Taboo word fluency and knowledge of slurs and general pejoratives: deconstructing the poverty-of-vocabulary myth

Jay, Kristin L.; Jay, Tim

doi:10.1016/j.langsci.2014.12.003

Cited by 47 publications

(58 citation statements)

References 32 publications

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“…They were perfectly aware of meaning and offensiveness but still chose to deploy it in interactions. This pattern confirms the findings by Jay and Jay (2015) and Schwartz and Eichstaedt et al (2013) about swearing being positively correlated with Neuroticism. It also mirrors the finding by Mehl et al (2006) about Extraversion as perceived by others being positively linked to swearing (a relationship Schwartz and Eichstaedt et al (2013) failed to establish).…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 92%

“…The L1 users rated the word as very offensive, confirming previous findings (Beers-Fägersten 2007;Jay and Janschewitz 2008;Jay and Jay 2015). Unsurprisingly, LX users were less sure about the exact meaning of the word, underestimated its offensiveness and reported using it less frequently than L1 users.…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 85%

“…Jay and Jay (2015) showed that this assumption is unfounded as far as American university students (N = 218) are concerned by showing a strong positive correlation between taboo fluency (i.e. the ability to recite or write down as many taboo words as possible over a short time span) and other measures of verbal fluency.…”

Section: Literature Reviewmentioning

confidence: 99%

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“Cunt”: On the perception and handling of verbal dynamite by L1 and LX users of English

Dewaele

2018

Multilingua

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"Cunt" is currently one of the most offensive words in the English language and is usually censored in the English press and media. The present study looks firstly at differences between 1159 first (L1) and 1165 foreign (LX) users of English in their perceived understanding of the word, its perceived offensiveness and their self-reported frequency of use. Secondly, it considers the relationships between the dependent variables and a number of psychological, sociobiographical and linguistic profile variables. The findings suggest that LX users are less sure about the exact meaning of the word, underestimate its offensiveness and use it less frequently than L1 users. Links between understanding of the word and its perceived offensiveness vary for L1 and LX users. High levels of Extraversion, Neuroticism and Psychoticism were linked to more frequent use of the word, as were lower levels of education, a younger age, being a male and working in a swearing-rich environment for both L1 and LX users. Variation in the group of LX users was linked to age of onset of acquisition of English, context of acquisition, self-reported oral proficiency, frequency of use of English and having lived in an English-speaking environment.

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Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 92%

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 85%

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“Cunt”: On the perception and handling of verbal dynamite by L1 and LX users of English

Dewaele

2018

Multilingua

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“…As Jay (2009) points out, we feel better after swearing: its cathartic effect frees us of angry emotions and limits instances of physical violence. People who swear are not necessarily perceived negatively and frequent use of swearwords is not an indication of a limited vocabulary, on the contrary (Jay and Jay 2015).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…In other words, everybody swears occasionally, and some do so more regularly. While swearing can lead to social disapproval, and is commonly linked to laziness, lack education or self-control, it is in fact an integral part of human interactions (Jay and Jay 2015). As Jay (2009) points out, we feel better after swearing: its cathartic effect frees us of angry emotions and limits instances of physical violence.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Self-reported frequency of swearing in English: do situational, psychological and sociobiographical variables have similar effects on first and foreign language users?

Dewaele

2016

Journal of Multilingual and Multicultural Development

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An analysis of data collected from 2347 users of English on their self-reported swearing behaviour in English revealed significant higher values for the 1159 native English (L1) users than for the 1165 English foreign language (LX) users. Parallel analyses on the data of the L1 and LX users revealed that the interlocutor effect was slightly stronger among L1 users. Swearing was reported to be most frequent in interactions with friends, when alone, followed by interactions with family members, colleagues and strangers. Participants scoring high on Psychoticism, Extraversion and Neuroticism reported significantly more swearing in English. Extraversion and Neuroticism had the strongest effects on LX users' self-reported swearing with friends and alone while Psychoticism and Neuroticism had the strongest effects on L1 users' self-reported swearing with strangers and with friends. The effects of sociobiographical variables (education level, age group, gender) were broadly similar among L1 and LX users but were significant in more categories of interlocutors for the L1 users. It is argued that the weaker effect of situational, psychological and sociobiographical variables on self-reported frequency of swearing among LX users of English could be linked to larger heterogeneity in their history of learning, socialisation, proficiency and use of English.

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Language Matters: Disability and the Power of Taboo Words

Arciuli

Shakespeare²

2023

The Palgrave Handbook of Disability and Communication

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Taboo word fluency and knowledge of slurs and general pejoratives: deconstructing the poverty-of-vocabulary myth

Cited by 47 publications

References 32 publications

“Cunt”: On the perception and handling of verbal dynamite by L1 and LX users of English

“Cunt”: On the perception and handling of verbal dynamite by L1 and LX users of English

Self-reported frequency of swearing in English: do situational, psychological and sociobiographical variables have similar effects on first and foreign language users?

Language Matters: Disability and the Power of Taboo Words

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