Swear words for sale

2021 ◽  
Vol 12 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Kristy Beers Fägersten ◽  
Gerardine M. Pereira

Abstract Swearing has traditionally been associated with spoken language; however, swear words are appearing more often in print and, notably, explicitly featured in commercial products. In this paper, we consider this development an example of the commodification of swear words, or ‘swear words for sale’. Our analyses of English-language swear word products show that the taboo nature of swear words is exploited and capitalized upon for commercial gain. We argue that swear word commodities trade on sociolinguistically incongruous aspects of swear word usage, increasing salability of the swear word products by targeting specific demographics. Specifically, we analyze (1) women’s apparel and accessories, (2) domestic items and home décor, and (3) children’s products for adults or articles targeting parents of young children. The study concludes with a discussion of whether the popularization of swearing via such commodification may ultimately result in a loss of distinctiveness and devaluation.

2016 ◽  
Vol 13 (1) ◽  
pp. 77
Author(s):  
Puspalata C A/P Suppiah ◽  
Ramesh Nair

There is evidence to suggest that young children more readily absorb the subtle messages that are encoded in any type of text and talk, and what they take away from these texts contributes in helping them develop their own identity in relation to their role in society. In this paper, we examine the construction of ethnic identity in a selection of English language textbooks targeted at young Malaysian children in primary schools. Based on a content analysis of visual and verbal language in two Primary Three English language textbooks, we report on the encoded messages that are transmitted to young Malaysian children about their place in society. The findings reveal significant imbalances in the way characters of different ethnic backgrounds are represented. This imbalance is a cause for concern as the message conveyed to young Malaysian children could be potentially damaging. Keywords: textbook, ethnicity, identity construction


2017 ◽  
Vol 45 (3) ◽  
pp. 581-609 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sarah J. OWENS ◽  
Justine M. THACKER ◽  
Susan A. GRAHAM

AbstractSpeech disfluencies can guide the ways in which listeners interpret spoken language. Here, we examined whether three-year-olds, five-year-olds, and adults use filled pauses to anticipate that a speaker is likely to refer to a novel object. Across three experiments, participants were presented with pairs of novel and familiar objects and heard a speaker refer to one of the objects using a fluent (“Look at the ball/lep!”) or disfluent (“Look at thee uh ball/lep!”) expression. The salience of the speaker's unfamiliarity with the novel referents, and the way in which the speaker referred to the novel referents (i.e., a noun vs. a description) varied across experiments. Three- and five-year-olds successfully identified familiar and novel targets, but only adults’ looking patterns reflected increased looks to novel objects in the presence of a disfluency. Together, these findings demonstrate that adults, but not young children, use filled pauses to anticipate reference to novel objects.


2017 ◽  
Vol 31 (2) ◽  
pp. 40-46
Author(s):  
Audrey Berger Cardany

Little Excavator, a recent publication by Anna Dewdney, is a delightful picture book for young children and perfect for a musical shared book experience in a group setting for preschool and first-grade children. In this article, connections between music learning and the typical shared book experience are outlined. Musical ways to share the book and extension activities for pitch and rhythm concepts are provided. The author includes alignments to National Core Music Standards as well as English Language Common Core Standards for music and reading teachers.


Author(s):  
Любовь Николаевна Арбачакова ◽  
Ирина Анатольевна Невская

В данной статье на примерах расшифрованных рукописных текстов героических сказаний рассматриваются индивидуальные особенности словоупотребления сказителей. Сказители используют сходные стилистические и коммуникативно-прагматические средства. Во-первых, каждого из сказителей отличают особенности их родного диалекта или говора, как лексические, так и грамматические. Во-вторых, для современных сказителей типично широкое использование русских заимствований, как глобальных копирований, так и частичных. В-третьих, практически все исполнители используют просторечные стяженные формы глаголов, местоимений, существительных, характерные для устной речи. В-четвертых, сказители очень часто используют предпочитаемые ими коммуникативно-прагматические частицы, которые достаточно сложно перевести на русский язык и которые в обработанных фольклорных текстах часто опускаются их издателями (полза; тедир; ноо). В-пятых, у каждого исполнителя есть собственная (индивидуальная) лексика, употребляемая им во время эпического исполнения. Устный регистр исполнения эпического текста делает особенно проминентным использование коммуникативно-прагматических частиц. Каждый из рассмотренных сказителей предпочитает ту или иную частицу при том, что практически все они при исполнении используют все вышеупомянутые частицы. Эти частицы принадлежат устному регистру исполнения текста, помогая сказителю психологически настроиться на дальнейшее исполнение, собраться с мыслями и т. п. В то же время они выполняют важные семантические и прагматические функции. Тедир подчеркивает пересказывательность текста: как говорят, насколько я могу судить, по мере моего понимания, насколько я видел или слышал, как оказалось и т. п. Изä употребляется как маркер верности передачи смысла эпоса. Полза, широко использующееся в шорском языке как частица, маркирующая смену темы высказывания, в эпических текстах может становиться частицей, служащей для выражения повествовательного стилистического приема саспенс, помогающего сказителю повысить интерес слушателя к продолжению текста. При общности этих особенностей для всех представителей современного поколения сказителей конкретный выбор того или иного полнозначного слова, его формы или прагматической частицы являются индивидуальными для каждого из сказителей. По этим «собственным» сказительским словоупотреблениям и предпочтениям, как по почерку, можно определить личность кайчи. This article deals with individual peculiarities of word usage by Shor storytellers (qaychi’s). We have analyzed (and, partially, deciphered) a row of manuscripts of Shor heroic epic stories and delineated some linguistic features typical for a certain storyteller. Storytellers use similar or identical stylistic devices and communicative and pragmatic means. Firstly, each storyteller preserves the features of his or her dialect or subdialect, both lexical and grammatical ones. Secondly, modern storytellers widely use Russian borrowings as global or partial copies. Thirdly, practically all storytellers use typical for the spoken language contracted forms of verbs, verbal forms, pronouns and nouns. Fourthly, storytellers abundantly use communicative and pragmatic particles of their choice. Such particles are difficult for translation into Russian; they are often omitted in written editions of epic texts (e. g. polza, tedir, noo, etc.). Fifthly, each storyteller has its own individual expressions and words. The oral register of telling an epic story makes the use of communicative and pragmatic particles especially prominent. Each storyteller has his or her preferred particles used most often, although, of course, all particles can be used by any storyteller. Such particles help the storyteller to collect his or her thoughts, to communicate with the listeners, etc.; moreover, they fulfill very important semantic and pragmatic functions: Tedir stresses the hearsay evidentiality of epic texts or a certain distance of the speaker to the narrated events meaning ‘as one says, as people say, as far as I can judge, as far as I could understand, it has appeared (to me), etc.’ Izä in epic texts stresses the adequacy of a narration. Polza is used in Shor as a particle marking switch reference (as for …); in epics, it is a particle serving as a stylistic device suspense, and helping to raise the interest of the listeners in the continuation of the story. Even if these features are common to all storytellers whose epic texts we have analyzed, their choices of a certain word, expression or form are individual. Certain words and peculiarities of their usage indicate the personality of a storyteller, similar to his typical handwriting; both of them are individual and unique. Moreover, some usages give a clue to the emotions and the state of mind of the qaychi during his performance.


1980 ◽  
Vol 61 (6) ◽  
pp. 332-338 ◽  
Author(s):  
Allan A. Bloom

Spoken language is the primary tool of the social worker, but widespread dehumanizing abuses of language in the field of social work persist. The concerned practitioner must avoid the pervasive tendency to use words as a barrier rather than as an aid to the establishment of a genuine helping relationship.


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