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The Use of Fuck as a Rapport Management Strategy in British and American English JULIE ESBENSEN* Abstract For some people, the use of swearwords in modern language is a source of despair; others recognise that swearing can have positive and negative functions within interactions. Cultural differences can influence language use (including swearing): this report explores the use of the word ‘fuck’ in British and American English. The results of a corpus analysis of four corpora suggest that the British swear more frequently than the Americans. By analysing extracts from each corpus to ascertain how fuck is used as a rapport management strategy, it is apparent that Americans tend to use it more aggressively than the British. While these findings are supported by an ethnographic interview, they may not be a true reflection of American speech, given the disparity between the British and American corpora. 1. Introduction The increasing use of swearwords in modern language is a source of despair for many people. DuFrene and Lehman (2002) call for an end to profanity, claiming that it can damage a person’s image or create an unfriendly and abusive workplace. On the other hand, McEnery and Xiao (2004) accept that swearing is simply a “part of everyday language use” (p. 235) which is so functional that Wajnryb (2002) cannot conceive that there are people who do not swear. While some people seek to control the use of profanities within certain environments such as the workplace, swearing is viewed by others as a tool that “promotes bonding and rapport among workers” (DuFrene & Lehman 2002: 49). The idea that swearing may be used to promote rapport would be dependent on context and maybe even on culture. Wierzbicka (1997) discusses the connection between culture and lexicon, suggesting that a culture’s values can be identified through studying the frequency of certain words. Although her study compares different languages, the same principle could be applied to identify the cultural values of two different English‐
speaking countries. Certainly, the difference between British and American English, for instance, has long been a source for comment. This quotation (attributed to George Bernard Shaw, although the true author is not known) sums it up: “England and America are two countries divided by a common language” (Oxford Dictionary of Quotations; Dundes 2002). Griffith Working Papers in Pragmatics and Intercultural Communication 2, 2 (2009), 104-119
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While the use of swearwords occurs in written and spoken language, it generally occurs more frequently in speech, because it is a more informal mode of communication or people are more likely to verbalise emotions through the use of expletives (McEnery & Xiao 2004; Tottie 2002). The purpose of this research report is to measure the frequency of the use of the word fuck and its morphological variants in spoken British and American English and to determine whether the Americans use the term more aggressively than the British. In order to do this, fuck will be analysed according to how it is utilised as a rapport management strategy. 2. Literature Review 2.1. Swearing and Culture The swearword fuck can be classed as an obscenity, which is a “taboo [expression] for sex or related body parts” (Tottie 2002: 195). Taboos generally differ between cultures and are a strong influence in the way swear‐words are used; therefore we should expect to see a difference in usage of an obscenity between two cultures (Tottie 2002). While this paper is not concerned with trying to identify the taboos of British and American culture in interpreting its findings, it is important to be aware that it is cultural difference which influences language use, particularly swearing. However, Tottie (2002) identifies that differences do exist between British and American English, including “interjections and swear‐words” (p. 194) and that there are expressions more likely to be used by Americans than British, and vice versa. He even asserts that “obscenity is favored (sic) in American English” (Tottie 2002: 195), although the results of this research disprove Tottie’s theory. However, Tottie (2002) also recognises that there exists a disparity in the corpus data currently available for British and American English. Wajnryb (2004) identified three contexts for swearing, “namely cathartic, abusive and social” (p. 182) and these terms tie in closely with the theory of rapport management. She has also produced an extensive glossary of terms for the metalanguage of swearing, however for the purposes of this research, the following terms have been used to categorise the occurrence of fuck in the corpus data: Abusive swearing, directed towards others; Insult, abuse directed at others with the intent to insult; Dysphemism, using an offensive term in place of an inoffensive one; Expletive, a passionate exclamation. (Wajnryb 2004) Griffith Working Papers in Pragmatics and Intercultural Communication 2, 2 (2009), 104-119
