah Tannen in Language and Culture (Fasold,
2006: 347), these cultural influences affect the words, expressions, intonation patterns, turn-taking habits, and other linguistic aspects of how speakers say what they mean. At the same time that these ways of speaking communicate ideas, they also communicate what the speakers think they are doing in a particular conversation, the relationship the speakers have or want to have with the person the speakers are speaking to, and what kind of person the speakers are. Each society has its own culture with its own uniqueness. The way of its citizen views the world cannot be separated from the culture underlying. As a language spoken by certain people based on geographic area, language is a product of society and, on the other side, it also determines the culture of society. Thus, the feature, the
2 context and the emotion indicated by a word, a phrase or a sentence relate to the culture where they live.
The language that lives and exists among the society has various functions, purposes and forms which are delivered by a variety of speakers, listened by a variety of hearers and uttered in various situation, environment and many other factors. There are some purposes underlying the coming out of language from someone’s mouth, thereby, often, not only one sentence, even just one word may have meanings which sometimes go a bit further from the basic meaning of that word.
Thus, as a result, the use of those words may also appear in a different situation to the hearers, according to what effects appear or what purposes the speakers know dealing with those words. As stated by Lyons (Lyons, :249), language can be used by speakers to ask questions, issue commands and make promises; to threaten, insult and cajole.
There are styles of language and they are formed based on the purpose, situation, context, mood and style of the speaker, whether it is formal or relax, polite or intimate, the relation between the speaker and the hearer, and some other factors involved. It is from this context that many language styles are formed such as jargon, slang and style in polite conversation, including words that are considered as taboo. Taboo words are those that are to be avoided entirely, or at least to be avoided in the “mixed company” or the “polite company.” Taboo language is not limited to obscenity – sacred language can also be taboo, that is, language to be avoided outside the context of sacred rituals. In many societies the
3 language of religious or magical rites can only be used by certain members of the society, like priests or shamans (Montagu, 2001: 306). Thus, it should be kept in mind that what counts as taboo language is something defined by culture, and not by anything inherent in the language itself.
A taboo word is one type of word that can be said marginal, typically spoken to express someone’s feeling about something. It relates to the sensitiveness of society toward certain subjects. Thus, this situation supports what is explained by Fromkin (1974: 289), in line with how words considered as taboo may picture, in part, the culture in one society.
In all societies certain acts or behaviors are frowned on, forbidden, or considered taboo. The words or expressions referring to these taboo acts are then also avoided or considered “dirty.” Language itself cannot be obscene or clean; the rejection of specific words or linguistic expressions only reflects the culture of a given society.
This explanation pictures how the value contained in the use of a language is closely determined by the culture exists in certain society. Culture affects how a speaker sees the world and how s/he thinks about it. It is the culture that determines whether one word is a taboo word or not, or how taboo a word is.
Besides, the curse words and insults the speakers use reflect how they think about society around them (Akmajian, 2001:94).
For example, the word ‘bag’ has two meanings. The first meaning of this word is:
(1) bag
(1.a) a round or roundish body or mass: as (a) a spherical or ovoid body used in a game or sport *a tennis ball*; (b) EARTH, GLOBE; (c) a
4 spherical or conical projectile; also projectiles used in firearms; (d) a roundish protuberant anatomical structure (as near the tip of a human finger or toe or at the base of a thumb), especially : the part of the sole of the human foot between the toes and arch on which the main weight of the body rests in normal walking (Merriam-Webster’s Collegiate Dictionary).
The word bag used in the meaning (1) neither hurts the feeling of any of the hearers nor appeals to any triggered emotions. This word is widely used in the society. On the contrary, let us pay attention to the word bag in the second meaning below:
(1.b) often vulgar: TESTIS; (b) plural (1) often vulgar: NONSENSE — often used interjectionally (2) often vulgar: NERVE 3 (Merriam-Webster’s Collegiate Dictionary)
The word bag in the meaning (2) is used within a different intonation which is different from the first meaning. It is used by the speaker in a non-formal situation, with the speaker’s intention, for example, to insult, abuse, humiliate and degrade someone’s dignity. This word has different meanings as mentioned in the meaning (1) and the meaning (2) that may result in humiliation on the part of the hearers, they may feel hurt, offended or angry. The example above is included in one of the use of the words considered taboo in society, it is also a form of swear words. As Montagu (2001: 56) described obviously, swearing constitutes a learned-form of behavior, a culturally conditioned response to the experience of certain conditions.
5 The use of a taboo word is certainly limited and not promoted almost in every normal conversation, especially in the formal situation, in academic or in every day’s life. As stated by Keith Allan (2006: 27), the inappropriate use of it in normal conversations will deal with any other formal or informal sanctions. It gives the immediate impact for the hearer. Being able to violate a taboo has shock value and displays the semblance of power, which is often effective.
The same thing is also explained by Battistella (2005: 75)
what is evident from the various objections to coarse language and epithets is the idea that certain words are not used in polite speech – that public language should be suitable for all possible groups of listeners, from one’s children and grandparents to worldly adults and working folks. Language falling outside this range is often characterized as impolite, inappropriate, disruptive, disrespectful, immoral, injurious, or dangerous, and as such is constrained by etiquette, workplace rules, and law.
Thus, the speaker of a taboo word can be treated as a rude person or uneducated, or intends to insult for something or someone. Therefore, the use of taboo words is only acceptable in a very limited circumstances and conditions and the prevention of taboo words spoken openly links to the unwritten code in society. Allan (2001: 160) explains, taboo terms such as those for body parts connected with sexual reproduction and defecation, along with those for the correlative effluvia, are classified as such because of a belief, be it ever so vague, that their form reflects the essential nature of the taboo topics they denote. This is exactly why the terms themselves are often said to be unpleasant or ugly- sounding, why they are miscalled ‘dirty words.’ It is the result of the powerful hold that naturalist belief have upon the community.
6 Most societies consider that actions related to coition, certain parts of the body whose function to excrete the waste of digestion system, as things that are improper to be shown or said publicly. Thus, those actions or parts of the body become something taboo in society’s eyes and minds. Moreover, that tabooness widens to the saying of those words, and finally those words become taboo words.
For example, the meaning of piss in Merriam-Webster’s Collegiate Dictionary:
(2) piss Main Entry : a. piss (verb) intransitive verb - sometimes vulgar : URINATE transitive verb - sometimes vulgar : to urinate in or on
Main Entry : b (noun) -. sometimes vulgar : URINE -. sometimes vulgar : an act of urinating — often used with take
Then, as written in the dictionary above, piss becomes a taboo word because that word shows the meaning of discarding urine. This action is not an activity that is proper to be done publicly, this action is a taboo action that is prohibited if done publicly, it is a private thing. To do it publicly means to do an action against the rule in the society. Thus, this word, in effect, becomes a taboo word, improper to be said publicly. So does the word lay in the meaning (3.a):
(3) lay
(3.a) put down, especially gently or carefully meanwhile in the meaning (3.b),
(3.b) have sexual intercourse with (Merriam-Webster’s Collegiate Dictionary)
7 The word lay in the meaning (3.a) is a normal activity undertaken in daily life, thus, it turns to be a taboo word in the meaning (3.b), because it refers to a sexual activity. As indicated by the word piss above, a sexual activity is not an activity normally done publicly, without any borders. Breaking this rule means breaking the norm or rule already stated in the society.
Therefore, a word cannot be considered as bad or good, polite or impolite, however, the values underlying way of thinking and the view of the hearer, and the speaker, should be also considered. Showing indifferent attitude to this fact may cause the improper using of certain terms, in the sense that the speaker may use certain words, accidentally or on purpose, that actually are improper to be used in the situation faced by the speaker. The choice between alternative expressions depends entirely on the context, the meaning of the word and their associations vary continuously in response to different situational factors; for example, the relationship between speakers and their audience, the setting, the subject matter and so on – change on one factor and the language may change to suit (Schmid, 1998: 71).
It should be kept in mind that language is neither good nor evil, but its use may be. A person who views women or blacks or Hispanics as inferior will consider their special speech characteristics inferior. Furthermore, when society itself institutionalizes such attitudes, the language reflects that bias. When everyone in society is truly created equal and treated as such, there will be little concern for the asymmetries that exist in language (Fromkin, 1974: 287). From
8 Fromkin’s explanation about how a language may reflect the view of that language user, it may be understood that behind the meaning of a taboo word and the use of that word in society, there are things that encourage someone to use taboo words in the conversation he or she involved.
For example, when someone says or denotes the word “chink” to other people who have physical features which belong to a Chinese descendant individual, the speaker does not only say the word “chink” without any intention or tendencies.
(4) chink Function : noun or adjective usually offensive: CHINESE (Merriam-Webster’s Collegiate Dictionary)
Behind that pronunciation, there is a feeling of superiority felt by the speaker to the intended hearer. Besides, an intention of signalizing one self may also occur from the use of certain taboo words by someone, as indicated by the example above.
A taboo word is a part of language and a product of society. Because the term of taboo usually relates to something unacceptable or intolerable in society, the taboo words relate to the value in the society. As stated by Crystal (1995:
172), taboo language is items which people avoid using in polite society, either because they believe them harmful or feel them embarrassing or offensive…or because society is sensitive to them. On the other side, the prohibiting factor lied in the use of a taboo word, unsurprisingly, can reveal the important factor of a
9 taboo word for certain people. In some aspects, the use of a taboo word might be related to the freedom of speech and one of the unique ways to show up oneself.
Thus, it obviously clears, to understand, though not ever using it, a taboo word according to its contexts, people should rely on the certain values in society.
Regardless of the differentiation of values in each society, what is considered a taboo word in one society might be different from a taboo word in another society since every society has its own uniqueness, rules, which in certain extent is different from one another. Similarly, the emotion behind the use of a taboo word, the contexts denoted by the speaker while saying the taboo word and the feature constructing the taboo word also contain the possibility of differentiation in each society. Nevertheless, the prominent emphasis on a taboo word is basically on the external factor or the unacceptable factor. How such a word is not allowed to be spoken depends on certain contexts. Yet, the internal structure of the word itself is sometimes forgotten.
However, a word considered taboo does not only relate to sexual activity or parts of the body, but also, as mentioned in the previous paragraphs, the society’s view that underlies whether one word taboo. How the society views a class, belief, occupation, even a place, can make one word becomes taboo. Take an example from the meaning of bubba, as the following:
(5) bubba (5.a) a form of address to a brother. (5.b) an uneducated conservative white male of the southern US. (Concise Oxford Dictionary)
10 In the meaning (5.a), this word is not considered taboo, as long as it is spoken by a member of one group to the other member of that group, in this situation, this word becomes a signal of intimacy. However, the word turns to be a taboo word, in the meaning (5.b), if it is spoken by an educated person to an uneducated person who comes from southern America. The word categorized as an intimacy calling to a friend may turn to be a word that is considered an insulting tendency by the speaker. Take a look at the word ‘pig’, which has three different meanings.
(6) pig
(6.a) an omnivorous domesticated hoofed mammal with sparse bristly hair and a flat snout, kept for its meat. [Sus domesticus.] a wild animal related to this; a hog. [Family Suidae. (6.b) informal a greedy, dirty, or unpleasant person. Brit. informal an unpleasant or difficult task. (6.c) informal, derogatory a police officer. (Concise Oxford Dictionary)
This word in the meaning (6.a) refers to one type of animal, and in the meaning (6.b) it refers to someone unpleasant or an occupation, however, it becomes a taboo word if it is spoken with insulting tone, referred to police officer, as in the meaning (6.c). Besides some factors above, one word may also be considered a taboo word by the society if that word relates to an ethnic background, or where someone comes from. For example the word ‘gook’.
(7) gook n. a foreigner, especially a person of SE Asian descent. (Concise Oxford Dictionary)
11 This word is considered a taboo word if it is spoken by someone whose background is not a descendant of South East Asian, to someone whose background is South East Asian.
The characteristic or whether one word becomes taboo or not can be influenced by, among others, someone’s physical appearance, which is perhaps considered beyond the normal size, for example ‘fatso’.
(8) fatso n. (pl. fatsoes) informal, derogatory a fat person. (Concise Oxford Dictionary)
The same situation is also happened in a calling or name-calling to a man or a woman, based on their sexual orientation, such as bent (homosexual) and dyke (lesbian). These two words become taboo words since they degrade the sex orientation of someone.
As a kind of word that exists in the society, taboo word can be found almost in every society. In addition, as a taboo word, almost every society has certain limitation for the use of a taboo word. Thus, usually if people want to speak about something or express their feelings of something mostly similar to the meaning and expression of a taboo word, they usually use other words to soften or weaken the taboo word itself. Euphemism is one kind of style people prefer to replace the use of taboo words. As explained by Fromkin (1974: 280), a euphemism is a word or phrase that replaces a taboo word or serves to avoid frightening or unpleasant subjects.
12 According to the subject of this proposal thesis, that is taboo word, the writer aims to find out the common features of English taboo words and why a word becomes taboo and what is the contexts covering such taboo words. Based on that evidence, this paper aims to elaborate the internal structure and to examine
English taboo words.
1.2 Problem Limitation
There are various writings, arguments, debates dealing with taboo words such as the sacred taboo, curse word, epithet, sexist, homophobic, the social context in taboo words, taboo words in certain societies, and so forth. The taboo word itself, for example, can be classified into taboo in terms of racism, name- calling and occupations. Therefore, the study of taboo words must be limited in certain borders, to avoid widened scopes of the problem.
This research only focuses on the features of taboo words and their characteristics as cited in the table at the appendix section. To limit the scope of this research, the researcher here only studies 221 taboo words, and the taboo words studied in this thesis are those classified under the term of offensive, derogatory, vulgar, obscene and disparaging, as indicated by the dictionaries.
1.3 Formulation
1. How can taboo words be classified according to their offensiveness
and semantic features?
2. What motivate the use of taboo words?
13 The answers of these two questions are based on the analysis of the taboo words cited in the table and their usage in sentence examples. Thus, the answer of the first question is based on the analysis of the features of those taboo words, such as racial term, sexist, homophobic, swearword. Furthermore, the answer of the second question is based on the analysis of the characteristics of the taboo words.
These two questions have a close relationship with one another.
1.4 Research Objective
The purpose of this paper is to find out the features of taboo words and from those features the researcher tries to reveal the common characteristics of
English taboo words, and to evaluate those characteristics and to determine the results between them in relation to their features and contexts.
1.5 Research Benefit
1. This thesis aims to provide a contribution in the understanding of a
marginal word.
2. For English learners and non-native English speakers, or media,
advertising, it is hoped that they can avoid the use of improper words,
to know the contexts of taboo words.
3. It is useful for people to develop a better understanding so they do not
use the word accidentally.
14 4. This thesis aims to develop a better understanding in some parts of
English culture.
For the writer, the benefit of this research is to develop her understanding of various styles of language in the society and to improve her ability in mastering
English language. It is also used to fulfill one of the requirements to obtain the
Master Degree in the Graduate Program on English Language Studies of Sanata
Dharma University Yogyakarta.
15 CHAPTER 2
REVIEW OF LITERATURE
This chapter contains three sections. The first section is Theoretical Review, the second one is Review of Related Research, and the last section is about
Theoretical Framework. The first section, Theoretical Review, discusses four general topics, which are register and semantic features, language, society and taboo words. Thus, this section is divided into four topics, which are register and semantic features, interrelation between language and society, attitudes behind the tabooness of words and the characteristics and meanings of taboo words, which then contains two subsections. These subsections are function and the effects of taboo words.
2.1 Theoretical Review
Language and society have a close relationship. Language plays important roles in society, it can reveals aspects from the members of society, such as what values they hold, how they see the world, to name a few of those aspects. As described by Deborah Tannen in Language and Culture (Fasold, 2006: 343), language and culture are closely intertwined in complex ways…the meaning of utterances comes not only from the words spoken but also from culturally agreed- upon conventions for how those words are used and interpreted, as well as from how they have been used in the past within a given culture.
16 A taboo word is a part of language and a product of society. Thus, since the term of taboo, either in language, action or view, usually relates to something unacceptable or intolerable in society, either in the form of action, view or belief, taboo words also have close relationship to the value in the society. As explained by Lehtonen (2000: 10):
meanings, values and views find their concrete forms in institutions, social relations, belief systems, custom and habits, and the usage of the material world and its objects. Together all these things form cultures. Cultures contain map of meanings…these maps of meanings are not located only in people’s head but also gain tangible material forms in those activity and behavioral models, the adoption of which we can prove as belonging to a certain culture. It is precisely through the networks of different maps of meanings and symbols that we enjoy, suffer, love, hate, know, evaluate and understand.
