In this article, Jobert starts by giving an overview of various theories of politeness and global verbal interactions. He adheres to the idea that impoliteness is its own pragmatic and linguistic object and not just the counterpart of the better-studied phenomenon of politeness. This emerging view led Culpeper and Bousfield to propose specific models for impoliteness, based on the types of speech acts used to threaten the face (positive or negative) of the addressee. Jobert argues that impoliteness, in these models, must be seen as a marked speech act, enacted by a voluntary face-threatening act. He further reiterates that politeness and impoliteness work hand in hand and cannot be dissociated.