Profanity is an emotive communicative tool which plays a variety of roles in contemporary Australian society. Discuss.
Swearing and taboo terms are utilised in the everyday communication and language of Australian people. In different social groups, profanities deviate from their standard functions to consolidate membership between the group’s participants. Swear words which are specifically chosen to support their function has the ability to attract attention, controversy and a response to an advertisement or commercial from the targeted audience. Moreover, swearing has a function in the expression of emotions, both positive and negative, to intensify, vent or reveal the feelings of its users.
Swearing reinforces in-group solidarity and rapport between social groups in Australia. Teenagers often employ lexemes which are regarded as profane and offensive in nature as a means of differentiating themselves from older generations. Terms which usually function as ones of offense or abuse are typically utilised with the non-standard personal pronoun ‘ya’, as in ‘ya sick c*nt’ and ‘ya dickhead’ as terms of endearment or even compliments between group members. Similarly, lexemes regarded by the wider community as politically incorrect or racist, such as ‘nigger’ can used within groups with different denotations and connotations to their original meaning. ‘Nigger’ can be used to describe a person, not necessarily of African descent, in a positive, friendly light, such as in the highly elliptic internet meme ‘He white, but he still my nigger’. The semantic change the lexeme has undergone is similar to the shift a word like ‘bugger’ – from a highly insulting or hurtful term, designed to offend, to one which can also be utilised as a friendly term of address. Australian tradesman or ‘tradies’ exemplify another group whose in-group language possesses an ‘excessive’ amount of swearing. However, the swear words, far from being abusive or rude, are “a tool used for building and maintaining positive affiliations between members of this unique culture.[1]” The use of profanities, specifically ‘f*ck’ and ‘c*nt’, amongst the tradesmen, as well as other ‘blue-collar’ workers is commonly associated with in-group membership. The swear words used by older tradesmen will in turn influence the language of the newly employed, who adjust and accommodate their language appropriately to suit the social context. In order to minimise the social distance between interlocutors and adhere to the ‘Communication Accommodation Theory’, swear or taboo terms will be employed by the members of various social groups.
The utilisation of profanities in Australia’s advertising industry provides a controversial, yet memorable impression on their audience and future buyers. The recent billboard campaign of the underwear manufacturer ‘Bonds’ revealed the single word ‘BOOBS’ to promote their new bra range. This Australian vernacular for a woman’s breasts is still a sensitive topic for most, resulting in a ‘shock-factor’ and memorability for potential buyers driving past. This word association is comparable to the English clothing brand FCUK, an initialism standing for French Connection United Kingdom with similarities with the lexeme ‘f*ck’. These campaigns are intended to be provocative, with the man behind the controversial ‘Don’t be a Dickhead’ road safety advertisements saying that he is “pleased with the uproar created by the controversial campaign.[2]” Commercials and advertisements also have a communicative purpose. Swear words, due to their controversial nature, attract the attention of viewers, fulfilling the functions of the text. TAC’s ‘bloody idiot’ campaigns feature slogans such as ‘If you drink and drive, you’re a bloody idiot’ and ‘Just a little bit over? You bloody idiot’. Although the adjective ‘bloody’ and the noun ‘idiot’ are no longer considered to be a profanity, its usage and designed effect is still the same as a more taboo intensifier or insult. The stupidity of drink-driving and speeding are conveyed to drivers by the blunt dysphemisms, pun on the word ‘bloody’ and the attention-seeking use of ‘bloody idiot’ in the government’s attempt to discourage inconsiderate driving. TAC’s use of the modifier ‘bloody’ contrasts in purpose and effect to the Tourism Australia’s 2007 advertisement ‘So where the bloody hell are you?’ The popular Australian colloquialism, rather than being of shock value, encapsulates the informality and friendliness of Australians. The intensifier ‘the bloody hell’ reveals a lack of conservatism in the Australian language and is combined with the structural ambiguity of the catch-phrase to promote tourism. Profanities are implemented by the commercial industry in various ways, depending on nature and purpose, to attract the attention of readers and to communicate a wide range of information to them.
Swearing also has the purpose of expressing the emotional state of its speaker. Expressions of frustration, stress or aggression are commonly associated with intensifying and emphasising negative emotions. Offensive name-calling is a form of emotive abusive language. Politically incorrect epithets such as ‘b*tch’, ‘c**ksucker’, ‘f*ggot’ and ‘f*ckhead’ are all heavily gender, race or sexually associative words, chosen to verbally maim the listener or topic during arguments. Online, abbreviations such as ‘WTF’ (what the f*ck), ‘FFS’ (for f*cks sake) and ‘GTFO’ (get the f*ck out) have been formed for internet users in chat forums, comment sections or posts to vent with profane exclamations of annoyance whilst being euphemistic and without having to explicitly type out the swear word. On the contrary, swearing is also used to emphasise positive feelings of surprise, joy or love. The lexeme ‘f*ck’ possesses extremely negative connotations. However, it can also modify a positive adjective to intensify the feeling, for example in the declaratives ‘That was f*cking awesome!’ or ‘I f*cking love it!’ This enthusiasm and passion for something is also shown through the recent prominence of online social network sites’ titled ‘F*ck Yeah [something]’, for example ‘F*ck Yeah Ryan Gosling’ or ‘F*ck Yeah 1920s!’The usage of the swear word highlights the extreme dedication, interest and enthusiasm, altering the original connotations of the lexeme. In these ways, swear words function as a means to communicate and reveal both positive and negative emotions between participants.
The use of profanities are growing becoming prominent in contemporary Australian society due to the variety of roles they play in communication. Swear words are able to establish solidarity between social groups and provide an effective means of advertising and expression of emotions. These profane terms, though are not an essential part of language, truly defines modern society, its people and its culture.
[1] L Macleod (2011), Swearing in the ‘Tradie’ Environment as a Tool for Solidarity, Griffith University, pp1
[2] M Levy (2010), ‘Dickhead’ creator tickled pink over red-head fury, The Age
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