Furthermore, Lehtonen (2000:19) describes that language can be a very important factor in group identification, group solidarity and the signaling of difference. Thus, language is much more fundamental than solely a means to communicate messages concerning ‘reality.’ Language is not a mere tool used when a message needs to be sent to a recipient, but is an inseparable part of being human. It is born within the interaction of people. It is practical and inter- subjective consciousness. Language and its meanings are seizing reality, a changing but relatively clear-cut presence of the world.
Besides revealing what is in people’s mind, language acts as a tool to strengthen the bond between its users. Language can also be used to mark the differences between two groups or more people, and through language they can communicate in the society. These may bridge the differences that exist among
17 them. In contrast, these may deepen and widen the gap among them. In daily communication, people reveal what is in their mind and, sometimes unconsciously, it shows how strong their culture or environment is so as affect to them.
Based on their nature, each society has its own uniqueness in how to see the world and rules applied to certain things or actions. However, undoubtedly, all of these have limitations in which actions should or should not be done by its members and which rules apply to what situations. Violation to any of those values or belief, indirectly or not, will result in unpleasant sanctions to the performers.
And according to Allan (2006: 9), taboo is more than ritual prohibition and avoidance. Taboos normally arise out of social constraints on the individual’s behavior. They arise in cases where the individual’s acts can cause discomfort, harm or injury to him/herself and to others. The constraint on behavior is imposed by someone or some physical or metaphysical forces that the individual believes has authority or power over them – the law, the gods, the society in which one lives, even proprioception.
Taboo terms are strongly connotative, carrying implications representing a feeling, an emotion, or a value judgment. However, it should be kept in mind that words, phrases or language themselves cannot be bad or dirty in themselves, they can be used to express particular values of the speaker. The taboo words reflect society’s values, or the opinions of parts of society. Thus, the same words sometimes are profane or considered vulgar in one context but completely
18 acceptable in another. As stated by Fromkin (1974: 279), two or more words or expressions can have the same linguistic meaning, with one acceptable and the others the cause of embarrassment or horror. For example, let us see the meaning of the word ‘hooter’.
(9) hooter hooters - plural noun US SLANG – the breasts a woman's breasts. This word is considered offensive. (Cambridge Advanced Learner’s Dictionary)
The terms breast and hooter have the same meaning, a woman’s body part on the upper front of her body, however, these two words create a different effect if uttered publicly. People do not give any shock feeling when they hear the word breast spoken by someone, however, the situation changes if they hear the word hooter is said publicly.
The example of when one word creates a different effect if it is said in different context is the word shit.
(10) shit (10.a) usually vulgar : FECES (10.b) usually vulgar : an act of defecation (10.c) usually vulgar : NONSENSE, CRAP (10.d) usually vulgar : any of several intoxicating or narcotic drugs; especially: HEROIN (10.e) usually vulgar : DAMN (10.f) usually vulgar : DAMN 2 (10.g) usually vulgar : a worthless, offensive, or detestable person (10.h) usually vulgar a — used as an interjection; b — used as an intensive usually with the
19 (Merriam-Webster’s Collegiate Dictionary)
This word has some meanings and all of them are considered vulgar words if uttered in a formal context, to older hearer or someone that should be respected.
However, this word becomes a normal, general word, if it is uttered among a group or between peers. Thus, one word may become an improper or impolite word to be spoken (in the sense of taboo), if that word is spoken to a wrong person, in an inappropriate context and place.
Fromkin (1974: 279) describes these phenomena in an explanation:
Certain words in all societies are considered taboo. It means that they are not to be used, or at least not in the “polite company”. When an act is taboo, reference to this act may also become taboo. That is, first you are forbidden to do something, then you are forbidden to talk about it. What acts or words are forbidden reflect the particular customs and views of the society. Some words may be used in certain circumstances and not in others.
2.1.1 The Importance of Style, Register in Utterances and Semantic
Features
Style refers to language characteristics, which marks different relations between the participants in a linguistic exchange. These may depend on a number of factors – roles defined by the situation (e.g. interviewer and interviewee), how familiar the participants are with each other, what their relative social positions are, whether they are mutually hostile, indifferent, or friendly, and so on (Cruse,
1986: 284). The use of an improper style on a certain situation may cause a communication that has to be dead in the water, or run only in one direction.
20 Thereby, user of that language should pay attention to the factors of register, style and context in communication.
Meanwhile according to Spolsky (1998: 34), a register is a variety of language most likely to be used in a specific situation and with particular roles and statuses involved. However, sometimes a style can be used to generate an emotional reaction of the hearer and in choosing certain styles it is necessary to recognize how the speaker’s feeling or view to the hearer is.
For example, style used in the conversation between two colleagues in an office. It will be different if one of them speaks to his wife at home. In the office perhaps they choose to use more polite styles of language, and at home they use more relaxed style of language. Here there is a cross-varietal synonymy, that is, words that have one similar meaning as other words will create different connotations when used in different contexts. For instance, the words pooh, shit and faeces denote the same thing (the meaning of three of them is excrement) but have different connotations, which mark different styles used in different circumstances (Allan, 2006: 29).
In his book, An Introduction to Language and Society, Montgomery
(1986: 101) explains that language varies not just according to who we are, but also according to the situation in which we find ourselves. This latter type of variation is traditionally approached through the concept of register, sometimes also being referred to as stylistic variation.
For example, the words pooh, shit and faeces are contextually used. Pooh may be uttered by a small child or when parents talk to their young child about
21 excrement, whereas shit may be used in the conservation between two young people with the same age, and the term faeces is used in a polite context, such as in a formal discussion between two scientists, which is happened in the formal place. In this case, taboo words mostly concerned with the connotation meanings of words. Described by Allan (2006: 31), connotations of a word or a longer expression are semantic effects (nuances of meaning) that arise from encyclopaedic knowledge about the word’s denotation and also from experience, beliefs and prejudices about the contexts in which the word is typically used.
The chosen of certain words is not only determined by the speaker itself and the situation where the conservation took place. As explained by Mukarto in his dissertation ‘The Patterns of Semantic Mapping Developments at English
Verbs Acquired by Indonesian EFL Learners’ (2005: 25), a word has a form and meaning boundary and inside the meaning boundary there are semantic components or features which constitute the meaning of the word. Outside the meaning boundary, there are also semantic components, but they make up the meanings of other words within the respective language. Furthermore, he explains that the degree of similarity in meaning is determined by their commonly shared conceptual features while the degree of constrast is determined by the distinctive semantic or conceptual features of each word within the lexical set.
This explanation above shows that each word, including taboo words, has its own semantic features, including taboo words. This semantic features differentiate one word with others and if it is combined with other related factors, such as register as explained above, the situation involved, the speaker, the hearer
22 and the culture, it makes one of the two words with similar meanings becomes taboo word, while another one is still acceptable in polite conversation.
2.1.2 Interrelation Between Language and Society
Language lives and develops in the society, and the society uses it as a tool to communicate to each other in their daily lives and to identify themselves. This is one of the prominent functions the language has. However, behind that language function which can easily be seen, there is a deeper dimension behind the use of language in our daily life. A deeper dimension affects the mind frame of the user of that language and word chosen which is said in conversation, in the society, it is culture.
According to Sapir-Whorf Hypothesis (Trudgill, 1983: 24):
A speaker’s native language sets up a series of categories which act as a kind of grid through which he perceives the world, and which constrain the way in which he categorizes and conceptualizes different phenomena.
Thereby, a kind of language they use can be dependent to where they live or which culture affects them and on the contrary, language they use can affect their way of thinking. As explained by Liliweri, our identity is a strong border to evaluate the present of ourselves with other people (Liliweri, 2005:38).
Humans are social beings and every human being is a member of at least a gender, a family, a generation and – normally – also friendship, recreational and occupational groups. An individual’s behavior is subject to sanction within these groups and by the larger community (Bloomer, 2005: 8). From this relation with other people, human beings obtain their self-identity. Without that relationship,
23 even self-identity cannot be obtained. And that self-identity attaches many rules in the individual, the rules which are formed through the identity they have. The same thing is also explained by Blot (2003: 8), that is, the identity is always and everywhere formed in the dialogue with others, symbolic or real, who are different, whose difference from you and yours from them is made manifest in the claim for identity.
In more detail, Kramsch (1998: 3) describes that language shows three connections with culture. First, language expresses cultural reality in which people express facts, ideas or events that are communicable because they refer to a stock of knowledge about the world that other people share, words also reflect their authors’ attitudes and beliefs, their points of view, that are also those of others. Second, language embodies cultural reality. In this case, members of a community or social group give meaning to language through the medium they choose to communicate with one another and the way in which people use those media themselves to create meanings that are understandable to the group they belong to. And the last, speakers identify themselves and other through their use of language; they view their language as a symbol of their social identity, language is a system of signs that is seen as having itself a cultural value. It means that language symbolizes cultural reality.
Furthermore, as also explained by Kramsch (1998: 3), the relation between language and culture is concerned with the principal means whereby we conduct our social lives. When it is used in contexts of communication, it is bound up with culture in multiple and complex ways. Thereby, it appears that society can also
24 affect and be affected by language based on the physical environment, social environment and values of a society. As a self-identity has its own uniqueness, each social identity belonged by one group or society also has their own uniqueness that is different from one another. It makes every social identity different from one another and they have their own uniqueness.
The speech community is likely to be composed of different groups, groups which may operate with differing versions of the same language or even with discrete and separate languages. In this sense different varieties are ‘owned’ by different groups, and speech will vary according to the primary group affiliation of the speaker around crucial reference points such as class, region, ethnicity, gender and also age. Such reference points heavily shape our speech so that we inevitably signal much about our social identity in producing even (or specially) the most banal utterance (Montgomery, 1986: 101).
2.1.3 Attitudes Behind the Tabooness of Word
As stated in previous paragraphs, a taboo word has a close relationship with the society-hold values. Where something physical or metaphysical is said to be tabooed, what is in fact tabooed is its interaction with an individual, a specified group of persons or, perhaps, the whole community. In short, a taboo applies to behavior (Allan, 2006: 11).
For example, a taboo word can also be a tool for the youth to express themselves freely and as a tool of “breaking the rules”, because people do not use taboo words openly. As stated by Trudgill (1993: 29), for those who do use taboo
25 words, breaking the rules may have connotations of strength or freedom that they find desirable. One word can also become taboo because the word itself has a power; the word itself is felt to be wrong and therefore it is powerful and because of that, that word is forbidden to say. Dirty words and swearwords, some forms of taboo words, can also become taboo that they denote things or parts of the body, which are normally not to be said openly. Taboo words might give a shocking feeling to the hearer and to avoid the utterance of taboo words, people use the euphemism and the connotation.
The use of epithets for people of different religions, nationalities, or skin colors tells us something about the users of these words. The word boy has an additional meaning; it reflects the racist attitude of the speaker. These words express racist and chauvinist views of society. If racial and national and religious bigotry and oppression did not exist, then in time these words would either die out or lose their racist connotations (Fromkin, 1974: 281).
From this perspective, there is a connection between language, solidarity and power. When the solidarity is an overriding aspect of two persons’ relationship, they exchange reciprocal pronouns of address, names and titles.
However, if their relationship is unequal, the power imbalance will result in a non- reciprocal address pattern. The powerful speaker (the superior) will address the powerless one (the inferior) with an informal or familiar term of address, and will be addressed by the inferior with the formal or distant pronoun, or the title and last name (Johnson, 1999: 180).
26 Generally, it can be summarized that the prejudice between races or ethnic is a negative attitude aimed to point out specific races or ethnic groups and only focused on negative features. That attitude, according to Liliweri (2005: 203), may retard the relation between races and ethnics, between the dominant and subdominant groups, between the superior and inferior ones, between out-group and in-group, between lower and higher strata.
2.1.4 The Characteristics and Meaning of Taboo Words
The choice of one word in a conversation may create different reactions, such as surprise, shock, gladness, anger, and sadness. A group of society will consider one word as taboo if that word breaks the values they hold. According to
Trudgill (1983: 29), taboo can be characterized as being concerned with behavior that is believed to be supernaturally forbidden, or regarded as immoral or improper; it deals with behavior, which is prohibited or inhibited in an apparently irrational manner. In language, taboo is associated with things that are not said, and in particular, with words and expressions which are not used.
Almost similar, Wardhaugh (1992: 236) states that taboo is one way in which a society expresses its disapproval of certain kinds of behavior believed to be harmful to its members, either for supernatural reasons or because such behavior is held to violate a moral code. Thus, the use of taboo words in polite contexts or formal situations certainly will disturb the hearer’s feeling and the speaker will be considered as a rude person. It happens that taboo words openly
27 reveal the action that society forbids, the action that contains the meaning in those taboo words.
One word is also considered taboo if that word is directed to someone or groups solely based on the background or originality factors, such as place of birth, skin colors, something which cannot be changed or has already clung in someone’s identity since the day s/he was born. Picking on persons because of their ethnicity, class, religion, gender, or race is essentially taboo behavior (Unks,
1995:3). Besides, one word can also become taboo if it is used to degrade someone’s preferences or attributes, such as occupation, belief, sexual preference and appearance.
Dysphemism, another term used to describe taboo words, is identified with emotional release, aggression, lack of control, intemperance, and intolerance – the pleasurable effect of an expletive used to release pent-up anger against a person, or to insult and wound another reveals the animal side of human beings, the side that euphemism so often strives to conceal (Schmid, 1998: 70).
Dysphemism is sometimes motivated by fear and distaste, but also by hatred and contempt. Speakers choose to use dysphemism to talk about people and things that frustrate and annoy them that they disapprove of and wish to disparage, humiliate and degrade. Dysphemisms are therefore characteristics of political groups and cliques talking about their opponents. Dysphemistic expressions include curses, name-calling, and any sort of derogatory comment directed towards others in order to insult or to wound them. To be more technical, a dysphemism is a word or phrase with connotations that are offensive either
28 about the denotatum and/or to people addressed or overhearing the utterance
(Allan, 2006: 31).
The choice of taboo words in a conversation or a sentence may sometimes also be found in a slang style. Though it, as one type of jargons in linguistic varieties, does not always use taboo words, it opens the wide room for the entering of taboo words. In addition, as regularly happened in the use of slang words, the use of taboo words may function as a symbol of solidarity. As explained by Spolsky (1998: 16), slang regularly transgresses other social norms, making free use of taboo expressions. The use of words like ‘fuck’ and ‘shit’ in public media has become a mark of liberation or a sign of revolt, depending on one’s point of view. These words also set up their own norms, the norms of the in- group. Slang thus serves social functions, setting and proclaiming social boundaries and permitting speakers to assert or claim membership of identity or solidarity groups.
Taboo words can be easily heard when someone is angry, therefore, taboo words may be identified as hate speech that people use to show their anger. Fasold in The Politics of Language (2006: 397) explains, hate speech is generally defined as speech that is intimidating towards people on the basis of social characteristics such as race, national origin, religion, sex, or, sexual orientation.
Henderson in The Maculate Muse (Robson, 2006: 72) explains the term
‘obscenity.’ By ‘obscenity’ it means verbal reference to areas of human activity or parts of the human body that are protected by certain taboos agreed upon by prevailing social custom and subject to emotional aversion or inhibition. These are
29 in fact the sexual and excremental areas. In order to be obscene, such a reference must be made by an explicit expression that is itself subject to the same inhibitions as the thing it describes. Thus, to utter one of the numerous words, to be found in any language, which openly (non-euphemistically) describe the tabooed organs or actions tantamount to exposing what should be hidden.
Taboo words can be found in name-calling or terms of address. Most people have strong feelings about their given names, ranging from pride to acceptance to dislike and rejection; they may try to take control over them by adopting nicknames or completely different names (Frank, 1983: 12). Name- calling that is not compatible with the expectation of the hearer will only offend the feeling of the hearer. Offensive name calling and labeling can produce solidarity between friends when directed at out-group members. Names will also work to alienate the insulted out-group members (Akmajian, 2001:93).
Valentine, in the article of Naming the Other: Power, Politeness and the
Inflation of Euphemisms (1998), explains that naming others is an indispensable contrastive resource for proclaiming identity – establishing who one is and who one is not. By giving certain terms of address to others, either individual, groups, one group, as the speaker, draws a line with out-group members, between in- group and out-group members, between us and them.
How close is the relation between the speaker and the hearer may determine the type of name-calling between them, besides the context and place, conversation topic, whom else presents around them, and what type of relationship happened between them. Whether they respect, hate each other, or
30 one of them feels more superior or better than the other. It is the factor of inter- personal intimacy that makes the speaker calls the hearer with nickname or name- calling. As explained by Allan (2001: 152), if the speaker is superior in status to
Hearer-or-Named, s/he can choose either to maintain the status difference or choose to be less formal and show solidarity by using in-group markers that demonstrate a concern to enhance Hearer-or-Named’s positive face by seeking to make Hearer-or-Named feel good about themselves. Where Speaker and Hearer- or-Named are of similar social status and there is little social distance between them, the informal in-group language found in ‘casual’ and ‘intimate’ styles is the regular mark of solidarity. These styles are marked by contractions, ellipsis, diminutives, colloquialisms, and perhaps slang and swearing.
The connotations of names and terms of address have serious social consequences. Context – both the situation of utterance, the world and the time it is spoken of, but particularly the former – is important. According to Allan (2001:
149), the style of naming and addressing depends on two considerations:
1. The role Speaker perceives Hearer and/or the person or thing named to
have (adopted) relative to Speaker in the situation of utterance.
2. Speaker’s attitude towards Hearer-or-Named at the time of utterance.
According to Bloomer (2005: 113), when the speaker indicates that s/he does not care about or is indifferent to the Hearer’s feelings, Hearer’s positive face wants can be threatened. For example:
31 1. Acts that suggest that the speaker has a negative opinion of some aspect(s)
of the Hearer’s positive face:
a. expressions of disapproval, criticism, ridicule, complaints,
reprimands, accusations, insults;
b. contradictions, disagreements, challenges.
2. Acts that suggest that the speaker doesn’t care about the hearer’s positive
face:
a. expressions of violent emotions;
b. irreverence, mention of taboo subjects;
c. bringing bad news about the hearer or good news about the speaker;
d. raising dangerously emotional or divisive topics;
e. blatant non-cooperation;
f. misused of terms of address.
Allan (2001: 163) furthermore divides dysphemistic terms of insult into some categorizations, as shown below:
1. Comparisons of people with animals that are conventionally ascribed
certain behaviors, e.g. calling someone a bitch, chicken, dog, galah, louse,
mule, rat, etc.
2. Epithets derived from tabooed bodily organs (e.g. asshole, prick), bodily
effluvia (e.g. shit), and sexual behaviors (e.g. wanker, whore).
3. Ascriptions of mental ‘defect’, such as idiot, airhead, moron, maniac; or
physical ‘defect’, e.g. baldy, spastic.
32 4. Sexist, racist, ageist, and other –IST dysphemism.
5. Terms of insult or disrespect, some of which invoke slurs on the target’s
character, such as bag, codger, crank, crone, fogy, galoot.
Meanwhile, according to Battistella (2005: 72), offensive language falls into several categories: epithets, profanity, vulgarity, and obscenity. Epithets are various types of slurs, such as wop, raghead, bitch, or fag. Usually these refer to race, ethnicity, gender, or sexuality, but they may also refer to appearance, disabilities, or other characteristics (as for example with the epithets midget, gimp, and retard). Profanity is religious cursing.
These words range from a mild hell or damn to a more emphatic goddamn, and they involve the coarse use of what is taken to be sacred. Vulgarity and obscenity refer to words or expressions which characterize sex-differentiating anatomy or sexual and excretory functions in a crude way, such as shit and fuck, with the distinction between vulgarity and obscenity being primarily a matter of degree and prurience. The categories of epithet, profanity, and vulgarity/obscenity are not exclusive and compound expressions may belong to more than one category, as in the exclamation God fucking dammit.
2.1.4.1 Function
Though taboo words are words that should be avoided in open conversations of polite and formal contexts, this type of word, as with other types of words used by people to communicate, has its own functions. In the society,
33 one of the common circumstances in which people find obscene language used is amongst good friends. What is more, taboo words can play a role in defining a social group, a quality they share, incidentally, with items of slang, with which obscenity might usefully be compared (Robson, 2006: 81).
The use of taboo slang can simultaneously mark one out as different or rebellious by breaking social norms or showing disrespect for authority, and can be used to reinforce group membership through verbal displays of shared knowledge and interests (Bloomer, 2005: 113). The use of taboo words in this way may tighten the relationship between the members of one group. The feeling that the members of this group have the same characteristics and the same interests. By using taboo words, among other signs, they tighten the relation between them.
According to Montagu (2001: 72), like most other human traits, swearing is a learned form of human behavior in cultures and under conditions in which it is encouraged. Under such a condition one may learn to swear as a relief for angry feelings of an aggressive quality that for one reason or another cannot be expressed in any other way. The function of swearing would appear to act as an effective substitute for the means that it might be desired, but that it is impracticable, to apply in order to “belabor” object or secure a certain end. It thus serves as a means of relief to the overwrought individual by affording adequate release to his aggressively angry feelings until a normal equilibrium is reestablished.
34 Swearing itself is the process by means of which one seeks to use the power of something to chastise the object of one’s swearing. The power of the thing is always intended to overcome the victim, is always to his disadvantage.
The power may be a good, evil, or indifferent one (Levy, 1995: 15). Using taboo words in swearing is one way to release the pent-up anger. This way is considered, in some way, as the safer way to release the anger, compared to, for example, hitting someone or something or throwing things. By swearing, people do not directly hurt someone or something, they release their anger in safety ways.
Words do not hurt physically. However, they will hurt indirectly.
The use or nonuse of offensive language is not a simple matter of propriety or impropriety but rather involves effects, intentions, rights, and identity.
Arguments for the tolerance of offensive language may focus on any of several themes: the importance of coming to grips with the ideas underlying offensive language; the rights of those who wish to be vulgar; the way in which people actually speak; the potential for realistic language in the arts to create authenticity; and the social value of flouting convention. Arguments against the offensive language, in turn, emphasize the desire for public language to be suitable to all listeners, and the possibility of some language being impolite, immoral, injurious, disruptive, or dangerous (Battistella, 2005: 78).
In Obscenity and Aristophanes, Henderson (Robson, 2006: 79) describes the various uses and effects of obscenity. According to him, obscenity is most often used to insult someone; to emphasize what one is saying in the most forceful way; to make curses; to add power to comedy, jokes, ridicule or satire. Its efficacy
35 in all these functions resides in its ability to uncover what is forbidden, and thus to shock, anger or amusement. The pleasure afforded by obscenity lies in our enjoyment at exposing someone else or seeing someone else exposed without having to effect the exposure physically. Here Henderson plausibly suggests that whilst obscene language can act as an indicator that special attention is demanded for speech in which it is included, it finds use primarily as a kind of verbal violence. He proposes that the major use of obscenity in a civilized society is as a replacement for physical aggression, either hostile or libidinous.
2.1.4.2 The Effect of Taboo Word
Tabooed subjects can be death, sex, excretion, bodily functions, religious matters and politics. To avoid the use of taboo word, people commonly use euphemistic words to talk about unpleasant things and supernatural things in order to neutralize the unpleasantness and spell out the supernatural or sacred things in a common way. As stated by Crystal (1995: 172), taboo language is items which people avoid using in polite society, either because they believe them harmful or feel them embarrassing or offensive…or because society is sensitive to them.
The existence of taboo words or taboo ideas stimulates the creation of euphemisms. A euphemism is a word or phrase that replaces a taboo word or serves to avoid a frightening or unpleasant subject. As described by Allan (2001:
149), a euphemism is a word or phrase used as an alternative to a dispreferred prefer expression. It avoids possible loss of face; either ‘speaker’s own positive face or, through giving offence, the negative face of the hearer or some third
36 party. The euphemisms show that a word or phrase not only has a linguistic denotative meaning but also has a connotative meaning, reflecting attitudes, emotions, value judgments, and so on (Fromkin, 1974: 281). People use euphemism to smoothen the roughness of certain word, and still keep the meaning of that word.
Behind the use of taboo words hides attitudes showing that the hearer is in a lower position than the speaker. One of the uses of taboo words can be found in sexist language. According to Allan (2001: 154), sexist language displays just one type of –ist dysphemism, others include racist, ageist, speciesist, and classist putdowns. All of these have the same dysphemistic pivot: they fail to demonstrate respect for some personal characteristics which are important to hearer-or-
Named’s self-image. For instance, racist dysphemisms occur when speakers refer to or implicate Hearer-or-Named’s race, ethnicity, or nationality in such terms as to cause, whether deliberate or unpredictated, a face affront to members of an out- group.
Connotation in calling and terms of address can be seen clearly in some terms of address such as bastard, bitch, bubba and nigger. For example, the word
‘bastard’, in Merriam-Webster’s Collegiate Dictionary, this word means:
(11) bastard
an offensive or disagreeable person — used as a generalized term of abuse b : MAN, FELLOW
Meanwhile in Cambridge Advanced Learner’s Dictionary, this word means: OFFENSIVE – unpleasant people in general
37 an unpleasant person:
Directing this word to someone shows that the speaker treats the hearer as an inferior individual, unpleasant, and this word if uttered in harsh, command manners, might also be a swearing word, as shown in the example below:
He was a bastard to his wife.; You lied to me, you bastard!
However, in different contexts, this word shows familiarity between the hearer and the speaker. As the example You won again? You lucky bastard!.
Thereby, in these examples it appears that some words considered impolite word can be categorized into words that contain expressive meanings. As said by Cruse
(1986: 274), expressed meaning most characteristically conveys some sort of emotion or attitude – doubt, certainty, hope, expectation, surprise, contempt, disappointment, admiration, flippancy, seriousness, and so on.
Taboo words, also often heard when people curse, have close relationship with the emotion factor involved in people’s feeling and this feeling is channeled into the word they choose. According to Akmajian, cursing is the utterance of emotionally powerful, offensive words (e.g., fuck, shit) or emotionally harmful expressions (e.g., kiss my ass, piss off, up yours) that are understood as insults.
However, curse words are not always used as insults, for example, “I didn’t know where the fuck I was going.” In this sentence the speaker does not refer this word to anyone, the user does not mean to insult anyone. Perhaps he just feels annoyed with the situation he has to face.
38 Cursing serves the emotional needs of the speaker and cursing affects listeners emotionally. Cursing permits a speaker to express strong emotions and/or to produce an emotional impact on a listener. The impact can be positive, as in joking and sexual enticement, or it can be negative, as in name-calling and sexual harassment (Akmajian, 2001: 10). The example of cursing word in the form of joking can be seen in the sentence example below:
HUMOROUS You won again? You lucky bastard (= I don't think you deserve it)!; This crossword's a bastard (= very difficult).
Because of prevailing attitudes amongst speakers of the English language, using the word shit may lead the hearer to make a number of inferences about the speaker. They may infer something about the speaker’s emotional state, social class or religious beliefs, for example. They may even infer something about the speaker’s educational achievement (McEnery, 2006: 1). As mentioned in the previous sections, language and culture have closely relationship among them.
Other people might understand what is on the speaker’s mind from the word chosen the speaker prefers to say.
The use of obscenity can elicit a range of reactions in an individual. It can represent shock, anger, amusement (for example, be thought ‘funny’ or diverting) or embarrassment. What is more, all of these reactions can be feigned. For example, an individual may be amused at the use of obscene language, but because he is in the presence of a child will choose to appear shocked (Robson,
2006: 75). Thus, everything is lied on the belief the speaker or the hearer holds. If they deem that certain words are taboo, based on their belief, then hearing those
39 words uttered certainly will shock them, and certainly, they will not use those words in any conditions. However, if they think that certain words are not taboo, even those words are considered taboo by others, hearing those words will not shock them, or at least they are more tolerate to these words.
To summarize, an individual may find the use of obscenity from an acceptable intimacy, but not from a stranger. In a social situation an individual’s tolerance or use of obscenity can gain him access into, or affirm his membership of a group. Obscenity can affect a non-violent and non-libidinous ‘exposure’ of an individual and can act as a social leveller amongst those who use or tolerate it.
Obscenity can cause the world and those who populate it to be seen in a
‘degraded’ state: each man is seen not as an intellect or elevated soul but as a body that shits and fucks (Robson, 2006: 82).
2.2 Review of Related Research
There are numerous researches about taboo word, taboo words and society, language and culture in the internet. One of them can be found in, commfaculty.fullerton.edu/lester/writings/taboo, about taboo words and society,
On the N- and F-words: Quantifying the Taboo by Paul Martin Lester from
California State University. This research mainly focuses on two taboo words, nigger and fuck, and the implication of those words in American society and the influences of media in spreading those taboo words. However, the writer so far has not found yet the research based on certain words of taboo or offensive as the
40 data presented here and the analysis of characteristics of taboo words based on those words.
2.3 Theoretical Framework
From the explanation in chapter one, language and culture are closely intertwined to each other. The factors determine which words are taboo or not are based on whether the society decides certain actions or views dealing with the meaning of the taboo words. Taboo words do not only refer to objects or activities that are improper if spoken openly, but they also refer to something that is not allowed to be spoken because it has a power or it is treated as something sacred by the society.
A word is considered taboo if it is related to things that are not said, because it relates to certain activities, words and expressions that are not used.
Whether it is taboo or not is in a close relationship with the culture it lives.
Nevertheless, a word can also be a taboo if it has a power or has a mantra in it.
41 CHAPTER 3
RESEARCH METHODOLOGY
This research focuses on sociolinguistic study and the semantic study. The method used is descriptive research. In relation with the problem formulation described in the first chapter, this study will explain the forms of English taboo words, the classification of English taboo words and their semantic features.
Another important tool of this research is research methodology, involving research data, data collection and data analysis. The following three sub-chapters are discussed in the following paragraphs.
3.1 Research Data As pointed out previously, this study discusses 221 words grouped in
English taboo words. The researcher uses the corpus-based lexicography since this corpus can be used to investigate and study the ways in which words are used. In obtaining the words, the researcher used three dictionaries such as Merriam-
Webster’s Collegiate Dictionary, Cambridge Advanced Learner’s Dictionary and
Concise Oxford Dictionary. The words were crosschecked to each of the dictionaries to complete and provide additional information of the words that were not found or might provide additional meaning of the words in the two other dictionaries. Thus, each of the dictionaries functioned to support the whole data and to provide or to add other taboo words.
The words found in those three dictionaries were 221 taboo words (words listed under the classification as taboo including offensive, vulgar, derogatory,
42 disparaging, obsolete). These words can be seen in the table of words in the end of this chapter.
3.2 Data Collection
The process of collecting the data has some steps. The first step was to find the words in the internet. Second step was to check the words in the dictionaries. The third step was to find the synonyms of the words in the data. The fourth step was to find out the usage of the words, based on their meanings in the dictionaries used in this thesis.
The first step was as follows. Based on some of the most common taboo words such as fuck, shit, cunt, bitch, the researcher searched in the internet to find other taboo words by using the search engine in Google website. The researcher also searched in the internet by using the keyword of taboo words, and the results of them were collected and, later, their meanings were searched in the dictionaries to get valid descriptions.
For example, since some of the most common taboo words are fuck and shit, then the researcher started to search those two words in the internet, mostly by using the Google. The results of those two words were numerous, some sites provided the explanation, etymology, history, example of the words, and also there were some sites that also included some other taboo words relating to the meaning of those two words or the tabooness of a word. In this way, the number of taboo words collected could be extended.
After searching in the internet, all of the words obtained so far were checked in the dictionaries, which became the second step. The aim of this
43 process was to find the meaning of those words, then to find out the tabooness of them, whether they were stated under the term taboo, vulgar, insulting, obscene and derogatory. Dictionary provides information of each word, from those information, information about definition to represent one or two meaning(s) of a word, parts of speech, noun, verb, adverb and etymology or history of the word and whether the word was classified as slang, vulgar or obsolete (Fromkin, 1974).
Then, the third step was to look for the synonym of those words, if there were any, to find out more words, and collect as many taboo words as possible.
For example, as in the process of searching in the internet, the first searching was based on the most common taboo words such as fuck, shit, ass. From some of the common taboo words, the results were extended into many taboo words. This was also the process of finding the words, which became the first step.
One of the source dictionaries, Cambridge Advanced Learner’s
Dictionary, had one section that listed words under certain characteristics in its computer-program dictionary. For example, after running that dictionary in the computer, and a word ‘chopper’ was typed, then that word appeared under the column of ‘informal words for the sexual organ’.
(12) chopper (PENIS) noun [C] UK SLANG FOR penis – informal words for the sexual organs
The researcher then researched the words listed in that column one by one, and wrote every word that was listed under the classification of taboo. The term ‘cock’ was one of the other offensive words cited under the same column.
44 (13) cock (PENIS) noun [C] OFFENSIVE – informal words for the sexual organ a penis
All of the output words then were written, and, the same methodology here was repeated in two other dictionaries. During that process, there were many taboo words that appeared in those three dictionaries.
The meaning of those taboo words found in the internet had to be researched in the dictionaries, to analyze the quality and accuracy of that information, since not all the information found in the internet were the valid one.
Thus the function of the internet, in this sense, was just to broaden the list of taboo words.
To limit the research, this study used five offensive qualities of taboo words, which were disparaging, offensive, vulgar, derogatory and obscene. The reason of this usage was that these five offensive qualities showed the negative quality of meanings and the three dictionaries used as references in this thesis used these types of offensiveness to denote words that are categorized as taboo words, words whose usage were in very limited context.
Disparaging represents as being of little worth; scorn (Concise Oxford
Dictionary). The word abo, for example, is a disparaging word if it is used to denote a woman, especially an elderly woman.
(14) abo Merriam-Webster’s Collegiate Dictionary Australian, often disparaging: ABORIGINE
45 Offensive shows aggressiveness, causing displeasure or resentment (Merriam-
Webster’s Collegiate Dictionary). That is why the word moron, which denotes to people who is handicap and disabled, is considered as a rude word.
(15) moron Merriam-Webster’s Collegiate Dictionary 1 usually offensive : a mildly mentally retarded person 2 : a very stupid person
Vulgarity lacks sophistication or good taste: coarse; morally crude, undeveloped or ungenerate; offensive in language. For example, it is considered as vulgar word if people use the word bubby to refer to breast.
(16) bubby Merriam-Webster’s Collegiate Dictionary sometimes vulgar : BREAST 1
Meanwhile, derogatory expressions show a critical or disrespectful attitude and obscenity contains in the language is regarded as taboo in polite usage. The word chit has a derogatory characteristic when it is used as a term of address to a girl.
(17) chit Concise Oxford Dictionary chit1 n. derogatory an impudent or arrogant young woman: a chit of a girl.
These five offensive expressions were obtained when the researcher investigated the data in the dictionaries. It appeared that, all of the 221 words in the data were categorized into one or two of those offensive expressions. This
46 process is the fourth process, finding the usage of the data. Sometimes, one word may be categorized in two different types of offensiveness. For example, ass is categorized as a vulgar word in Merriam Webster dictionary while in Cambridge dictionary this word is considered as an offensive word.
(18) ass
Merriam-Webster’s Collegiate Dictionary
(n) sometimes vulgar : a stupid, obstinate, or perverse person *made an ass of himself* — often compounded with a preceding adjective *don't be a smart-ass*
Cambridge Advanced Learner’s Dictionary ass (BOTTOM) noun 1 [C] MAINLY US OFFENSIVE arse (= the part of the body that you sit on) – the buttocks 2 [U] US OFFENSIVE used by men to refer to sexual activity, or to women considered only as sex objects – sexual activity in general:
Words that were listed under this five category had very limited usage, such as it only should be spoken to in-group members, or between close friends.
Another usage such as in polite or formal contexts will lead to or cause something uncomfortable both to the speaker or the hearer. There will be direct or indirect sanction if it is spoken to any people and in any situation or place. For example, the speaker will be regarded as a rough person, impolite, whereas the hearer’s feeling will be hurt.
Most dictionaries do not only describe the meanings of words, but also their appropriate usage, as described by Lyons (1991: 410), dictionaries are useful
47 in proportion to the number and diversity of the ‘contexts’ they cite for words.
Then besides the meaning, the emphasis is also put on the appropriate usage of a word. For example, the word bollock.
(19) bollock
Concise Oxford Dictionary (also ballocks) Brit. vulgar slang a. the testicles. b. [treated as SING.] nonsense; rubbish (used to express contempt or disagreement, or as an exclamation of annoyance).
Cambridge Advanced Learner’s Dictionary a. (BODY PART) plural noun b. OFFENSIVE FOR testicles – informal words for the sexual organ (NONSENSE0 noun [U] UK OFFENSIVE
From those two dictionaries (except for Merriam-Webster’s Collegiate
Dictionary), the meaning of this word is testicles and nonsense, one is used for the body part and another for expressing contempt or disagreement, or annoyance, and the usage of this word is considered as vulgar and offensive. Thus, the word bollock can be included as one of the taboo words. The whole process of collecting the data was undertaken in this way.
This study cannot analyze the whole taboo words that exist since it will take much time to collect the whole words and to finish analyzing them. The words analyzed in this study are those that have meanings in dictionaries and the dictionaries also provide the usage of those words, whether it is vulgar, offensive or obscene, or even derogatory and taboo.
48 3.3 Data Analysis
After all of the data were collected, and the meaning and the usage of the words had been found in the dictionaries, then the next steps were to list the words and categorize them by looking to their specification and put them into a table.
Based on the data collection process this research found 221 taboo words.
These 221 words are considered as taboo words based on their five offensiveness, which are vulgar, disparaging, obscene, offensive and derogatory.
The words then were arranged methodically in a table as the example below, after the writer analyzed the meaning of the words in the dictionaries and their usage in sentences. Based on the analyzes on this process there are 13 semantic features found on these taboo words
The word list was analyzed one by one in order to reveal the main characteristics of taboo words in English. This step aims to analyze and investigate furthermore those characteristics of English taboo words. Besides, this step tries to find out what factors that encourage one word to be considered taboo or what makes the taboo words occur in a conversation. The following short table shows the example of categorization in English taboo words.
49 TABLE 3.1 CATEGORIZATION TABLE: sample
No. WORDS OFFENSIVENESS CATEGORIZATION
c i s c i n y b o t i h r t o p a a / h l l t p t p t a a o t c o c y u n n e e x d f m j n e e o e o b o S c M d h B o s y s e t l i l e p r a o d u g e t e y r d d n q n r r i s n p u a o
l r i e o o e g e f e f t t s u v k v i a o n o w n n a n i a l n m t r r o m e a t r c c s l e e a p i a g a o s s s a a c e e i s n a i a o n r p s i i c m r u t s s o s a a n g p c b c r e m t m g e l r s r e c o y c u n g y f g e a a s t a s a e u o l e f u i e b e w e r x e l a c n r e a h n e o v d d o R T s p i o S e p p l g o a b p v B p w m C N
1 Abo 2 Asiatic 3 Ass
4 bag
5 balander 6 baldy
50 CHAPTER 4
ANALYSIS AND DISCUSSION OF TABOO WORDS
To utter a taboo word is to link a word with a person or a certain action.
The use of taboo words directed to the hearer often evokes deep, primal emotions.
It draws its power and symbolic meaning largely from the fact that they are not supposed to be said. Various terms are often embedded to this type of word, such as hard language, swearword, rough language, verbal abuse and bad language, all of them can be grouped together as one form of taboo words. Listening taboo words uttered openly in daily conversations, or in formal situations, directly make the speaker regarded as a coarse person, impolite, indifferent, and undetermined to the norm and rule, situation, or other people’s feeling. What can be seen directly on the surface that there are other specific deeper matters that underlie the reason of why taboo words are uttered by people.
4.1 Some Examples of Taboo Words
The following examples, which representing the categorization of taboo words, show some contexts of some taboo words in sentences. The meaning of taboo words in the sentences largely depends upon many factors, such as the context in which the conversation occur, the interpersonal relationship among the interlocutors, the place and the situation, also the tone, body language of the speaker. The difference amongst those factors result to the difference reaction of the hearer.
51 Examples of taboo words in sentences
Table 4.2 Examples of Taboo Words in Sentence
No. Features Sentences 1 racial slurs Aborigine - “Look at that dirty gin picking her nose and eating it.” - "I’m not going there, too many boongs." Asian “The grocery store, the dry cleaners, and the liquor shop are all owned by those damn Gooks.” White man “Go back to the mainland you fucking haoles!.” (referring to white man in Hawai) Black - Honkies are all assholes. person - “I went to the R&B disco at DeNiro's last night and I was the only white person in there. It was full of coons.” - “Look at those jigs” - “That kaffir broke the iron again” - “Yo sambo, pick some corn.” - "This spade just waltzes between us and starts beakin’ off about my jacket." central - “Greasy bohunks are taking all our jobs European away!” - “That Hunky sure is stupid and greasy”. Chinese Justin: “I hate those damn chinks .. They're person everywhere”. Cyle: “Justin, your a racist. Not cool man….NOT cool!” Italy/Spa- - “These God damn ginzos are so dark you nish person would think they work in a coal mine” - “If you call an Italian dago, he just might kick your lily white ass” Jewish Joe Pesci: “Let's make Lethal Weapon 5.” Mel Gibson: “Shut the fuck up you dumb fucking hebe” "We've got a ton of kikes off the boat today, don't we?" white “Akira doesn't wanna be your bro … and I don't person blame him now get your ofay paddy ass down the road.” (ofay) French “I went to Barcelona this past weekend, and I person could smell the frogs from there” non-Jewish “That dirty shiksa.” (shiksa) person non- “I hate bloody Gringos, they think they own it
52 Hispanic all." Gypsy “Hello Daaave! Wanna buy some pegs, Dave?” “Fuck off, you bloody gyppo. And give me my pegs back!” native English man: Oh! these bloody Indians, you find American them everywhere you go, my Doctor is Indian so is this check out operator. Japanese “Plenty Japs in Waikiki.” Scotlandish “I'm not going to that pub up in Glasgow, it's full of jocks!” German “Get your towel off my sunbed, you fucking kraut.”
British “Those limey bastards burned the Whitehouse down in 1812!” mixed - “That mixed girl looks like a mongrel” descent - “Hey see that girl there, her mom is black and dad is white, I think that makes her a mulatto.” (mulatto) English - “I went into a pub in Templebar but it was person full of Sassenachs so I left straight away.” - “Why don't you go fuck a goat, you filthy taffy." Vietnamese “There are so many slopes at the library!” Spanish- “You spics are worthless -- why can't you learn speaking English like everyone else?” American “Stay the F*ck out of ANYTHING to do with the UK, yank…U know nothing about anything here.” 2 term of - Silly old bag! address - You lied to me, you bastard! - “You pillock, look what you've done!” - “If that motherfucker touches my car again, I'll break his fingers!” 3 swear word - “Don't be a bloody idiot!” - “Bugger! Well you shouldn't have drunk so much, should you, you daft bugger!” - “Bullshit! He never said that!” - “I locked my keys in the car - bummer! - “Damn him, he should have been careful” - “He’s such an effing nuisance” - “You frigging idiot!” - “Fuck - the bloody car won't start!” - “He's a motherfucking son of a bitch.” - "Screw it!" he said. "If they won't give us the money, we'll just take it."
53 - “Shit - the damn thing's broken!” - “Oh sod it - I've left my glasses behind!” 4 excrement - I stepped in a pile of crap. - There was piss all over the floor. - “I need to shit real bad.” - “If you spunk on the wall, wipe it up!” - Dog turds on the pavement 5 mental/ people - Mark: Dude I had such a heavy night last physic defect night, I chundered all over myself on the train Geoff: Hahah dude, your such a cabbage - “Dude that fuckin hunchback wont leave me alone." - “She was an idiot! I don't like her.” - A group of students of 18 yrs and above talking crap about someone they don't know and they're all in kindergarten. They've got bodies of humans, mouths like machine guns and brains of butterflies, God they're imbeciles. hey wait, even butterflies are smarter than these guys! - “He drives like a lunatic.” - “She ran for the bus like a madwoman!” - “You stupid mongol! Get a life” - “You will die a bloody death, falling into the feiry pit of doom and darkness!...Moron!” - “I'm not playing with him, he's a total retard.” - Person 1: I've just spilt gravy over my X-Box. Person 2: Dude, you are such a spastic. Person 1: That's out of order, don't say that. Person 2: Sorry, I meant to say you are a 'Practicality challanged person'. - “You good-for-nothing stupid vegetable.” place They took Hans to the nuthouse when he taped paper wings to his arms and tried to fly. 6 homophobic homosexual - "You are so friggin' bent!" - “Haha, that man is wearing a pink shirt, which means he *must* be a fag!” - “Look at that guy over there, what a fairy.” - “That guy over there is such a fruit.” - “Shawn became a real Nancy in the gym and started to cry when the trainer pushed him for another rep.” - James is such an old queen. - “You know Randy; he's that queer with the queer look he gives you all the time.” lesbian After the softball game, the short-haired
54 bulldyke got out the strap-on and overpowered her feminine partner. Oh my God! She's, like, such a fucking dyke! That's sooo totally disgusting. (Often spoken loudly to another blond, pig-tailed, overly hetero friend when a dyke strolls by.) 7 occupation - Fuckin' Huns are taking all the jobs. - Beat it! The pigs are coming! - "She slept with, John, Rick, Tom and Peter, and that was before breakfast. She's such a slag." - “She looked like a right old slapper.” - “Man, look at those thigh-high stockings and that little schoolgirl dress. She's such a tart.” - She spent her life whoring for dangerous men. 8 body part vagina I was in class the other day talking about the vag but I couldn't say TWAT in front of the teacher so I instead said "The Woman's Awesome Thing"... breasts - The girls boobs were rediculously large. When I saw them, I thought she must have had implants inserted for sure. - “My friend Josh, in San Diego, has never touched a single hooter.” - “WAW, she got big jugs!” - That's one nice knocker. - He says he likes women with big tits. 9 penis - That guy would stick his boner in anything with a hole - “When I was young, I played with my dork!” - “Dude, zip your pants back up, your knob is hanging out!” - “You sodomized a pine tree? Really? Your pecker should have more than a few scratches.” 10 negative - That's a load of bollocks. quality - He gave me some excuse but it was a load of bullshit. - “That bugger stole my Holden!” - "I've left my wallet at home." "What a bummer!" - He's totally crap at football. - "Look at that guy; the way he treats his girlfriend. What a cretin" - “You stupid cunt!” - You dickhead - you've dented the back of my car! - You're a fucking dipshit if you think Bush is running the country well. - He's a pompous old fart. - What a fucking waste of time! - He described the film as 'middle-class, bourgeois horseshit'.
55 - That was a motherfucker of an exam. - The scumbag took my sister out to dinner and made her pay for the meal. - She talks a load of shit. - Apparently he's a sod to work for. - Why did you do that, you stupid great tit? - Barry's such a tosser. - I'm not doing business with that little turd. - Look at that silly twat. - He thought all terrorists were vermin and that prison was too good for them. 11 class of - I was going to go to 7-11, but I decided not to when I saw people the group of Cholos standing on the street corner. - She is such a feminazi! - Fenian Bastards, who do they think they are, trying to get treated as equals to us northern prods (protestants) - I sat accross the bar and watched a herd roam through the dance floor. - "Anto is a fuckin' jackeen bai." - These moonies keep asking me if I want to take a "survey", why don't they just leave me alone already!? - 1st person: "Hey, dude, that guy doesn't think that illegal immigrants should be allowed in-state tuition rates for public universities!!! Can you believe that?!" 2nd person: "Jeez, what an inbred racist bigot NAZI!!!!" - I usually correct her real polite, remindin' her that she sounds like a peckerwood. - I would never drink decaf pinko commie terrorist al-qaeda coffee. Don't worry. - Me: Oh, whats that smell? Friend: Its that tinker over there! Me: What a dirty smelly tinker! - Those wetbacks are mowing my lawn. 12 physic - You are such a baldy, grow some hair mike. - Stop eating my Twinkies you Fatso! 13 sex Sexual - I banged a right fit bird last night! intercourse - "I want to bone that bitch." - Ya he's a freak, gangbangs with midgets and everything! - Fergie has nice humps. - So did you get laid (= find someone to have sex with)? - All he wants to do is have nookie - all the time! - I am going to roger her. - They say he's screwing the boss's wife.
56 - I would really like to shag Samatha Janus (British TV star) person My Boss is a real Cocksucker. She's a good lay (= Sex with her is enjoyable). She is a pretty piece, don't you think? He's a really good screw. orgasm "I'm about to come" 14 people woman - Get out of the way, you old biddy. - I hate you, bloody bint! - Girl 1: Hey look at that bimbo and all her cronies. Oh look its Britney! Girl 2: Thats not Britney, thats Karen. Girl 1: oh yeah. they all look the same so its hard to tell. - John: Hey you see that broad over there? Tommy: Yeah thats one good looking broad. - Those sorority girls are such chits. - You stupid cow! - You must've been drunk last night, 'cause that girl you was with is a dog! - Dude! You have a nice girl! Thanks! Got her yesterday - "Check out that dirty chick. What a scrubber!" - She thinks she is a sexpot when she wears those low-cut blouses. - Did you see that chick? She waved at me. man - That guy is such a dick. - He acts like a real dildo after he's had a few drinks. - I'm not wearing that - I'd look a right prick. 15 positive - You have to admit it - the woman's got balls! (bravery & confidence) - You won again? You lucky bastard (= I don't think you deserve it)! - He's a cute little bugger.
4.2 Offensiveness and Semantic Features of Taboo Words
From the 221 taboo words found for the purpose of this thesis construction, there are 13 categories to emphasize. They are the racial slur, the
57 term of address, swearword, sexual connotation, excrement, mental or physic defect, homophobic, occupation, body part, physic, object, class of people, negative quality, as seen in the table at the end of chapter three. Sexual connotation had four subgroups, namely, person, intercourse, semen, orgasm.
Meanwhile the mental or physic defect refers to the defect of the people and places relating to certain defects, such as the asylum. Homophobic refers to sex preference, either man or woman. The body part category refers to five body parts, anus, buttock, vagina, penis and breast. Taboo words refer to an object of a man and a woman.
The analysis of this categorization is as follows. For example, the word bang in the table below:
bang word meaning usage bang Merriam-Webster’s Collegiate Dictionary to have sexual intercourse with often vulgar
Cambridge Advanced Learner’s Dictionary to have sex – sexual intercourse offensive
Concise Oxford Dictionary (of a man) have sexual intercourse with vulgar slang
The meaning of the word bang is to have a sexual intercourse with and its usage is considered offensive and often vulgar. Then, the specification of the word bang relates to the sexual categorization. In accordance with the purpose of this
58 thesis, then the etymology, date and the function of the word are not included in this thesis.
And let see the word bastard.
bastard word meaning usage bastard Merriam-Webster’s Collegiate Dictionary a. an illegitimate child b. something that is spurious, irregular, inferior, or of questionable origin c. an offensive or disagreeable person — Offensive used as a generalized term of abuse b : MAN, FELLOW
Cambridge Advanced Learner’s Dictionary d. a child e. an unpleasant person Offensive Humorous Concise Oxford Dictionary f. an illegitimate person g. an unpleasant or despicable person derogatory
This word is considered offensive or derogatory if the speaker uses it with the intention to abuse someone by appointing him/her with this word, or someone who is considered unpleasant by the speaker, as in (c), or (e) and (f). However, the word bastard may not be considered taboo if it is used in a normal situation by using its first meaning in (a) or (d) and (f). It can be a humorous word between friends. Then, the word bastard can be put in the term of address categorization.
59 There are still others words in the list that are similar with this word, in a sense that one word has one or more meaning(s). One meaning is used in the ordinary conversation while the other meanings shall not be used since that meaning is considered taboo. To meet the scope of this study then the meaning of the word used is the meaning that is considered taboo, or determined by the dictionaries as vulgar, obscene, offensive, derogatory, disparaging, as described in the previous section.
Back to the example above, there are two types of usage in those two words, such as offensiveness and vulgarity. Since the meaning of the term offensive in Merriam-Webster’s Collegiate Dictionary is aggressive, causing displeasure or resentment while the term vulgar is the lack of cultivation, perception or taste and offensive in language, thus these words are considered taboo. Thus, vulgar and offensive mark the semantic features of those two words.
After completing the data, the writer classified each of the data, taboo words in English, to categorize the data according to the features they belong to.
This process is useful for further analysis, to analyze what nature that underlies the usage of taboo words, based on the feature of taboo words and to find out in what contexts do taboo words occur. Taboo words referring to certain characteristics such as the body part and sexual activities were comprised in each of their features. Thus, the different context and meaning depend on the use of those taboo words that could be separated one by one. The results were put in a table containing English taboo words and their characteristics. By doing this, the
60 characteristics of each of the taboo words were arranged methodically. The example is as shown below.
word meaning Features asiatic Asian (adjective) Racial term crap 1. to defecate (verb) excrement 2. feces (noun) 3. the act of defecating (noun) cabbage cannot thought or speech caused by serious Mental/physic accident/illness (noun) defect pig police officer (noun) occupation bubba an uneducated conservative white male of the Term of address southern US yid a Jew Racial term
The term asiatic whose meaning is Asian, refers to the racial term, and crap, as shown by its meaning, refers to the excrement. While the word cabbage, an inability of someone, refers to the mental or physic defect, and the word pig, besides its meaning as a type of an animal, is also used to denote a police officer, which is an occupation. The term bubba means an uneducated conservative white male of the southern US, and it refers to term of address while yid is an expression to a Jew, and it refers to a racial term. By doing this process, the types of each word were seen clearly to classify those words into each of their groups and analyze them furthermore.
From the example of the categorization, there are several types of taboo words. Thus, from these words, there are five features of taboo words, those are
61 words that refer to the ethnic background (yid, asiatic), words refer to excrement
(crap), words refer to mental or physic defect (cabbage), words that refer to occupation (pig), and the last, word that refers to the term of address (bubba). The other words in the table passed through the same process, and it is from this kind of process that the researcher finally obtained 221 types of taboo word written in the beginning of this chapter.
4.3 Motivation to Use Taboo Words
From those categories above, there are several prominent characteristics in every word or type of taboo words. Those characteristics are solidarity, anger, superiority, identity, insult including intimacy. The next subchapter tries to describe and analyze those characteristics including their word examples.
However, certain characteristics are interrelated to each other. Sometimes, one characteristic also includes other characteristics, as also happened in the categorization. Thus, it means that one word or group can reveal the existence of two or more characteristics and categories. For example, when someone says a word that contains anger, at the same time the spoken word also contains insulting characteristics to the hearer, as indicated in the word pillock.
(20) pillock noun [C] UK OFFENSIVE – stupid & silly people a stupid or silly person: (Cambridge Advanced Learner’s Dictionary) Example: You pillock, look what you’ve done!
62 Besides showing the anger to what the speaker has done, by using the word pillock, the speaker also indicates degradation to the hearer by considering him/her as a stupid person, incompetent to do something.
Next some characteristics that contain in taboo words, as found in this research.
4.3.1 Solidarity
Language can be a symbol to unite people or groups, or even can be a tool to break one unity into smaller units. In this case, language can be a symbol of solidarity unification and at the same time it can be a border between one society and group with the other.
Solidarity or common group membership, is an important social force that has a major impact on language (the claims that people belong to the same group)
(Spolsky, 1998: 34). As it seems, words that turn the hearer’s ear to be red or uncommon words or almost or even hardly heard in an office meeting or polite and normal situation, generally are more often found when a group of people with the same background or old friends are talking. In this kind of situation, when people want to join or expect to be accepted in one group, they adopt the term, the style of language used by that group. In this case, they try to show to the expected group that they have good will to be accepted by this group. They are in the same level with this group, at least at that time. For example, A goes home and meets his old friends in his childhood. If in the old times this group of friends used to use hard or swearword to each other, then A automatically will take this glossary
63 again when he speaks with his old friends. Even in his work place at that time he never used that kind of word.
The young people gather around, but even not all of them use taboo words in the conversation they involved. For some young people, being a member of certain group and accepted by the group they like, is a crucial thing. And, if the group they like is a group that is familiar with taboo word in their daily conversation, thus at that time taboo word for them become a symbol of solidarity.
One of the uses of taboo words in the conversation involving the solidarity characteristic is the term of address and interjection, intensive or exclamation.
Now, let us see the example below, using the word ‘bastard’, which has meanings:
(21) bastard
a. an illegitimate child b. something that is spurious, irregular, inferior, or of questionable origin c. an offensive or disagreeable person – used as a generalized term of abuse b : MAN, FELLOW Example. a. Hey bastard, how are you! b. You lucky bastard to have a good job like that.
In the example (a) bastard is used as a term of address. Term of address does not have any insulting or hatred intentions, but intimacy. The speaker shows intimacy to the hearer by calling him/her ‘bastard’. Moreover, although the first and second meanings of bastard have a negative quality, the hearer may not show
64 anger or offended feelings as shown in the example (b). In the relation between the speaker and the hearer in this context, there are feeling of solidarity and intimacy. They are in the same level, no one is higher or lower than the other.
Another example is the use of the word bubba (22) bubba a. a form of address to a brother. b. derogatory: an uneducated conservative white male of the southern US.
Bubba is a term of address showing the intimacy feeling if it is directed by and between the members of one group, in this case white males of the southern
US. However, this term of address directly turns to be an insulting term if it is spoken by the out-member of a group and directed to a white male of the southern.
Words like bubba, bastard, become tools to tighten the relationship, as long as the hearer wants to treat the speaker as part of a group and the speaker shows good will to enter or join the hearer’s group.
Besides, the intention to show solidarity or intimacy feeling might be indicated by inserting a word considered taboo in a polite situation, or in a formal conversation. This situation is found in the society groups familiar with the use of taboo words in their daily conversations. Look at the word bullock whose meanings vary (in Cambridge Dictionary):
(23) bollock
a. OFFENSIVE FOR testicles – informal words for the sexual organ b. (NONSENSE0 noun [U] UK OFFENSIVE
65 Example (nonsense): That's a load of bollocks. Bollocks to that (= that's nonsense)!
Those two examples are hardly accepted if the situation involved is in the formal one, for example in the lecture hall, or office meeting room, otherwise the speaker will be regarded as an impolite person, uneducated one. However, these words sound normal if they are used by the speaker among his/her own group, as indicated by the word nigger.
(24) nigger
a. usually offensive; a black person b. usually offensive; a member of any dark-skinned race c. a member of a socially disadvantaged class of persons
In the meaning (a) and (b), nigger is a term that is considered offensive if spoken by non-black person and directed to black person, however, in the meaning (c), nigger is a calling that shows solidarity or intimacy feeling among black people.
In one group, sometimes, as the time goes by, words that are considered taboo by a society are no longer taboo, or at least its taboo characteristic diminishes. That word becomes ‘normal’, a word that does not have any additional terms as ‘taboo.’ For example the word shit, which in Merriam-
Webster’s Collegiate Dictionary is categorized as a vulgar word, which means:
(25) shit
(25.a). feces
66 2. an act of defecation 3. nonsense, crap 4. any of several intoxicating or narcotic drugs; especially: heroin 5. damn 6. a worthless, offensive, or detestable person 7. (a) used as an interjection; (b) used as an intensive usually with the
Example: a. There's so much dog shit on the pavement. b. She talks a load of shit. c. Oh shit, we're going to be late!
This word can be repeated many times in one lively conversation between two or more young people, as the example shown, in relax situation. Even if bystanders, accidentally, hear that conversation and judge that group as a coarse one, since those people often use the word shit in their conversation, however, by using the word shit in that conversation, deliberately or not, the members of that group, are showing solidarity among themselves (the member of that group), either they are aware of that situation or not. Thus, solidarity is a symmetrical
(reciprocal) dimension that has the same ‘value’ for the interacting parties. Power, on the other hand, is concerned with the asymmetry and inequality. Other things being equal, when one party is older, richer, stronger, superior in status, rank or professional standing, he or she holds power over the other party (Johnson, 1999:
180).
Solidarity, through the use of certain words, can be created by using any terms that is a term to insult one group. As evidenced previously, the inferior or
67 lower group may adopt that term, used to be to insult them, as a form of solidarity between the in-group members. For example, the word queer.
(26) queer
1. (a) worthless, counterfeit *queer money*. (b) questionable, suspicious 2. (a) differing in some odd way from what is usual or normal. (b) -. eccentric, unconventional. -. mildly insane: touched (c) absorbed or interested to an extreme or unreasonable degree. obsessed. (d) -. often disparaging: homosexual. -. sometimes offensive: gay 4b 3. not quite well
This word is considered offended word directed to a gay group. However, the function of this word also changes. The gay group tries to make this word as a part of their self-identity. Thus, they try to build a positive meaning into this word and remove the negative meaning from the previous image that appears in the use of the word queer.
4.3.2 Anger
Communication is aimed to deliver word in an understandable way. To do that people have to choose words appropriate with the contexts of communication.
How are people’s feelings to something or other people or group can be seen from the word chosen they use while they are talking with someone, or it can be clarified through intonation in the sentence including body language while they are speaking. It can be seen when a word functions as an interjection.
Anger can be directed to someone, something (thing) or certain situations.
Language becomes a much safer medium in canalizing anger compared to a
68 physical contact, such as throwing thing, hitting something or even someone.
Thus, when people are bumped into anger, they try to find a suitable word to reveal the anger they feel. And, taboo words may release their anger efficiently and give more effects, either to themselves or to the intended hearer. In this case, a taboo word replaces an aggressively physical action. In short, a taboo word, in the form of swearword, becomes the medium of canalizing anger.
A swearword generally is heard when people are bumped into anger.
However, even words can be swearword, the part of the swearword can be categorized as offensive, derogatory. Words are included in a taboo word line, words that are not supposed to be said or heard in polite conversations. On the other hand, deliberately or not, those words are throwed out when people are in anger. For example, one of the words that is often heard when the speaker’s feeling is closed by anger is fuck, which in Concise Oxford Dictionary is categorized as word included in a vulgar slang type.
(27) fuck
a. have sexual intercourse with (someone). b. damage or ruin (something)
c. noun an act of sexual intercourse. d. a sexual partner of a specified ability.
e. exclamation used alone or as a noun (the fuck) or a verb in various phrases to express anger, annoyance, contempt, impatience, or surprise, or simply for emphasis. Example:
What a fucking waste of time! He's a fucking idiot. He'd fucking well better do it.
69 Fuck - the bloody car won't start! Shut the fuck up! Who the fuck does she think she is, telling me what to do?
Although it does not always hold anger characteristics, the word fuck often functions as a word that denotes an angry feeling felt by the speaker, either in the form as intensifier, exclamation or just a word attached in the middle of a sentence, as shown by the examples above. Take a look at the word sod, which is categorized as a vulgar slang in
Concise Oxford dictionary.
(28) sod
a. an unpleasant or obnoxious person. b. something that is difficult or causes problems. c. used to express one's anger or annoyance at someone or something. Example: What did you do that for, you stupid sod? Oh sod it - I've left my glasses behind! Stupid sodding thing, why won't it move?
Although these types of word are not always used to release anger, however, there are certain speakers who prefer to use the word fuck instead of other words when they have to face something distasteful or someone unpleasant for themselves. This word furthermore functions to express anger or annoyance they felt. Although cursing can occur with every emotional state, it is most closely associated with anger (Akmajian, 2001:55).
70 4.3.3 Superiority / Uplifting Oneself
Superiority at least involves two parties or situations that at least by one of the parties, has a different quality. In superiority itself there is anger, which mostly appears from the party which is regarded in the lower position. And then, in superiority there is a degradation, shown by the party of the higher position.
In language, superiority attitude can be recognized from the use of words in the form of epithets relating to the background of someone or groups, geographical factor, color of skin, the belief they hold, the way of speaking, people’s appearance or even the job they have. For example, pickaninny in
Merriam-Webster’s Collegiate Dictionary, means is a black child. This word is considered offensive if used by non-black people to refer to African American children.
Thereby, it appears that superiority relates to certain innate factors, either skin color, background, religion, or someone innate characteristics. Superiority may reveal what is in the society’s mind. The more a society shows off the difference between one group to other groups, the higher is superiority level among that society. Thus, as one of the effects to language, there will be much more words that show off the difference between groups in the society, or words that marginalize certain groups.
In one environment or society, there is(are) one or several dominant groups with the regarded superiority quality belonged to the group(s) either in the number of the member, material, background based on history, or skill or occupation. These may cause a gap between regarded superior group with
71 regarded inferior group. One word that humiliates the unskilled people is coolie, which denotes to insult the unskilled or cheap employee who comes from Asia.
This word might exist because part or most of the society, either realizing it or not, degrade the quality in that class of people, such as their educational background or their unskilled ability in working that makes their wage low.
This discrepancy is not a weird or extraordinary situation. Since the difference between human will remain exist, that discrepancy will be more prominent or made to be more prominent. And later on it will create problem if either the group regarded as higher or the group regarded as lower instead put their position on the negative side of that discrepancy, or makes that situation worse than normally this may occur. For example, by exploiting the difference between them or taking the benefit owned by one dominant group to humiliate or abuse the different group or group regarded as lower. On the contrary, from the side of the insulted group, that group may position themselves in a lower position, but they do not have enough spirit or intention to improve their self-quality. In this case, the party assumed to be in ‘lower’ positions remains to be in lower and weak position.
Two factors related to the superiority are power and stereotype.
4.3.3.1. Power
“Power” is a determined factor affecting decision taken by someone in choosing one particular word in a conversation. Brown and Levinson(1987: 77) explain power in a slightly more comprehensive manner, that P[ower]…is the
72 degree to which H[earer] can impose his own plans and his own self-evaluation … at the expense of S[peaker]’s plans and self-evaluation. In general there are two sources of P[ower} …material control (over economic distribution and physical force) and metaphysical control (over the actions of others …) (Bloomer,
2005:109).
In the power factor, in which a person’s speech carries a claim to be more or less powerful than the other, there are many words to establish the power group and degrade the lower group, for example in the racial slur. Slang is primarily speech claiming group membership, and it rejects the power dimensions associated with formal language (Spolsky, 1998: 35). By using the words whose pronunciation are avoided by most people, the speaker may have the feeling of freedom and then this felling creates such a power in the speaker’s feeling. The freedom to say whatever they want to say. The feeling that they have a control.
4.3.3.2. stereotype
The words of taboo are often found in the form of inter race relationship.
Stereotype is one of the main form of prejudice showing the difference of category: (1) “us” with “them”, that relates to the superiority of in-group and them as inferior or out group; (2) the process of social category which creates “us” and
“them”, or in group and out group. Stereotype is the distribution of certain attitude to people based on a subjective category, just because those people come from that group. The distribution of that attitude can be positive, or even negative
(Liliweri, 2005: 207).
73 From these two elements many forms of taboo words may be formed, words that signalize the difference between races or ethnics, such as chink (a chinese person), dago (a person of Italian or Spanish birth or descent), frog (a french person), ginzo (a person of Italian descent), gook (a nonwhite or non-
American person; specifically: ASIAN), greaser (a mexican). Also in the form of term of address whose nature is to degrade one type of sexual or different sexual orientation, such as word that denotes female type of sexual (bimbo, bint, bitch) refers to male type of sexual (whelp, dick, dildo). In addition, words may humiliate people who have less skill than the speaker.
4.3.3.3 Racial Term
Racial term occurs on the way different races are treated in the society and how people from different cultural backgrounds are regarded in the society. This situation can have such differing reactions. These words might be used in hate speech or mocking one. As the word nigger, it is acceptable if it is used among the
African-American themselves, but its conveyed-message is different if uttered by the outsider of such a group. The word ‘nigger’ is meant to be a derogatory and demeaning description directed at African Americans.
(29) nigger noun [C] OFFENSIVE - people of a specific racial or ethnic background a black person (Cambridge Advanced Learner’s Dictionary)
74 According to John Baugh (Newmeyer, 1989: 65), racists believe that their language (and most of the other aspects of their culture) is superior to those of the
‘inferior’ races. Such an attitude, if supported by a political domination, whether overt or covert, is used to justify attempts to impose various doctrines on racially subordinate groups. Ironically, these policies are usually offered in the name of
‘improving’ the plight of less fortunate peoples.
Sexist and homophobic are human natures when someone or groups degrade the differences between them and out-member. These two natures become problem if the people are overreacted to these natures. The difference of both of them is on the humiliated object. Sexist puts more emphasis on the gender type while homophobic tends to humiliate the homosexual group.
4.3.3.4 Sexist
In the term sexist there is a degradation of attitude to female type of sex.
Sexist shows off the difference between male and female characteristics. Sexist itself means prejudice or discrimination based on sex; especially the discrimination against women, or behavior, conditions, or attitudes that foster stereotypes of social roles based on sex (Merriam-Webster’s Collegiate
Dictionary).
This stereotype of woman found in language makes woman has to bear secondary status in various social groups, and it reflects the view that the society holds about woman. Words that degrade woman for example are bimbo (an attractive but unintelligent woman), bint (a girl or woman), bitch (an unkind or
75 unpleasant woman), chit (an impudent or arrogant young woman), chook (an older woman), cow (unpleasant woman), dog (an unattractive woman), pussy (woman considered sexually), scrubber (a sexually promiscuous woman), sexpot (sexually exciting woman), slapper (a promiscuous woman).
4.3.3.5 Homophobic
Homophobic is an irrational fear of, aversion to, or discrimination against homosexuality or homosexuals (Merriam-Webster’s Collegiate Dictionary).
Words containing an homophobic element can be found in the group of taboo words that use to degrade a homosexual group, such as bent (a homosexual), bulldyke (masculine lesbian), dyke (lesbian), fag (male homosexual), nancy (an effeminate man), swish (an effeminate homosexual), womanish (of a man, effeminate).
James D. Armstrong in his paper Homophobic Slang as Coercive
Discourse among College Students, explains that the use of homosexuality term in public contexts serves to maintain the invisibility of homosexuals….that homophobic usage is to point out that this language makes them feel excluded, devalued, and invisible.
The usage of this kind of language, therefore, by disregarding the hurt feeling that may cause to some, indicates how unimportant the feelings of these people are….it disregards the existence of homosexuals (Livia, 1997: 332).
76 4.3.4 Humiliation
Name-calling is not just a calling to make people look around and give attention. Behind the name-calling there are social values and social relations. In the further effect that name-calling may defend social relationship or even break up it. Type of calling used by someone to call other people shows how people put their position in front of the hearer, also how they view the hearer’s position against them. Whether they respect the hearer, or, degrade the hearer, or admire, like, hate or just put their position in the same position as the hearer.
The name-calling using taboo word is one form of insults directed to other people by giving certain calling to the person. That name-calling is not a calling chosen or liked by the person addressed. Thus, the effect created by the use of name-calling is offended, angry, hurt feeling.
For example, the word bitch and dog below.
(30) dog (PERSON) noun [C] OFFENSIVE an unattractive woman – unpleasant woman (Cambridge Advanced Learner’s Dictionary)
(31) bitch (n) 2 [C] OFFENSIVE an unkind or unpleasant woman (Cambridge Advanced Learner’s Dictionary) She can be a real bitch.
These terms of addresses as bitch and dog, directed to someone do not mean that the speaker calls a dog or female dog in literally form to the hearer, or the speaker equates the subject (the hearer) with literally form of a dog, in the
77 form of four-legs living being. However, the caller regards that the characteristic or quality contained in the living being or so-called dog attaches in the quality of people addressed, which is actually a human. So, as with the superiority characteristic, the insult contains humiliate element directed by the speaker to the hearer, or by the speaker to something or an unpleasant situation.
Insult does not always mean that the speaker directs the meaning of a word denotatively to a target that is considered as the characteristics in the meaning of one taboo word. For example the word faggot.
(32) faggot
usually disparaging : a male homosexual example: (a) He is a faggot (b) Don’t be such a faggot (Merriam-Webster’s Collegiate Dictionary)
In the example (a) faggot is used as a term of address directed to an individual, in this case a man. The speaker thinks that man does not have a male characteristic, for example strong, brave, which in the speaker’s mind that characteristic should have been belonged to a man. Perhaps that man, according to the speaker, has graceful appearance, womanlike style of dress or inclined to a feminine style of speaking, or the sexual orientation he has.
However, faggot does not always refer to a male individual that has a more female characteristic, as shown in example (b). The term faggot can be directed to a friend, which on certain situations is regarded by the speaker as a coward, or perhaps lacking in courage to take a risk, and that characteristic is connected, by
78 the speaker, with the characteristic that contains in the meaning of the word faggot.
Besides someone’s attitude, insult often relates to a physical condition held by an individual. As shown by the example below:
(33) mongol sometimes offensive : one affected with Down syndrome (Merriam-Webster’s Collegiate Dictionary) (34) moron 1 usually offensive : a mildly mentally retarded person 2 : a very stupid person (Merriam-Webster’s Collegiate Dictionary) (35) retard OFFENSIVE – stupid & silly people a stupid or mentally slow person: I'm not playing with him, he's a total retard. (Cambridge Advanced Learner’s Dictionary) (36) vegetable informal, derogatory a person who is incapable of normal mental or physical activity, especially through brain damage. a person with a dull or inactive life. (Concise Oxford Dictionary)
These terms of address are used by the speaker with the intention to humiliate people who have certain abilities to function normally. The normally functions of the body have by the people are used to degrade other people who are less fortunate than they are. Name-calling containing insult elements may refer also to parts of the body related to sexual organ, such as the word dick.
(37) dick
79 dick (PENIS) noun [C] OFFENSIVE – informal words for the sexual organs a penis dick (PERSON) noun [C] a. OFFENSIVE a stupid man - stupid & silly people: That guy is such a dick.
4.3.5 Self Identity
As a social reality, taboo words may become social symbols used by certain groups of society as an existence that signal the related group. They are the shove-off and marginalized group in the society, for example gay, lesbian or criminal people groups. Those social groups tend to create their own exclusive communication symbols. For exclusivity, they are so proud with the taboo words they speak.
Besides, young generation is one of the consumers that may use taboo words. Of course, it does not mean to generalize that all or part of minority groups, young people, always use taboo words in their conversation. Young age is the time when people give high value in having symbol to make themselves look different with other people, an identity that differentiates themselves with other people. In a certain way, young people makes use of coarse language to show their self-identity, to show that the language style they use is different from other people’s style of language.
One style of language is used by certain groups, and every unit or group has its own style of language. These styles are divided into language usage such as jargon, slang and dialect. Taboo words, even their usage is better avoided, may
80 form an identity to their users. Speaking about language means speaking about the group of people. Speaking about the group means speaking about who are inside that group (the language’s users) and who are outside the group (outsiders).
For example, weird writings as FUCK, SHIT, ASSHOLE written in T-
Shirts that are favorable to certain young people. That kind of language is in limited area in terms of their contexts of its usage (Rahardi, 2004: 134). However, the limitation of using one word, or censor given by society to certain words, on the other side, may make the effect of that word’s meaning become more prominent in the society. Using words that makes ear of the hearer turns to be red for some people may become their way to show off, to tell the “world” that they exist.
Taboo words, as with swearwords, are not types of word heard or spoken in daily conversation or in formal or polite situations. Taboo words are those whose usage are so limited, or if possible are avoided, based on the rule of social norm in the society. Thereby, saying words that are considered taboo publicly and openly, for certain people may result in a predominant effect, the speaker becomes the focus or people, in certain way, give attention to the speaker. On one side, the speaker has “broken” or contravened views held by the society. This affects the speaker to get a room to show off and obtain the sensation to release himself/herself from the border of values held by the society including the feeling of freedom, the feeling of revolt, through style of language consciously s/he chooses.
81 For example, instead of using polite words in conversation when speaking about something private, for example parts of the body which have natural functions, as breast, penis, vagina, the speaker prefers to use words considered rough. For example, instead of using the word breast, the speaker may prefer to use the word knocker.
(38) knocker often vulgar : BREAST — usually used in plural (Merriam-Webster’s Collegiate Dictionary)
Or using the word tit instead of breast. :
(39) tit a woman's breast: (PERSON) noun [C] UK SLANG a stupid person. This word is considered offensive by some people: Why did you do that, you stupid great tit? He says he likes women with big tits.
So does when saying the word penis, instead of using the word penis, the speaker may prefer to use the word chopper or pecker.
(40) chooper vulgar slang a man’s penis (Oxford). (Concise Oxford Dictionary)
(41) pecker 3 often vulgar : PENIS (Merriam-Webster’s Collegiate Dictionary)
82 One reason underlies the use of those words because the speaker is familiar with that word spoken. Thereby, the speaker identifies himself by using that word. In the sense that he feels more comfortable when saying the word knockers or tit, compared to saying the word breast, which seems to be more polite. The usage of taboo words may reflect the independence of the speaker, his or her independence against the norm, the society, the general thought. In this case, taboo words may be equal to the use of accessories, strange clothes, style of dressed up, which make people look more prominent among other people.
Not all of the people or most of the people prefer to use taboo words to release their anger than other words. People try to avoid the use of these words, so they are not considered impolite, uneducated people. However, taboo words exist because they can show, for example, the solidarity and anger, in the form of communication. It means that this type of words hold an important factor in the communication.
The context and meaning of taboo words in this research are studied based on the dictionaries. Thus, after studying and analyzing those taboo words, it appears that most of the taboo words are spoken by in-group members, to show their intimacy among each other and to put themselves in equal positions to each other.
83 CHAPTER 5
CONCLUSION AND SUGGESTIONS
5.1 Conclusion
Whether one word is considered taboo or not is determined by how the society thinks about the meaning contained in that word. From the data collected for the writing of this thesis, there are 221 taboo words. Those words show that there are categories for the meaning contained in those words.
As social being, people always need other people to interact, to communicate, and to change idea. For the purpose of harmony many rules and social norms are formed, to arrange the order in the society. How people act or show their attitude to each other, what rules should they perform based on their positions in the society. These norms can be found in every relationship. Those rules in the society are put in the order of society, either orally or writtenly, directly or indirectly, in the form of communication ethic code.
There are so many words that may be used by someone to deliver his or her ideas in their mind. Words are one of the forms of human mind realization in the real form. As one of the main factors to smooth the relation of human being, communication has its own ethic code. Taboo words are heard and spoken more often, either because of the spreading of advanced technology, television, radio, magazine, newspaper, or because of the more loosing side of ethic code held by the community in the society.
84 The forms of taboo words found in this research are 221 word considered as taboo, from abo to yid. These forms are based on five semantic features they belong, which are offensive, vulgar, derogatory, disparaging and obsolete. Taboo words are listed in the table at the end of chapter three. Taboo words in the thesis have 13 categories that are racial slur, term of address, swearword, sexual connotation, excrement, mental or physic condition, homophobic, occupation, body part, physic, object, class of people and negative quality. From this source of data, the most often taboo words found in the dictionaries are taboo words refer to racial term, body part and sexual related activity.
There are six characteristics of the 221 taboo words used in this thesis as a data source. Those taboo words are used to show intimacy between the speaker and the hearer. In some way, they show that both of them are in equal position, no one feels superior or inferior to each other. In the contrary, the purpose is to degrade other people, or to show that the individuals or groups have higher characteristics. It becomes the factor that encourages the use of taboo words.
Some of the factors that encourage superiority are stereotype and power.
Stereotype encourages prejudice, the group fragmentation is based on the factors such as race, skin color and belief. Power also relates to superiority. Power might appear in many factors such as the regarded type of work, abilities or even type of sex.
Taboo words are used in very limited contexts. Mostly they are used by young people, since they have strong expectation to form their own self-identity or to show that they are able to break the rules the society have. The contexts of
85 these taboo words are found between the in-group members. Social differences, which spread everywhere, can be formed and become more prominent when the members of the society come from many backgrounds, not only one certain ethnic. With these backgrounds living in the society, especially if that area has formed as stabilized areas offering working opportunities and money, it attracts many people from other cities or village inhabitants to come to those areas. The competition in the work field will increase, poverty will spread. In this kind of situation, the group and self-identity become important factors.
People use taboo words to shock the interlocutor, to show that they have power to use words considered taboo by the society, words that are considered subject to break the etiquettes in the relationship, the social norm, or in workplace rules. The speakers of taboo words are deemed to be an aggressive person, lack of control, intolerance either to the society norm or to other people. Thus, from the words people spoken sometimes the interlocutors might know the individual characteristics, the background of the speaker.
5.2 Suggestion
This thesis has much more shortcoming, therefore, some ideas can be used to refer to the development of the theme or topic. This development triggers to make a much more benefit, interesting, and deepen research. The words as the data used in the working of this thesis were taken from the internet then the output data were checked in the dictionaries such as Merriam-Webster’s Collegiate
Dictionary, Cambridge Advanced Learner’s Dictionary and Concise Oxford
86 Dictionary, as described in more detail in chapter three, to get the accurate data.
However, it must be admitted that the data obtained from such procedure has less contextual elements.
Further research is expected to put the contextual elements into the data sources. This kind of research method can be applied for articles, novel, magazine as its data sources. By investigating the use of taboo words in those data sources, the output will hold the contextual element.
Other suggestion in the research method is by using the interview as data sources. The data contained in the table can be developed by the doing interview process. Interview can be performed by categorizing types of individuals. For example, the groups can represent different types of individuals based on ages, sex, social status in the society, education level, to mention some of them. The interview questions can be about, for example, what are their opinions if they hear a taboo word is uttered by someone, do they use those words in their conversation, if the answer is yes, then in what kind of situation do they use those words, whom are their interlocutor, for what or with what intention do they use those words.
This research can be performed by comparing the taboo words in two different cultures. For example between those in Indonesia and in America, or
Indonesia and Malaysia. Taboo words in the table here, or other taboo words, can be developed by investigating those two data sources whereas each of them represents those two cultures. The data sources can be obtained by using those mentioned above, for example, American and Indonesian novels, music, or by
87 doing interviews in which each of the participants can represent the native speakers of both Indonesian and America.
Thus, beside the research method, the development of this thesis can be increased further in terms of the research topic. The topic here is about the characteristic and categorization containing in several taboo words obtained from the dictionaries. The topic can be extended by doing the investigation about the shift of the values influencing the use of taboo words. For example, the word fuck, one of the most familiar taboo words. The researcher investigates whether the society at the present are more tolerant in using the term fuck, compared to what happened in decades, and what factors involved in that situation. Whether one taboo word remains taboo as the time goes by, or that taboo word loses its tabooness or even it disappears at all.
88 BIBLIOGRAPHY
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Sentences examples were taken from: www.urbandictionary.com available at 14-06-09 www.alphadictionary.com available at 20-07-09 english idiom: sayings and slang, wayne magnuson idioms.myjewelz.com/index.htm, available at 28-05-09 www.wordnik.com available at 02-06-09
91 APPENDICES
APPENDIX 1: MEANING OF TABOO WORDS USED IN TABLE 2
NO. WORD MEANING 1. abo an aborigine 2. asiatic asian 3. ass a. a stupid, obstinate, or perverse person b. buttocks — often used in emphatic reference to a specific person c. sexual intercourse d. women regarded as a source of sexual gratification e. used as a postpositive intensive especially with words of derogatory implication f. oneself (used in phrases for emphasis): 4. bag a rude and insulting name for a woman, especially an older one 5. balander a white man 6. baldy a bald-headed person 7. ball a. testis b. nonsense (plural, often used interjectionally) c. nerve (often vulgar) d. have sexual intercourse with e. bravery f. to have sexual intercourse with 8. bang to have sexual intercourse with 9. bastard an unpleasant or disagreeable person 10. beaver a woman’s genitals or pubic area 11. bent homosexual 12. biddy woman; especially an elderly woman 13. bimbo an attractive but unintelligent or frivolous young woman 14. bint a girl or woman 15. bitch an unkind or unpleasant woman 16. black a black person 17. bloody damned, often used as an intensive 18. bohunk a person of central European descent or birth, an immigrant from central or SE Europe 19. bollocks a. the testicles[treated as SING.] b. nonsense; rubbish (used to express contempt or disagreement, or as an exclamation of annoyance). 20. bone to have sex with someone 21. boner an erect penis 22. boob/y breast 23. boong an aboriginal 24. broad a woman 25. bubba an uneducated conservative white male of the southern US.
92 26. bubby breast 27. bugger a. to commit sodomy with b. exclamation, used to express annoyance or anger c. a silly or annoying person 28. bull dyke an aggressively masculine lesbian 29. bullshit a. nonsense, especially foolish insolent talk b. exclamation c. to talk foolishly, boastfully, or idly, especially with the intention of deceiving or misleading d. to engage in a discursive discussion 30. bummmer something that is very annoying or inconvenient 31. cabbage a person whose physical or mental activity is impaired or destroyed as a result of injury or illness 32. chick a young woman 33. chink a Chinese person 34. chit an impudent or arrogant young woman 35. cholo a lower-class Mexican, especially in an urban area 36. chook an older woman 37. chopper a man’s penis 38. cock penis 39. cocksucker one who performs fellatio, a fellator 40. codger an elderly man 41. come a. to experience orgasm b. semen c. orgasm 42. commie a communist 43. coolie a person from the Indian subcontinent or of Indian descent, an unskilled and cheaply employed worker in Asia 44. coon a black person 45. cow an unkind or unpleasant woman 46. cracker a poor usually southern white 47. crap a. to defecate b. feces c. the act of defecating d. nonsense, rubbish, something which is of extremely poor quality vulgar e. extremely poor in quality 48. cretin a stupid, vulgar, or insensitive person 49. cripple a lame or partly disabled person or animal; one that is disabled or deficient in a specified manner 50. culchie a country bumpkin 51. cunt a. the female genital organs b. sexual intercourse with a woman c. woman d. a very unpleasant or stupid person 52. dago a person of Italian or Spanish birth or descent
93 53. damn to condemn as a failure by public criticism : to bring ruin on : to swear at : curse — often used to express annoyance, disgust, or surprise 54. darkie/y a black person 55. dick a. penis b. a stupid man 56. dickhead a stupid or contemptible person 57. dildo a stupid person, especially a man 58. dipshit a stupid or incompetent person 59. dog an unattractive woman 60. dork a. a man’s penis b. a socially inept person 61. dwarf a person who is much smaller than the usual size 62. dyke lesbian 63. eff used to add force to an expression 64. fag a male homosexual 65. fairy a male homosexual 66. fanny a woman's genitals 67. fart a. to expel intestinal gas from the anus b. an expulsion of intestinal gas c. a foolish or contemptible person 68. fatso a fat person 69. feminazi an extreme or militant feminist 70. fenian a protestant name for a catholic 71. feringhee a foreigner, especially a white person 72. frig a. copulate — sometimes used in the present participle as a meaningless intensive b. masturbate c. an act of sexual intercourse or masturbation. a. d. used in various phrases for emphasis, especially to express anger, annoyance, or surprise. b. exclamation, expressing extreme anger, annoyance, or contempt 73. frog Frenchman 74. fruit a male homosexual 75. fuck a. copulate b. mess — used with with c. to engage in coitus with — sometimes used interjectionally with an object (as a personal or reflexive pronoun) to express anger, contempt, or disgust d. to deal with unfairly or harshly : cheat, screw e. an act of copulation f. a sexual partner damn — used especially with the as a meaningless intensive; exclamation, used alone or as a noun (the fuck) or a verb in various phrases to express anger, annoyance, contempt, or to add force to what is being said impatience, or surprise, or simply for emphasis
94 g. fucker 76. gangbang a. copulation by several persons in succession with the same passive partner b. gang rape 77. giaour a non-Muslim, especially a Christian 78. gin an aboriginal woman 79. ginzo a person of Italian descent 80. girl a. a single or married woman of any age b. a female servant or employee 81. gook a nonwhite or non-American person; specifically Asian 82. goy gentile, a Jewish name for a non-Jew 83. greaser a native or inhabitant of Latin America or a Mediterranean land; especially Mexican 84. gringo a foreigner in Spain or Latin America especially when of English or American origin; broadly: a non-Hispanic person 85. gyppo a Gypsy 86. haole one who is not descended from the aboriginal Polynesian inhabitants of Hawaii; especially: white 87. hebe a Jewish person 88. herd a large group or class of people 89. honky a white person a white person or white people collectively 90. hooter breast — usually used in plural 91. horseshit nonsense, bunk 92. hump to copulate with 93. hun a German (especially in military contexts during the first and second world wars) 94. hunchback a person with such a deformity. 95. hunky a person of central or east European birth or descent 96. idiot a person affected with idiocy 97. imbecile a person affected with moderate mental retardation 98. indian belonging or relating to native Americans 99. jackeen chiefly a city-dweller, especially a Dubliner 100. jap Japanese 101. jig black 102. jingo a vociferous supporter of a patriotic war policy 103. jock a man who comes from Scotland 104. jong a black man 105. jug a woman’s breasts 106. kaffir a black African 107. kike Jew 108. kinglet a minor king 109. knackers testicles 110. knob a penis (of a man) have sexual intercourse with 111. knockers breast 112. kraut German
95 113. lapp Sámi 114. lay to copulate with a partner in sexual intercourse sexual intercourse 115. limey a British person 116. lunatic a person who is mentally ill 117. madman a man who is mentally ill 118. madwoman a woman who is mentally ill 119. mammy a black nursemaid or nanny in charge of white children 120. mick a. Irishman b. a roman catholic 121. minge a woman’s pubic hair or genitals 122. mongrel a person of mixed descent 123. mongol one affected with down syndrome 124. moonie a member of the unification church 125. moron a mildly mentally retarded person 126. motherfucker a. one that is formidable, contemptible, or offensive * usually used as a generalized term of abuse b. person, fellow c. a despicable or very unpleasant person or thing 127. muff a woman’s genitals 128. mulatto someone with one black parent and one white parent 129. munt a black African 130. nail to copulate with 131. nancy an effeminate or homosexual man 132. nazi a person with extreme racist or authoritarian views 133. negro A member of a race of humankind native to Africa and classified according to physical features (as dark skin pigmentation) 134. negroid having the physical features of a black person from Africa 135. nigger a black person a member of a socially disadvantaged class of persons 136. nip a Japanese person 137. nooky the female partner in sexual intercourse sexual intercourse 138. nut testis 139. nuthouse a psychiatric hospital 140. ofay a term for a white person used by black people 141. okie a migrant agricultural worker; especially: one from Oklahoma during the depression of the 1930s 142. oreo an American black who is seen, especially by other blacks, as wishing to be part of the white establishment 143. packet a man's sex organs 144. paddy Irishman 145. paki an immigrant from Pakistan or a neighboring south Asian country 146. pansy a weak or effeminate man or boy: a male homosexual 147. papist roman catholic
96 148. pecker penis 149. peckerwood a rural white southerner 150. peter penis 151. pickaniny a black child 152. piece a. an act of copulation b. the female partner in sexual intercourse 153. pig police officer 154. pillock a stupid or silly person 155. pinko a person with left-wing or liberal views 156. piss a. to urinate b. urine c. an act of urinating 157. pissant one that is insignificant — used as a generalized term of abuse 158. polack a person from Poland or of polish descent 159. pommy/pom Briton; especially: an English immigrant 160. poof a male homosexual 161. prick a. penis b. a spiteful or contemptible man often having some authority 162. proddy a protestant, especially in Ireland 163. pussy a. vulva b. sexual intercourse c. the female partner in sexual intercourse 164. putz a man’s penis 165. pygmy a very small person or thing 166. queen a male homosexual; especially an effeminate one 167. queer homosexual 168. redneck a working-class white person from the southern US., especially a politically conservative one 169. redskin American Indian 170. retard a. a retarded person b. a person held to resemble a retarded person in behavior 171. roger to have sex with someone 172. russki Russian 173. sambo a black person 174. sassenach English person 175. screw a. an act of sexual intercourse b. a partner in sexual intercourse c. used when expressing extreme anger or annoyance 176. scumbag a very unpleasant person who has done something dishonest or immoral, a contemptible person 177. scrubber a sexually promiscuous woman 178. sexpot a woman who is sexually exciting or is very interested in sex 179. shag a. to have sex with someone b. an act of having sex, or a sexual partner 180. shiksa a non-Jewish girl or woman 181. shit a. feces
97 b. an act of defecation c. a worthless, offensive, or detestable person d. to defecate e. to attempt to deceive f. used to express annoyance, anger, disgust or surprise 182. slag a promiscuous woman 183. slapper a woman who has sex with a lot of men 184. slope an oriental person, especially a Vietnamese 185. snatch the female pudenda 186. sod a. an unpleasant or obnoxious person b. exclamation 187. spade a black person 188. spastic an incompetent or uncoordinated person 189. spic a person from a Spanish-speaking country 190. spunk sexual liquid 191. squaw an American Indian woman or wife 192. stack (of a woman) having large breasts 193. stiffy an erection of a man’s penis 194. swish an effeminate homosexual 195. tackle a man’s genitals 196. taffy a Welshman 197. taig a protestant name for a catholic 198. tail a. sexual intercourse b. buttocks 199. tart a prostitute or promiscuous woman 200. tinker a gypsy or other person living in an itinerant community 201. tit a. breast b. a foolish or ineffectual person 202. tool penis 203. tosser a. a stupid or unpleasant person b. a person who masturbates 204. turd a. a piece of fecal matter b. an obnoxious or contemptible person 205. twat a. vagina b. a stupid or unpleasant person 206. vegetable a person who is incapable of normal mental or physical activity, especially through brain damage, a person with a dull or inactive life 207. vermin people who are unpleasant and harmful to society 208. wank to masturbate 209. wasp an American of northern European and especially British ancestry and of protestant background; especially a member of the dominant and the most privileged class of people in the United States 210. wetback a Mexican who enters the united states illegally 211. whelp a boy or young man 212. whitey the white man 213. whore a prostitute
98 214. wog a dark-skinned foreigner; especially one from the middle east or far east 215. womanish (of a man) effeminate 216. wop an Italian or other southern European 217. wrinklie an old person 218. yank an American 219. yellow a person having yellowish or light brown skin 220. yid a Jew
99 APPENDIX 2: CLASSIFICATION OF TABOO WORDS
OFFENS. AND NO. CATEGORIZA OFFENSIVENESS CATEGORIZATION TION
WORD t c c i n e f b o t i e t o r d a / h a l l t p p c t a a o i t o c u y n s n e x y m d j n e e h o o b o s S c M p h b o y t e s i l l e p a r o g u d d t y n r e n q r r d i s n o o p r i e o u a g e l t e t f v w u f i a e k v s n a n a n m t o i r r o n m e a o r c s n l l c t a p i a g o c s e s a a e e i s n a s n e a r p s i i o s a r u o i s a c a t n g p b m s m e e l r s r e m c o y c u n g t y g f c r g a e a s t s o a l f u i e b w e r e x e a c n r e a u h l e a e n e o v d d o r t s p i e o s e p P l g o a b p v b p w m c n
1 abo 2 asiatic 3 ass
4 bag
100 OFFENS. AND NO. CATEGORIZA OFFENSIVENESS CATEGORIZATION TION
WORD t c c i n e f b o i t e o t r d h a / a l t l p p t a c o a i t o c u n s y n e x n y m d j e e o h o o b s y S c M p h b o e t s l i l e p a r o g d u d t y r n e n q r r d s i n o o p r e i o u a g e t e t l f u v w f i a e s a k n v a n o n o m n m e t i r r r a c s o l c t n l p i a g s a s o c e e e s a a a i n s n p s i o a e a r r u i s o s a c a i t n g p e b m s e r s m r o y u n t y g l e m c c g c g a e f s r t s a l o a f i e b e r x e a c n r e u h e u w e a l a e n e o v d d o r t s p i e o s e p P l g o a b p v b p w m c n
5 balander 6 baldy 7 ball
8 bang 9 bastard
10 beaver 11 bent 12 biddy
101 OFFENS. AND NO. CATEGORIZA OFFENSIVENESS CATEGORIZATION TION
WORD t c c i n e f b o i t e o t r d h a / a l t l p p t a c o a i t o c u n s y n e x n y m d j e e o h o o b s y S c M p h b o e t s l i l e p a r o g d u d t y r n e n q r r d s i n o o p r e i o u a g e t e t l f u v w f i a e s a k n v a n o n o m n m e t i r r r a c s o l c t n l p i a g s a s o c e e e s a a a i n s n p s i o a e a r r u i s o s a c a i t n g p e b m s e r s m r o y u n t y g l e m c c g c g a e f s r t s a l o a f i e b e r x e a c n r e u h e u w e a l a e n e o v d d o r t s p i e o s e p P l g o a b p v b p w m c n