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Fuck may be classified under any of these terms, depending on the way it is used in context. 2.2. Rapport Management Theory Rapport Management Theory is concerned with the way participants in social interaction manage face, as well as with social relationships through language (Spencer‐Oatey 2000). Spencer‐Oatey (2000) discusses the importance of face in social relations, in that face is “associated with personal/social value, and is concerned with people’s sense of worth, dignity, honour, reputation, competence and so on” (p. 14). Face can be said to have two aspects: quality face, which is closely related to self‐esteem and the value we place on our own worth; and identity face, which refers to our social identity (Spencer‐Oatey 2000). Rapport Management Theory also deals with issues regarding social relations, particularly equity rights, our entitlement to be treated fairly and not exploited, and association rights, the appropriateness of our interaction with another person according to our relationship with them (Spencer‐Oatey 2000). Lexis choice is one strategy which speakers use to manage rapport. Rapport orientation, as Spencer‐Oatey (2000) points out, is a key influence in strategy choice, depending on whether a person is trying to maintain personal face or sociality rights. The four types of rapport orientation are: Rapport‐enhancement orientation: a desire to strengthen or enhance harmonious relations between the interlocutors; Rapport‐maintenance orientation: a desire to maintain or protect harmonious relations between the interlocutors; Rapport‐neglect orientation: a lack of concern or interest in the quality of relations between the interlocutors (perhaps because of a focus on self); Rapport‐challenge orientation: a desire to challenge or impair harmonious relations between the interlocutors. (Spencer‐Oatey 2000: 29–30) These four categories of rapport management orientation can be used to analyse language within interactions in order to identify the intentions being projected between interlocutors. 3. Method A corpus analysis was conducted on the following four corpora: the British National Corpus (BNC), the Corpus of Contemporary American English (COCA), The Griffith Working Papers in Pragmatics and Intercultural Communication 2, 2 (2009), 104-119
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American National Corpus (ANC) and The Michigan Corpus of Academic Spoken English (MICAS”). The BNC, COCA and MICASE are available to search online, while the current release of the Open ANC (OANC) was downloaded from the website. The spoken section of the COCA is restricted to transcripts of radio and television chat‐shows, and the MICASE is restricted to conversations of academic staff and students. By contrast, the BNC contains transcripts of unscripted conversation from a range of situations, including formal meetings, radio shows and informal conversations. Each corpus was searched for the following words: fuck; fucking; fuck up; fucker; and fucked. The frequency rates were recorded (see Table 1) and the relevant excerpts from the transcripts were downloaded (see Appendix A). The 20 occurrences of the word fuck and its variants, which appeared in both the COCA and MICASE, were classified according to Wajnryb’s (2004) four classes of swear‐words, and then categorised by rapport‐management orientation. Ten similar occurrences of these phrases were then identified within the BNC and the same process of classification and categorisation was applied. The average results from these two corpora have been calculated to give a broader result which is more comparable with the demographically balanced BNC. In order to lend further support to the results, an ethnographic interview was undertaken. An interview was conducted over the telephone with an English expatriate who has been living in America for 8 years. The interview was recorded and transcribed (see Appendix B for a full