Article published In:
Journal of Language Aggression and ConflictVol. 1:1 (2013) ► pp.87–114
Towards a cross-cultural pragmatic taxonomy of insults
The aim of this paper is to explain the use of insults from a relevance-theoretic perspective. To that end, our analysis takes into consideration four variables that, we believe, play a major role in how insults are produced an interpreted: (a) the conventional or innovative nature of the insult; (b) the underlying intentionality (to offend, to praise or to establish/maintain social bonding; (c) the in/correct interpretation of the insult, and (d) the addressee’s reaction or lack thereof. The combination of these variables generates a twenty four case taxonomy that can account for and describe the use of insults in any given (cross)-cultural context. The proposed taxonomy will be here described and exemplified.
Cited by (33)
Cited by 33 other publications
Andersson, Marta
2024. E-mpoliteness – creative impoliteness as an expression of digital social capital. Journal of Politeness Research 20:2 ► pp. 227 ff. 
Etaywe, Awni
2024. Unmasking Malicious Stance Indicators and Attitudinal Priming: An ‘Evaluative Textbite’ Approach to Identity Attacks in Violent Extremist Discourse. Corpus Pragmatics
Placencia, María Elena
2024. Racial Slurs on Ecuadorian X/Twitter Interactions: Old and New Realizations, Same Underlying Negative Beliefs. In Evaluating Identities Online, ► pp. 21 ff.
Saadon, Asaf
2024. The discursive role of the label “PC”: Analyzing changes in discriminatory language with the condemnation model. Discourse & Society
Schlaerth, Christian A. I., Aaron Puhrmann, Elaine Bossard & Rachel Setting
2024. Subcultural Hierarchy and Policing amongst Incels in Online Forums. Qualitative Sociology Review 20:2 ► pp. 6 ff.
Lewandowska-Tomaszczyk, Barbara, Anna Bączkowska, Chaya Liebeskind, Giedre Valunaite Oleskeviciene & Slavko Žitnik
2023. An integrated explicit and implicit offensive language taxonomy. Lodz Papers in Pragmatics 19:1 ► pp. 7 ff.
Love, Robbie & Anna-Brita Stenstrom
2023. Corpus-pragmatic perspectives on the contemporary weakening of fuck: The case of teenage British English conversation. Journal of Pragmatics 216 ► pp. 167 ff.
Etaywe, Awni & Michele Zappavigna
2022. Identity, ideology and threatening communication. Journal of Language Aggression and Conflict 10:2 ► pp. 315 ff.
SturtzSreetharan, Cindi, Sarah Trainer & Alexandra Brewis
2022. The Harm Inflicted by Polite Concern: Language, Fat, and Stigma. Culture, Medicine, and Psychiatry 46:4 ► pp. 683 ff.
Antoniou, Maria
2021. Insults and Swear Words in the TinTin Comic. Półrocznik Językoznawczy Tertium 6:1 ► pp. 86 ff.
Bączkowska, Anna
2021. “You’re too thick to change the station” – Impoliteness, insults and responses to insults on Twitter. Topics in Linguistics 22:2 ► pp. 62 ff.
Bączkowska, Anna
2022. "HOPE YOU HAVE A SHIT BIRTHDAY YOU FAT CUNT”– cognitive strategies, rhetorical figures and linguistic means used in insulting Tweets. Forum Filologiczne Ateneum :1(10)2022 ► pp. 9 ff.
Dynel, Marta
2021. Desperately seeking intentions: Genuine and jocular insults on social media. Journal of Pragmatics 179 ► pp. 26 ff.
Dynel, Marta & Valeria Sinkeviciute
2021. Conversational Humour. In The Cambridge Handbook of Sociopragmatics, ► pp. 408 ff.
Palacios Martínez, Ignacio M.
2021. Taboo vocatives in the language of London teenagers. Pragmatics. Quarterly Publication of the International Pragmatics Association (IPrA) 31:2 ► pp. 250 ff.
Rousseau, Elise & Stephane J Baele
2021. “Filthy Lapdogs,” “Jerks,” and “Hitler”: Making Sense of Insults in International Relations. International Studies Review 23:3 ► pp. 532 ff.
Balogh, Andrea & Ágnes Veszelszki
2020. Politeness and Insult in Computer Games – From a Pragmatic Point of View. Acta Universitatis Sapientiae, Communicatio 7:1 ► pp. 68 ff.
Dynel, Marta & Fabio I. M. Poppi
Fakharzadeh, Mehrnoosh & Hajar Dadkhah
2020. The influence of religious ideology on subtitling expletives: A quantitative approach. Text & Talk 40:4 ► pp. 443 ff.
Knoblock, Natalia
Linde-Usiekniewicz, Jadwiga
2020. Chapter 8. Towards a relevance-theoretic account of hate speech. In Relevance Theory, Figuration, and Continuity in Pragmatics [Figurative Thought and Language, 8], ► pp. 229 ff.
Špago, Džemal
2020. Gender-related differences in the use and perception of verbal insults: the Bosnian perspective. Lingua Posnaniensis 62:2 ► pp. 81 ff.
Špago, Džemal
2022. Insulting Rhetorical Questions – Mitigators or Amplifiers? . Respectus Philologicus :41(46) ► pp. 11 ff.
Cruz, Manuel Padilla
2019. Qualifying insults, offensive epithets, slurs and expressive expletives. Journal of Language Aggression and Conflict 7:2 ► pp. 156 ff.
Dynel, Marta & Fabio I.M. Poppi
2019. Risum teneatis, amici?☆: The socio-pragmatics of RoastMe humour. Journal of Pragmatics 139 ► pp. 1 ff.
Bonacchi, Silvia
2018. Verbale Aggression. In Handbuch Pragmatik, ► pp. 439 ff.
Sinkeviciute, Valeria
Sinkeviciute, Valeria
2020. “Ya bloody drongo!!!”. In (Im)politeness and Moral Order in Online Interactions [Benjamins Current Topics, 107], ► pp. 67 ff.
Stenström, Anna-Brita
2017. Chapter 7. Swearing in English and Spanish teenage talk. In Advances in Swearing Research [Pragmatics & Beyond New Series, 282], ► pp. 158 ff.
Nodoushan, Mohammad Ali Salmani
2016. On the functions of swearing in Persian. Journal of Language Aggression and Conflict 4:2 ► pp. 234 ff.
Yus, Francisco
2015. Discourse and Indentity. In International Encyclopedia of the Social & Behavioral Sciences, ► pp. 498 ff.
Meibauer, Jörg
2014. Bald-faced lies as acts of verbal aggression. Journal of Language Aggression and Conflict 2:1 ► pp. 127 ff.
[no author supplied]
2021. Topics and Settings in Sociopragmatics. In The Cambridge Handbook of Sociopragmatics, ► pp. 247 ff.
This list is based on CrossRef data as of 19 october 2024. Please note that it may not be complete. Sources presented here have been supplied by the respective publishers. Any errors therein should be reported to them.