13 bimbo 14 bint 15 bitch
16 black 17 bloody 18 bohunk 19 bollocks
20 bone
102 OFFENS. AND NO. CATEGORIZA OFFENSIVENESS CATEGORIZATION TION
WORD t c c i n e f b o i t e o t r d h a / a l t l p p t a c o a i t o c u n s y n e x n y m d j e e o h o o b s y S c M p h b o e t s l i l e p a r o g d u d t y r n e n q r r d s i n o o p r e i o u a g e t e t l f u v w f i a e s a k n v a n o n o m n m e t i r r r a c s o l c t n l p i a g s a s o c e e e s a a a i n s n p s i o a e a r r u i s o s a c a i t n g p e b m s e r s m r o y u n t y g l e m c c g c g a e f s r t s a l o a f i e b e r x e a c n r e u h e u w e a l a e n e o v d d o r t s p i e o s e p P l g o a b p v b p w m c n
21 boner 22 boob 23 boonk 24 broad 25 bubba
26 bubby 27 bugger
28 bulldyke
103 OFFENS. AND NO. CATEGORIZA OFFENSIVENESS CATEGORIZATION TION
WORD t c c i n e f b o i t e o t r d h a / a l t l p p t a c o a i t o c u n s y n e x n y m d j e e o h o o b s y S c M p h b o e t s l i l e p a r o g d u d t y r n e n q r r d s i n o o p r e i o u a g e t e t l f u v w f i a e s a k n v a n o n o m n m e t i r r r a c s o l c t n l p i a g s a s o c e e e s a a a i n s n p s i o a e a r r u i s o s a c a i t n g p e b m s e r s m r o y u n t y g l e m c c g c g a e f s r t s a l o a f i e b e r x e a c n r e u h e u w e a l a e n e o v d d o r t s p i e o s e p P l g o a b p v b p w m c n
29 bullshit
30 bummer
31 cabbage 32 chick 33 chink 34 chit
35 cholo ` 36 chook 37 chopper 38 cock
104 OFFENS. AND NO. CATEGORIZA OFFENSIVENESS CATEGORIZATION TION
WORD t c c i n e f b o i t e o t r d h a / a l t l p p t a c o a i t o c u n s y n e x n y m d j e e o h o o b s y S c M p h b o e t s l i l e p a r o g d u d t y r n e n q r r d s i n o o p r e i o u a g e t e t l f u v w f i a e s a k n v a n o n o m n m e t i r r r a c s o l c t n l p i a g s a s o c e e e s a a a i n s n p s i o a e a r r u i s o s a c a i t n g p e b m s e r s m r o y u n t y g l e m c c g c g a e f s r t s a l o a f i e b e r x e a c n r e u h e u w e a l a e n e o v d d o r t s p i e o s e p P l g o a b p v b p w m c n
39 cocksucker 40 codger 41 come
42 commie 43 coolie 44 coon 45 cow 46 cracker 47 crap
105 OFFENS. AND NO. CATEGORIZA OFFENSIVENESS CATEGORIZATION TION
WORD t c c i n e f b o i t e o t r d h a / a l t l p p t a c o a i t o c u n s y n e x n y m d j e e o h o o b s y S c M p h b o e t s l i l e p a r o g d u d t y r n e n q r r d s i n o o p r e i o u a g e t e t l f u v w f i a e s a k n v a n o n o m n m e t i r r r a c s o l c t n l p i a g s a s o c e e e s a a a i n s n p s i o a e a r r u i s o s a c a i t n g p e b m s e r s m r o y u n t y g l e m c c g c g a e f s r t s a l o a f i e b e r x e a c n r e u h e u w e a l a e n e o v d d o r t s p i e o s e p P l g o a b p v b p w m c n
48 cretin
49 cripple 50 culchie 51 cunt
52 dago 53 damn 54 darky
106 OFFENS. AND NO. CATEGORIZA OFFENSIVENESS CATEGORIZATION TION
WORD t c c i n e f b o i t e o t r d h a / a l t l p p t a c o a i t o c u n s y n e x n y m d j e e o h o o b s y S c M p h b o e t s l i l e p a r o g d u d t y r n e n q r r d s i n o o p r e i o u a g e t e t l f u v w f i a e s a k n v a n o n o m n m e t i r r r a c s o l c t n l p i a g s a s o c e e e s a a a i n s n p s i o a e a r r u i s o s a c a i t n g p e b m s e r s m r o y u n t y g l e m c c g c g a e f s r t s a l o a f i e b e r x e a c n r e u h e u w e a l a e n e o v d d o r t s p i e o s e p P l g o a b p v b p w m c n
55 dick
56 dickhead 57 dildo 58 dipshit 59 dog 60 dork 61 dwarf 62 dyke 63 eff 64 fag 65 fairy
107 OFFENS. AND NO. CATEGORIZA OFFENSIVENESS CATEGORIZATION TION
WORD t c c i n e f b o i t e o t r d h a / a l t l p p t a c o a i t o c u n s y n e x n y m d j e e o h o o b s y S c M p h b o e t s l i l e p a r o g d u d t y r n e n q r r d s i n o o p r e i o u a g e t e t l f u v w f i a e s a k n v a n o n o m n m e t i r r r a c s o l c t n l p i a g s a s o c e e e s a a a i n s n p s i o a e a r r u i s o s a c a i t n g p e b m s e r s m r o y u n t y g l e m c c g c g a e f s r t s a l o a f i e b e r x e a c n r e u h e u w e a l a e n e o v d d o r t s p i e o s e p P l g o a b p v b p w m c n
66 fanny 67 fart
68 fatso 69 feminazi 70 fenian 71 feringhee 72 frig
73 frog 74 fruit
108 OFFENS. AND NO. CATEGORIZA OFFENSIVENESS CATEGORIZATION TION
WORD t c c i n e f b o i t e o t r d h a / a l t l p p t a c o a i t o c u n s y n e x n y m d j e e o h o o b s y S c M p h b o e t s l i l e p a r o g d u d t y r n e n q r r d s i n o o p r e i o u a g e t e t l f u v w f i a e s a k n v a n o n o m n m e t i r r r a c s o l c t n l p i a g s a s o c e e e s a a a i n s n p s i o a e a r r u i s o s a c a i t n g p e b m s e r s m r o y u n t y g l e m c c g c g a e f s r t s a l o a f i e b e r x e a c n r e u h e u w e a l a e n e o v d d o r t s p i e o s e p P l g o a b p v b p w m c n
75 fuck
76 gangbang 77 giaour 78 gin 79 ginzo 80 girl
81 gook
109 OFFENS. AND NO. CATEGORIZA OFFENSIVENESS CATEGORIZATION TION
WORD t c c i n e f b o i t e o t r d h a / a l t l p p t a c o a i t o c u n s y n e x n y m d j e e o h o o b s y S c M p h b o e t s l i l e p a r o g d u d t y r n e n q r r d s i n o o p r e i o u a g e t e t l f u v w f i a e s a k n v a n o n o m n m e t i r r r a c s o l c t n l p i a g s a s o c e e e s a a a i n s n p s i o a e a r r u i s o s a c a i t n g p e b m s e r s m r o y u n t y g l e m c c g c g a e f s r t s a l o a f i e b e r x e a c n r e u h e u w e a l a e n e o v d d o r t s p i e o s e p P l g o a b p v b p w m c n
82 goy 83 greaser 84 gringo 85 gyppo 86 haole 87 hebe 88 herd 89 honky 90 hooter 91 horseshit 92 hump 93 hun
110 OFFENS. AND NO. CATEGORIZA OFFENSIVENESS CATEGORIZATION TION
WORD t c c i n e f b o i t e o t r d h a / a l t l p p t a c o a i t o c u n s y n e x n y m d j e e o h o o b s y S c M p h b o e t s l i l e p a r o g d u d t y r n e n q r r d s i n o o p r e i o u a g e t e t l f u v w f i a e s a k n v a n o n o m n m e t i r r r a c s o l c t n l p i a g s a s o c e e e s a a a i n s n p s i o a e a r r u i s o s a c a i t n g p e b m s e r s m r o y u n t y g l e m c c g c g a e f s r t s a l o a f i e b e r x e a c n r e u h e u w e a l a e n e o v d d o r t s p i e o s e p P l g o a b p v b p w m c n
94 hunchback 95 hunky 96 idiot 97 imbecile 98 indian 99 jackeen 100 jap 101 jig 102 jingo 103 jock 104 jong 105 jug
111 OFFENS. AND NO. CATEGORIZA OFFENSIVENESS CATEGORIZATION TION
WORD t c c i n e f b o i t e o t r d h a / a l t l p p t a c o a i t o c u n s y n e x n y m d j e e o h o o b s y S c M p h b o e t s l i l e p a r o g d u d t y r n e n q r r d s i n o o p r e i o u a g e t e t l f u v w f i a e s a k n v a n o n o m n m e t i r r r a c s o l c t n l p i a g s a s o c e e e s a a a i n s n p s i o a e a r r u i s o s a c a i t n g p e b m s e r s m r o y u n t y g l e m c c g c g a e f s r t s a l o a f i e b e r x e a c n r e u h e u w e a l a e n e o v d d o r t s p i e o s e p P l g o a b p v b p w m c n
106 kaffir 107 kike 108 kinglet 109 knackers 110 knob
111 knockers 112 kraut 113 lapp 114 lay
115 limey
112 OFFENS. AND NO. CATEGORIZA OFFENSIVENESS CATEGORIZATION TION
WORD t c c i n e f b o i t e o t r d h a / a l t l p p t a c o a i t o c u n s y n e x n y m d j e e o h o o b s y S c M p h b o e t s l i l e p a r o g d u d t y r n e n q r r d s i n o o p r e i o u a g e t e t l f u v w f i a e s a k n v a n o n o m n m e t i r r r a c s o l c t n l p i a g s a s o c e e e s a a a i n s n p s i o a e a r r u i s o s a c a i t n g p e b m s e r s m r o y u n t y g l e m c c g c g a e f s r t s a l o a f i e b e r x e a c n r e u h e u w e a l a e n e o v d d o r t s p i e o s e p P l g o a b p v b p w m c n
116 lunatic 117 madman 118 madwoman 119 mammy 120 mick
121 minge 122 mongrel 123 mongol 124 moonie 125 moron 126 motherfucker
113 OFFENS. AND NO. CATEGORIZA OFFENSIVENESS CATEGORIZATION TION
WORD t c c i n e f b o i t e o t r d h a / a l t l p p t a c o a i t o c u n s y n e x n y m d j e e o h o o b s y S c M p h b o e t s l i l e p a r o g d u d t y r n e n q r r d s i n o o p r e i o u a g e t e t l f u v w f i a e s a k n v a n o n o m n m e t i r r r a c s o l c t n l p i a g s a s o c e e e s a a a i n s n p s i o a e a r r u i s o s a c a i t n g p e b m s e r s m r o y u n t y g l e m c c g c g a e f s r t s a l o a f i e b e r x e a c n r e u h e u w e a l a e n e o v d d o r t s p i e o s e p P l g o a b p v b p w m c n
127 muff 128 mulatto 129 munt 130 nail 131 nancy 132 nazi 133 negro 134 negroid 135 nigger 136 nip
114 OFFENS. AND NO. CATEGORIZA OFFENSIVENESS CATEGORIZATION TION
WORD t c c i n e f b o i t e o t r d h a / a l t l p p t a c o a i t o c u n s y n e x n y m d j e e o h o o b s y S c M p h b o e t s l i l e p a r o g d u d t y r n e n q r r d s i n o o p r e i o u a g e t e t l f u v w f i a e s a k n v a n o n o m n m e t i r r r a c s o l c t n l p i a g s a s o c e e e s a a a i n s n p s i o a e a r r u i s o s a c a i t n g p e b m s e r s m r o y u n t y g l e m c c g c g a e f s r t s a l o a f i e b e r x e a c n r e u h e u w e a l a e n e o v d d o r t s p i e o s e p P l g o a b p v b p w m c n
137 nooky
138 nut 139 nuthouse 140 ofay 141 okie 142 oreo 143 packet 144 paddy 145 paki 146 pansy 147 papist
115 OFFENS. AND NO. CATEGORIZA OFFENSIVENESS CATEGORIZATION TION
WORD t c c i n e f b o i t e o t r d h a / a l t l p p t a c o a i t o c u n s y n e x n y m d j e e o h o o b s y S c M p h b o e t s l i l e p a r o g d u d t y r n e n q r r d s i n o o p r e i o u a g e t e t l f u v w f i a e s a k n v a n o n o m n m e t i r r r a c s o l c t n l p i a g s a s o c e e e s a a a i n s n p s i o a e a r r u i s o s a c a i t n g p e b m s e r s m r o y u n t y g l e m c c g c g a e f s r t s a l o a f i e b e r x e a c n r e u h e u w e a l a e n e o v d d o r t s p i e o s e p P l g o a b p v b p w m c n
148 pecker 149 peckerwood 150 peter 151 pickaniny 152 piece
153 pig 154 pillock
155 pinko 156 piss 157 pissant
116 OFFENS. AND NO. CATEGORIZA OFFENSIVENESS CATEGORIZATION TION
WORD t c c i n e f b o i t e o t r d h a / a l t l p p t a c o a i t o c u n s y n e x n y m d j e e o h o o b s y S c M p h b o e t s l i l e p a r o g d u d t y r n e n q r r d s i n o o p r e i o u a g e t e t l f u v w f i a e s a k n v a n o n o m n m e t i r r r a c s o l c t n l p i a g s a s o c e e e s a a a i n s n p s i o a e a r r u i s o s a c a i t n g p e b m s e r s m r o y u n t y g l e m c c g c g a e f s r t s a l o a f i e b e r x e a c n r e u h e u w e a l a e n e o v d d o r t s p i e o s e p P l g o a b p v b p w m c n
158 polack 159 pommy 160 poof 161 prick
162 proddy 163 pussy
164 putz 165 pygmy 166 queen 167 queer
117 OFFENS. AND NO. CATEGORIZA OFFENSIVENESS CATEGORIZATION TION
WORD t c c i n e f b o i t e o t r d h a / a l t l p p t a c o a i t o c u n s y n e x n y m d j e e o h o o b s y S c M p h b o e t s l i l e p a r o g d u d t y r n e n q r r d s i n o o p r e i o u a g e t e t l f u v w f i a e s a k n v a n o n o m n m e t i r r r a c s o l c t n l p i a g s a s o c e e e s a a a i n s n p s i o a e a r r u i s o s a c a i t n g p e b m s e r s m r o y u n t y g l e m c c g c g a e f s r t s a l o a f i e b e r x e a c n r e u h e u w e a l a e n e o v d d o r t s p i e o s e p P l g o a b p v b p w m c n
168 redneck 169 redskin 170 retard
171 roger 172 russki 173 sambo 174 sassenach 175 screw
118 OFFENS. AND NO. CATEGORIZA OFFENSIVENESS CATEGORIZATION TION
WORD t c c i n e f b o i t e o t r d h a / a l t l p p t a c o a i t o c u n s y n e x n y m d j e e o h o o b s y S c M p h b o e t s l i l e p a r o g d u d t y r n e n q r r d s i n o o p r e i o u a g e t e t l f u v w f i a e s a k n v a n o n o m n m e t i r r r a c s o l c t n l p i a g s a s o c e e e s a a a i n s n p s i o a e a r r u i s o s a c a i t n g p e b m s e r s m r o y u n t y g l e m c c g c g a e f s r t s a l o a f i e b e r x e a c n r e u h e u w e a l a e n e o v d d o r t s p i e o s e p P l g o a b p v b p w m c n
176 scumbag 177 Scrubber 178 sexpot 179 shag 180 shiksa 181 shit
182 slag 183 slapper 184 slope 185 Snatch
119 OFFENS. AND NO. CATEGORIZA OFFENSIVENESS CATEGORIZATION TION
WORD t c c i n e f b o i t e o t r d h a / a l t l p p t a c o a i t o c u n s y n e x n y m d j e e o h o o b s y S c M p h b o e t s l i l e p a r o g d u d t y r n e n q r r d s i n o o p r e i o u a g e t e t l f u v w f i a e s a k n v a n o n o m n m e t i r r r a c s o l c t n l p i a g s a s o c e e e s a a a i n s n p s i o a e a r r u i s o s a c a i t n g p e b m s e r s m r o y u n t y g l e m c c g c g a e f s r t s a l o a f i e b e r x e a c n r e u h e u w e a l a e n e o v d d o r t s p i e o s e p P l g o a b p v b p w m c n
186 sod
187 spade 188 spastic 189 Spic 190 Spunk 191 Squaw 192 Stack 193 Stiffy 194 stuff 195 swish 196 tackle
120 OFFENS. AND NO. CATEGORIZA OFFENSIVENESS CATEGORIZATION TION
WORD t c c i n e f b o i t e o t r d h a / a l t l p p t a c o a i t o c u n s y n e x n y m d j e e o h o o b s y S c M p h b o e t s l i l e p a r o g d u d t y r n e n q r r d s i n o o p r e i o u a g e t e t l f u v w f i a e s a k n v a n o n o m n m e t i r r r a c s o l c t n l p i a g s a s o c e e e s a a a i n s n p s i o a e a r r u i s o s a c a i t n g p e b m s e r s m r o y u n t y g l e m c c g c g a e f s r t s a l o a f i e b e r x e a c n r e u h e u w e a l a e n e o v d d o r t s p i e o s e p P l g o a b p v b p w m c n
197 taffy 198 taig 199 tail
200 tart 201 tinker 202 tit
203 tool 204 tosser
121 OFFENS. AND NO. CATEGORIZA OFFENSIVENESS CATEGORIZATION TION
WORD t c c i n e f b o i t e o t r d h a / a l t l p p t a c o a i t o c u n s y n e x n y m d j e e o h o o b s y S c M p h b o e t s l i l e p a r o g d u d t y r n e n q r r d s i n o o p r e i o u a g e t e t l f u v w f i a e s a k n v a n o n o m n m e t i r r r a c s o l c t n l p i a g s a s o c e e e s a a a i n s n p s i o a e a r r u i s o s a c a i t n g p e b m s e r s m r o y u n t y g l e m c c g c g a e f s r t s a l o a f i e b e r x e a c n r e u h e u w e a l a e n e o v d d o r t s p i e o s e p P l g o a b p v b p w m c n
205 turd
206 twat
207 Vegetable 208 vermin 209 wank 210 wasp 211 wetback 212 whelp 213 whitey 214 Whore
122 OFFENS. AND NO. CATEGORIZA OFFENSIVENESS CATEGORIZATION TION
WORD t c c i n e f b o i t e o t r d h a / a l t l p p t a c o a i t o c u n s y n e x n y m d j e e o h o o b s y S c M p h b o e t s l i l e p a r o g d u d t y r n e n q r r d s i n o o p r e i o u a g e t e t l f u v w f i a e s a k n v a n o n o m n m e t i r r r a c s o l c t n l p i a g s a s o c e e e s a a a i n s n p s i o a e a r r u i s o s a c a i t n g p e b m s e r s m r o y u n t y g l e m c c g c g a e f s r t s a l o a f i e b e r x e a c n r e u h e u w e a l a e n e o v d d o r t s p i e o s e p P l g o a b p v b p w m c n
215 Wog 216 womanish 217 wop 218 wrinklie 219 Yank 220 Yellow 221 yid
123