transcript). The interviewee is an educated university lecturer and, prior to the interview, he was informed that the topics of the interview would be the difference in usage of the word fuck between British and American English and whether he had modified his rate of swearing since moving to the USA. 4. Results and Analysis The frequency results of the search words in each corpus are detailed in Table 1 below. In the BNC there are 10 million words in the spoken section as against 72 million, 1.7 million and 3.2 million words in the COCA, MICASE and OANC spoken sections respectively. Therefore, these results show a significant difference in the frequency of usage of the word fuck between British and American English. Griffith Working Papers in Pragmatics and Intercultural Communication 2, 2 (2009), 104-119
Julie Esbensen: The use of fuck as a rapport management strategy
Search Word Fuck Fucking Fuck up Fucker Fucked TOTAL 108
BNC COCA MICASE OANC (Spoken)
(Spoken)
(Spoken)
(Spoken) 579
5
5
0 2162
4
4
0 13
1
0
0 22
0
0
0 63
0
1
0 2839
10
10
0 Table 1: Frequency of Occurrence of Search Words in Corpora The extracts from the three corpora were analysed individually in order to identify the category of swearing and rapport management orientation. The results of this analysis appear in Table 2. There then follows a detailed description of how each extract was analysed. The extracts have been ordered according to the particular phrase in which the word fuck or its variants occurred in the COCA and MICASE. As explained previously, the phrase which appeared in each relevant extract from the COCA and MICASE was identified (e.g. fuck off). The BNC results were searched for that particular phrase in order that commensurate comparison of the usage could be conducted. There are, however, some examples from the COCA and MICASE in which the context cannot be clearly identified. These examples have been included in the analysis because they form part of the limited number of occurrences of the word fuck in the American corpora. Classifications COCA MICASE AVERAGE BNC Category of Swearing Abusive Dysphemism Expletive Insult Rapport Management Orientation Rapport‐Enhancement Rapport‐Maintenance Rapport‐Neglect Rapport‐Challenge 3 4 2 1 0 1 4 5 2 2 1 5.5 6 7 2 2 1 1 1 0 0 3 0 3 5 5 2 1 4 3 1 1 Table 2: Results of Classifications Griffith Working Papers in Pragmatics and Intercultural Communication 2, 2 (2009), 104-119
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4.1 Fuck off COCA: (1) “After 15 minutes later I says,ʹ Officer, can I go? I have a doctor appointment.ʹ He said,ʹ Fuck offʹ” This is abusive swearing, directed at another person. The police officer shows disregard for his relationship with the offender, but seeks to reinforce his identity face as someone with power, therefore it falls into the category of rapport‐neglect. MICASE: (1) “... itʹs an Indigo Bunting and itʹs right there. i donʹt think itʹs yes. fuck. <LAUGH> come here come here come here. right under that shh oh, ...” Fuck off does not appear in the MICASE corpus, but fuck on its own does occur. It is an expletive used to maintain rapport, as it is followed by a laugh and is not directed at the other speaker. BNC: (1) “Iʹm your mother. This is my home now please fuck off. He went tut. Anyway in the next breath he said erm about some supper then?” In this instance, fuck off is a dysphemism for get out. It is used as rapport‐
enhancement because the woman is seeking to enhance her identity face of being a mother and owner of the home, thereby reminding her son not to be “pissy” with her. 4.2 Fuck you COCA: (2) “ROCKNE HARMON Hello! CHARLES OSGOOD, host Yes, go ahead. ROCKNE HARMON Ms. Schwarzberg? NORTHAM Yes? ROCKNE HARMON Fuck you, ass‐@4:342” It is not clear from this extract whether the caller is swearing at the guest on the radio show, however, it is abusive swearing directed at someone. As such it would be a rapport‐challenge orientation, seeking to disrupt any harmonious interaction. MICASE: (2) “... yeah, to the, to the halfway mark <PAUSE :09> hey, (Ani, Ani) <LAUGH> fuck you <LAUGH> test tube do you have any test tubes (left here?) uh, i think so. so, weʹre filtering weʹre filtering” This is classed as abusive swearing, directed at another person. However, it falls into the category of rapport‐maintenance as the phrase is uttered in jest, as indicated by the laughter. Griffith Working Papers in Pragmatics and Intercultural Communication 2, 2 (2009), 104-119
