This study provides a definition and a typology of swearing and compares its manifestations in English and 24 other languages. In addition the study traces the history of swearing from its first known appearance in Ancient Egypt to the present day.

This handbook focuses on the interpersonal aspects of language in use, exploring key concepts such as face, im/politeness, identity, or gender, as well as mitigation, respect/deference, and humour in a variety of settings. The volume includes theoretical overviews as well as empirical studies from experts in a range of disciplines within linguistics and communication studies and provides a multifaceted perspective on both theoretical and applied approaches to the role of language in relational work.

(1-30) by Hansong CAI & Luna Jing CAI; (31-58) by Heiko WIGGERS; (59-82) by Lozzi Martial MEUTEM KAMTCHUENG; (83-100) by Jack Jinghui LIU; (101-108) by Fereshteh AHANGARI & Masumeh MAHLUJIZADEH MAHABADI; (109-130) by Fitria A. MARFUATY & Ribut WAHYUDI; (131-146) by Milisi SEMBIRING; (147-154) by Keith ALLAN & Mohammad Ali SALMANI NODOUSHAN; (155-160) by Azizeh CHALAK.

Do men use bad language more than women? How do social class and the use of bad language interact? Do young speakers use bad language more frequently than older speakers? Using the spoken section of the British National Corpus, Swearing in English explores questions such as these and considers at length the historical origins of modern attitudes to bad language. Drawing on a variety of methodologies including historical research and corpus linguistics, and a range of data such as corpora, dramatic texts, early modern newsbooks and television, Tony McEnery takes a socio-historical approach to discourses about bad language in English. Arguing that purity of speech and power have come to be connected via a series of moral panics about bad language, the book contends that these moral panics, over time, have generated the differences observable in bad language usage in present day English. A fascinating, comprehensive insight into an increasingly popular area, this book provides an explanation, and not simply a description, of how modern attitudes to bad language have come about.

The Yearbook of Corpus Linguistics and Pragmatics addresses the interface between the two disciplines and offers a platform to scholars who combine both methodologies to present rigorous and interdisciplinary findings about language in real use. Corpus linguistics and Pragmatics have traditionally represented two paths of scientific thought, parallel but often mutually exclusive and excluding. Corpus Linguistics can offer a meticulous methodology based on mathematics and statistics, while Pragmatics is characterized by its effort in the interpretation of intended meaning in real language. This series will give readers insight into how pragmatics can be used to explain real corpus data and also, how corpora can illustrate pragmatic intuitions. The present volume, Yearbook of Corpus Linguistics and Pragmatics 2014: New Empirical and Theoretical Paradigms in Corpus Pragmatics, proposes innovative research models in the liaison between pragmatics and corpus linguistics to explain language in current cultural and social contexts.

Any behavior that arouses, as swearing does, controversy, disagreement, disdain, shock, and indignation as often as it imbues passion, sincerity, intimacy, solidarity, and jocularity should be an obvious target of in-depth scholarship. Rigorous, scholarly investigation of the practice of swearing acknowledges its social and cultural significance, and allows us to discover and better understand the historical, psychological, sociological, and linguistic aspects (among others) of swearwords and swearword usage. The present volume brings together a range of themes and issues central to the existing knowledge of swearing and considers these in two key ‘new’ arenas, that is, in languages other than English, and/or in contexts and media other than spoken interaction. Many of the chapters analysed are based on large and robust collections of data, such as corpora or questionnaire responses, which allow for patterns of swearing to emerge. In other chapters, personally observed instances of swearing comprise the focus, allowing for a close analysis of the relationship between sociolinguistic context and pragmatic function. In each chapter, the cultural aspects of swearing are considered, ultimately affirming the importance of the study of swearing, and further establishing the legitimacy of swearing as a target of research.

While most of the more recent influential work on swearing has concentrated on English and other languages from the Global North, looking at forms and functions of swear words, this contribution redirects the necessary focus onto a sociolinguistics of swearing that puts transgressive practices in non-Western languages into the focus. The transdisciplinary volume contains innovative case studies that address swearing and cursing in parts of the world characterized by consequences of colonialism and increasingly debated inequalities. Turning away from more conventional and established methodologies and theoretical approaches, the book envisages to address transgressive linguistic practices, performances and contexts in Africa, Asia, America and Europe –including individuals' creativity, subversive power and agency. Due to its interdisciplinary and non-mainstream focus, this volume is an essential addition to the field of studies.