14 2005 points out that “Cursing, as a habit, is a part of a woman’s psychological
makeup.” When a woman is cursing, there must be traits related to her background such as religiosity. Women who believe in religion are restricted from
cursing. As a result, Christian women will avoid profanity. People’s reaction towards women who curse depend on how each
individual reacts to offensive words, it is called as offendedness. According to Jay 2005, offendedness is “an aspect of personality; it is a psychological reaction to
words.” Offendedness is the product of development and social awareness which affect one’s tendency to curse and reaction towards cursing. For example,
religious people will not use profanities because they offend them. Therefore, when they hear a woman uses profanity they will feel offended. In fact, there are
very little works conducted to study about offendedness. As a result, there is less information about what kind of women who curse in public.
4. Swear Words
Fagersten 2012 defines a swear word as a potential offensive, inappropriate and unacceptable word in a certain social context. Swear word has
relation to taboo since the social context takes part in it. For example, the tabooed word in the society such as motherfucker, it can be used as a swear word. Jay
2009, p. 153 states that swear words and taboo words are in the same context since both convey offensive emotional language. The use of a swear word is
disbanded in the society due to its effect which can harm other people. As a result, there are sanctions in using the swear words; they should not be used at the
15 institutional level or even individual level. There are a lot of swear words in the
society but those that regarded as taboo are limited in scope. In the categorization of swear words, Andersson and Trudgill 1992 point
out four types of swear words, namely the expletive swear words, abusive swear words, humorous swear words and auxiliary swear words.
a. Expletive Swear Words
Andersson and Trudgill 1992 state that expletive swear words are not directed to others, they are used to express personal emotions. Swear words are
used to express feelings such as anger, happiness, disappointment, and frustration. The expletive swear words are not addressed to others but more to
express the speaker’s feeling towards something or situation. Wajnryb 2005 adds that expletive swear words are not specifically uttered for someone. They
are reflective; it means that it is turned in towards the user. In this point, expletive swear words are related to one of Ljung
’s 2011 criteria about swear words. He states that swear words are emotive. Emotive
means evoking emotion or it can reflect the speaker’s feelings. The emotive
expression is presented by interjections. The expletive swear words show the direct expression of the speaker towards the topic discussed. For example is the
expression of surprises such as Jesus, Fuck, Shit and Damn. b.
Abusive Swear Words Abusive swear words are usually derogatory and directed to other people
Andersson Trudgill, 1992. These swear words contain of offensive words which are directed to hurt other people. Some people use swear words when they
16 feel angry to the addressees. An abusive swear word is used to insult others; it
means that people will threaten others without respect Ljung, 2011. The aim of abusive swear word is to make the addressees to feel shame and dishonor.
The strong abusive words can be found in name-calling and different types of curse words. Ljung 2011 defines name-calling as verbal abusive which
contains epithet and directed to the addressee p. 115. Name-calling is directed to the person who becomes the speaker’s object of dislike. The epithet is used to
express the speaker’s negative attitude towards other. The words which usually can be found in name-calling are taboo words such as arsehole, wanker, and
bastard. Name-calling also uses non-taboo words such as idiot, dumb and fool According to Jay 1992, cursing is related to supernatural power which is
used as a prayer or wishing to harm other people. In the past, cursing was used to harm other people mentally and physically. Nowadays, people use curse words to
express their feelings especially anger. The use of cursing is commonly linked to religion such as go to hell and goddamn. However, Jay 1992 adds that cursing
can be in non-religious terms, but still related to words which can harm other people, such as Eat shit and die and I hope you break your neck.
Some people choose short curse words or phrases to deliver their anger because they are more practice and direct. The most important is they could be
understood and they can deliver the meaning of the speaker to the addressees. The addressee of curse words can be an individual or groups; it depends on who the
speaker is talking to. Although curse words can convey the feeling of the speaker, they are banned by the institutional law because it can hurt other people.
17 c.
Humorous Swear Words Humorous swear words are consciously directed to other people but they
are not derogatory Andersson Trudgill, 1992. The aim of this swear words type is not to harm other people but to put a sense of humor in a conversation
and create a playful situation. However, the humorous swear words are sensitive for the relationship. They are usually spoken by those who have power and those
who have less power will only give a contribution to laugh. Hence, the humorous swear words are usually addressed to those who have a close relation
to the speakers. Jay 2000 points out that one can understand the form of humor by
examining the context in which the speaker produces it. People need to know the topic of the conversation and the identity of the group members to be able to
understand the meaning and the aim of humorous swear words. The example of this swear word type is Get your ass in gear
d. Auxiliary Swear Words
The last type of swear words according to Andersson and Trudgill 1992 is the auxiliary swear words. The auxiliary swear words are not indicated to the
certain people or situation. Yet, swear words are applied as empty meaning and spoken in non-emphatic tone Andersson Trudgill, 1992. An auxiliary swear
word is only a way of speaking and often called as “lazy speaking”. The auxiliary
swear words are not standing alone, or what we call as dependent. They are used in the larger unit such as clause. Sometimes, they also occur in a phrase such as
Henry the fucking eighth, and sometimes even in a single word such as PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI