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BNC: (2) “Just cos you love her, say hello to my microphone. Fuck you baby. Yes I am taping that. I won, wondered Alright, listen to this if Iʹm not taping it then.” Fuck you is abusive swearing but adding baby at the end of the phrase indicates that it is not intended to be offensive. Therefore, it is rapport‐maintenance as it seems like friends messing with each other in a playful manner, maintaining rapport. 4.3 What the fuck COCA: (3) “In other words, sheʹs mixed up like everybody else and she donʹt know what the fuck sheʹs talking about. OʹREILLY... treat somebody bad or good. It depends on the person, OK? Get a life, woman, OK?” A guest on a talk show is becoming aggressive to another guest through the use of a dysphemism. The orientation is rapport‐challenge because it attempts to make the other guest lose some quality face and equity rights. MICASE: (3) “... (get Indian?) <LAUGH> iʹm not even Indian. maybe they think iʹm Indian. absolute party of (xx) umm (xx) what the fuck is this shit? <LAUGH> ooh we decided that the owner of this list according to, (xx) you can close your email (and all that) stuff?” This phrase is a dysphemism for what is this? and the laughter within the conversation hints that it is being used to maintain rapport between the interlocutors. MICASE: (5) “but like you donʹt have that in like, okay a bacteria cell where theyʹre like oh i donʹt care what the fuck you do like, i mean <LAUGH> i donʹt care what you do.” Similarly, this instance is a dysphemism. By preceding the phrase with “i (sic) don’t care”, the speaker shows disregard for his interlocutor and as such it falls into the category of rapport‐neglect, although the laughter seems to be an attempt at repair. BNC: (3) “She didnʹt want that dumped last time. Didnʹt she? No. Well, well I thought, what the fuck is she supposed to do with them, ah?” This phrase is also a dysphemism for what is she supposed… The speaker here is trying to ascertain the point of keeping something and is maintaining a level of agreement with his interlocutor; therefore it is classified as rapport‐maintenance. Griffith Working Papers in Pragmatics and Intercultural Communication 2, 2 (2009), 104-119
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4.4 Fuck that/it COCA: (4) “DAVID FROST, HOST Go ahead. Pe‐Wee, tell me. HEDRICK SMITH, Journalist/Author Fuck that. Fuck that. 1 LEONID MILGRAM, Principal, School 45 If you ‐‐ if you so hard, why you got to have something to cover your face, man?” The use of this expletive by a guest on a chat show seems to challenge the right to anonymity of another guest, Pe‐Wee,, thereby challenging rapport. MICASE: (4) “... i donʹt know if we do because we know, we know what the product is. okay. true. so iʹm not sure if we need to know_ we need to um no thereʹs (xx) try it. fuck it. letʹs kill this bitch. <END SIMULTANEOUS CONVERSATIONS> does it really? okay hey you donʹt have to do that, actually. sorry.” The expression here is an expletive. It seems to have the effect of challenging rapport, with the speaker attempting to take control of an experiment and increase his own identity face. This is later repaired by an apology. BNC: (4) “I hate going shopping with them, she wants to go next Saturday, I said fuck that. Go on your own. Yeah, oh what, I didnʹt actually say fuck that ,” The expression is once again an expletive. Interestingly, he says that he didn’t utter the expletive at the time, but used it in his retelling perhaps in order to comply with association rights with the other interlocutor. In that way, it is rapport‐maintenance. 4.5 Shut the fuck up COCA: (5) “JON FADDIS Listen. JON FADDIS, Composer‐Musician Shut the fuck up. (unintelligible) JON FADDIS Juice? JON FADDIS O.J. no. No, O.J.” This phrase is a dysphemism for be quiet. Faddis appears to be trying to maintain equity rights by asserting that O.J. should take notice of him and as such is an example of rapport‐maintenance orientation. MICASE: No example exists in the MICASE. BNC: (5) “And the old just applauded when he finishes. he starts it up again goes oi shut the fuck up .” 1 The repetition of “Fuck that” has been recorded as two occurrences of ‘fuck’ within the corpus. Therefore, the results for this extract are recorded twice in Table 2. Griffith Working Papers in Pragmatics and Intercultural Communication 2, 2 (2009), 104-119
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The speaker recounts a story of how he told a man who was singing to “shut the fuck up”. This is a dysphemism and falls into the category of rapport‐neglect as he shows no interest in harmonious relations with his interlocutor. 4.6 Fucking bitch COCA: (6) “He called me a ʹfucking bitchʹ the first time he stopped me.” The use of “fucking bitch” is an insult directed at another person. In this instance, the language use leads to rapport‐challenge. The police officer was maintaining his own identity face, while seeking to detract from the offender’s identity face by insulting her. MICASE: No example exists in the MICASE. BNC: (6) “I mean sheʹs not not that bad but I wouldnʹt like to I mean If you call me a fucking bitch now maybe Iʹd forgive you kind of like and you know like in a while Iʹd forgive you. Mm. I canʹt forgive her.” This expression is a hypothetical insult. The use of it in the conversation, though, maintains the quality face of the speaker and her friend. It is used for rapport‐
maintenance, where the speaker is telling her friend that she would be able to forgive a hypothetical insult from her thus maintaining the good relations. 4.7 Fucking you COCA: (7) “LEONID MILGRAM, Principal, School 45 Hey, man. You‐all ainʹt tough, bro. LEONID MILGRAM, Principal, School 45 Stupid, Iʹm as much a man as fucking you are, all right?” The speaker is accused of not being tough by another guest, and he retorts with this abusive phrase. It falls into the category of rapport‐neglect as his abuse signals a lack of interest in achieving harmonious relations with his interlocutor. MICASE: No example exists in the MICASE. BNC: (7) “What do you want me to do to prove that that wasnʹt me? Just wait till they bring and get down and to get on down If that what it takes and Iʹll swear on anything, I donʹt care, Iʹll swear on the bible if you want, if you got one handy. Yeah but itʹs no Griffith Working Papers in Pragmatics and Intercultural Communication 2, 2 (2009), 104-119
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good swearing on the bible if you donʹt fucking believe in it is it? I do though. Just ask. Bollocks! Stu. It was fucking you Stuart!” This is a dysphemism, instead of saying it was you. It is classed as rapport‐
enhancement in that the speaker is emphasising his quality face as someone who would own up to breaking the stool if he had done it, and wishing the other interlocutor to own up and therefore improve their interaction. 4.8 Fucking be/being COCA: (8) “Mr. CLINTON... I stole her bro ‐‐ her husband, and Iʹm her brother. I mean, and Iʹm gay, and these people hate gay people as it is, you know? (Audience reacts) Mr. CLINTON Being gay is like fucking being cursed.” This use of fucking is a dysphemism for is like being. The speaker is attempting to enhance his own equity rights while seeking to detract from his sister’s equity rights, therefore it falls into the category of rapport‐neglect orientation. COCA: (9) “ROB SHAPIRO Because my husband supports me. Gov. VOINOVICH No, heʹs not your husband, dearie. ROB SHAPIRO Heʹs getting ready to fucking be.” Again, this phrase is a dysphemism and the addition of fucking is aggressive. Shapiro is trying to defend her identity face as someone who is in a committed relationship. It is rapport‐neglect between the interlocutors, each with no intention of having a harmonious relationship with the other. MICASE: No example exists in the MICASE. BNC: (8) “And Ann said well if you going to fucking be like that donʹt bother to buy my kids anything. I wonʹt buy your kids anything.” The phrase “if you going (sic) to fucking be like that” is abuse directed at the other participant in the conversation, and seeks to destroy the relations between the interlocutors. Therefore it can be classified as rapport‐challenge. 4.9 Fucking (further examples as an adverb) COCA: No further examples of fucking exist in the COCA. Griffith Working Papers in Pragmatics and Intercultural Communication 2, 2 (2009), 104-119
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MICASE: (6) “... i donʹt know itʹs wha‐ thatʹs what iʹm arguing here thatʹs <LAUGH> like thatʹs really fucking careless (in my opinion) like <LAUGH> well anyway letʹs letʹs move on letʹs move on.” This is an example of dysphemism, emphasising carelessness. It serves as rapport‐
maintenance between the interlocutors, which is reinforced by the speaker’s laughter. MICASE: (7) “somebody gonna capitalize on his skills you know hundred seventy‐
seven million dollars, (xx) (Philadelphia) thatʹs fucking ridiculous.” Here again, fucking is a dysphemism. The speaker is reinforcing his opinion, regardless of how this is received by his interlocutors and therefore it falls into the category of rapport‐neglect. MICASE: (8) “i wanna t‐ i wanna take a look at those questions (and stuff that we got just so i can really) (xx) <UNINTELLIGIBLE SPEECH> itʹs gonna be fucking hard, (xx) yeah...” This phrase is another dysphemism. It is classified as rapport‐maintenance, which is supported by the reassuring “yeah”, indicating that the speaker empathises with his interlocutor as to the difficulty of the task at hand. MICASE: (9) “the other side of that, look at the side of this) huge itʹs fucking huge. itʹs a huge, huge artery...” The use of fucking here is a dysphemism. In this interaction, the speaker seems to be expressing wonderment with a focus on himself, which indicates rapport‐neglect. BNC: (9) Iʹm not kidding when you drag them from where I am, down to the scales thatʹs fucking hard work mate! This is an example of dysphemism, emphasising how hard the work is. It maintains association rights between the interlocutors, and is therefore classed as rapport‐
maintenance. 4.10 Fucked up COCA: No example exists in the COCA. Griffith Working Papers in Pragmatics and Intercultural Communication 2, 2 (2009), 104-119
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MICASE: (10) i canʹt believe that i (xx) (xx) for the (stat) the stat shit is, didnʹt it? i fucked up with the multiple choice. The phrase “i (sic) fucked up” in this instance is a dysphemism for I made a mess. The speaker is focusing on himself and as such the phrase is classified as rapport‐
neglect. BNC: (10) Oh this is where it er loads all your applications. Er this I donʹt understand, I fucked up at this stage. Right. Setup needs to know the application name for DOS edit. Again, this is an example of dysphemism. However, this speaker seems to be seeking help and, by admitting a previous mistake, is enhancing the value face of his interlocutor. In this way, this example falls under the category of rapport‐
enhancement. The results indicate a significant difference between the way British and American speakers use fuck to manage rapport. Both cultures tend to use the word as a dysphemism rather than as abuse, insult or an expletive. The British prefer to use the term to manage or even enhance rapport rather than for more negative elements of rapport management. On the other hand, the Americans have a higher incidence of rapport‐challenge and rapport‐neglect orientations than the British, although fuck is also used by the Americans for rapport‐maintenance. 4.11 Ethnographic Interview An informal interview took place wherein the interviewee (P) and interviewer (J) discussed P’s usage of the word fuck in both England and America, and his observations of the Americans’ usage. P’s comments reinforce the results of the corpus analysis, as can be seen from the following extracts of the interview. 4.11.1 Rapport‐enhancement orientation (1) 151
152
153
154
155
156
157
158
J: I’ve just got a couple of more questions. Um when, I
know that in terms of you speaking to your students um
you wouldn’t
P: Yep
J: swear (.) um (.).
P: Oh no, I do, I do but I do: it um (.) mainly to er
because it shocks them and wakes them up.
J: Oh okay. [Do you use the word fuck?]
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160
161
162
163
164
165
166
167
P:
J:
P:
J:
P:
116
[So I, I, I usually swear ]probably three
times at least during a class and it’s it’s it’s pretty
intentional.
Right↓.
But I, I tend to, I usually say bollocks and crap and
shit and things like that more than I would say fuck
No↓.
But it’s it’s it’s mainly just to wake them up and and
an an to make them laugh kind of thing
As an Englishman, P recognises that fuck is less commonly used by Americans but he is able to use it to enhance rapport with his American students because it is an oddity for them. 4.11.2 Rapport‐maintenance orientation (2) 61
62
63
64
65
66
67
68
69
70
71
72
73
74
75
76
77
J: What kind of effect?
(0.5)
P: Shock. Or like if you really want to demonstrate
you:’re you know, really pissed off with something or
(0.5)
J: Mhm.
P: Or: really accentuate something that you, you know just
to show that you feel very emo-, you feel very
emotionally about something it’s used a lot mor- more
for effect than it is by by the Brits, the Brits use it
very much as a, and the Australians, er as a, as an
adjective
J: Yeah, [yeah]
P:
[you ]know I went to the fucking shop to buy a
fuck[ing (.) pint of milk but the fuck]ing place was
J:
[uh heh heh heh heh heh heh heh
]
P: closed kinda thing.
In this extract, P is describing a typical British use of the word fuck. It is an example of rapport‐maintenance in the way that it is used freely within a description of a mundane event which would not evoke a negative emotional response from an interlocutor. 4.11.3 Rapport‐neglect orientation (3) 85 J: [Yeah] Um. (0.5) you mentioned that they might use it
86
for a sort of an emotional um (.) circumstance. Is it,
87
is it a positive emotional (0.2) um: sort of expression
88
that they might use it fo[r↑ ]I’m just trying to think
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90
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92
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95
96
117
P:
[Ooh]
J: [of the-]
P: [that’s ]a good question.
J: the context that they would (.) um: [they would
P:
[No, it would be
more of a, more of um er, an unhappiness
J: Oka:y=
P: =like (.) Fuck! sort of exclamation [>kinda thing<]
Here, P is explaining what he has observed to be a typical American use of fuck. Through his description of the word being used to express unhappiness through exclamation, it would fall into the category of rapport‐neglect because that the speaker would be focused on his own quality face. 4.11.4 Rapport‐challenge orientation (4) 113 J: Yeah. What about if they’re addressing someone and
114
they’re (.) um and they want to abuse them or or insult
115
them or something would it be used then↑?
116 P: ((tongue click)) U↑m:?
117
(1.0)
118 J: Do you think↑?
119 P: Um, yeah, maybe, it would be um it’s more as a like,
120
it’s more as a verb (1.5) I think. Like fuck off or
121
fuck you
122 J: Yep
123 P: Yeah, fuck you would be used, that would be quite a,
124
that would be quite common.
(omitted section)
134 P: Oh yeah yeah yeah, no this would be >in a in a in a in
135
a in a<, you know, if someone’s really pissing you off
136
you’d tell them to fuck off.
In this final extract, P identifies that the expressions “fuck you” and “fuck off” are commonly used in American English. Given their use within the context of someone being “piss[ed] off”, these phrases would be classified as rapport‐challenge. It is acknowledged that this interview is just one person’s observations and it is not intended to be either representative of every British person’s experience or a comprehensive account of American language use. Rather, it serves to give another perspective on the limited occurrences of fuck in the American corpora and its tendency to be used for negative rapport management, as opposed to the British tendency to use fuck more frequently and for positive management of rapport. Griffith Working Papers in Pragmatics and Intercultural Communication 2, 2 (2009), 104-119
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5. Discussion The results of this research do confirm that there is a difference in the usage of swearwords between British and American English, although not in the way that Tottie (2002) alleged. The obscenity fuck seems to be much more prevalent in British English than American English. These findings also indicate that a difference in taboos exists between the two cultures, although further research would need to be carried out to determine what those differences might be. Further, the various uses of the term fuck by both cultures correlate to the assorted functions of swearing which were identified by Wajnryb (2000). These functions extend to the way speakers manage rapport with their interlocutors. 6. Conclusion As Tottie (2002) pointed out, there are limitations in the availability of similar data of British and American English, and these limitations have been apparent during this research. The COCA spoken section is composed of extracts from unscripted radio and television shows which cannot be considered useful resources for the study of natural language. When the American National Corpus is completed and provides a databank of language use comparable to the British National Corpus, it may be possible to extract more accurate and realistic information in relation to the use of the word fuck in American English. It is unlikely that censorship of the American corpora has been a factor in the lack of data, since a search of the written sections of the OANC, for instance, returned numerous occurrences of the word fuck. However, there could be a degree of unconscious censorship at work in the compiling of the corpora and it is hoped that the completed ANC will provide a true account of natural, spoken American English. In conclusion, this paper has sought to identify whether or not British and Americans differ in their use of the word fuck as a rapport management strategy. A corpus analysis revealed that fuck was used over 180 times more frequently in British English than in American English. Applying a rapport‐orientation analysis, in accordance with Spencer‐Oatey’s Rapport Management Theory (2000) on a number of extracts from the corpora, determined that, based on the data contained in the corpora, Americans use fuck more aggressively (i.e. as a rapport‐neglect or rapport‐
challenge strategy) than the British, whereas the British are more likely to use it as a rapport‐maintenance or enhancement strategy. * Author notes Julie Esbensen has graduated with a Bachelor of Arts in Languages and Applied Linguistics from Griffith University.
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