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Adjudicator : Well thank you very much for coming.
Car owner :
I don’t thank you at all. Culpeper et al. 2003: 1559
The car owner explicitly withholds politeness by not reciprocating the adjudicator’s thanks.
b. The Functions of Impoliteness
Not many attempts have been done to identify the functions of impoliteness. The latest attempt which is proposed by Culpeper 2011 resulted in three
functions of impoliteness, they are: affective impoliteness, coercive impoliteness, and entertaining impoliteness. Each of them is presented below.
1 Affective impoliteness
The first function of impoliteness is addressed as affective impoliteness. This function involves emotional outburst which occurs during a conversation between
the producer of impoliteness and the target of impoliteness. Culpeper 2011: 223 states that affective impoliteness is the targeted display of intensely increased
emotion, such as anger, which implicates that the production of the negative emotional state is the target’s responsibility.
The following example shows an impoliteness strategies performed by a girl who is angry at her friend.
Girl : How
dare you walk out on me like that You can’t just treat me like that Who the hell you think you
are? Boy
: I need to go. I have other things to do.
In the example, the girl uses impolite utterances to show her anger and frustration toward the boy.
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2 Coercive impoliteness
The second function of impoliteness is coercive impoliteness. It is impoliteness that seeks a rearrangement of values between the producer and the
target in which the producer gets more benefit or gets their current benefits reinforced or protected Culpeper, 2011: 226. The term producer and target here
could refer not only to individuals but also to groups or institutions. This function involves coercive action which is defined by Tedeschi and
Felson in Culpeper, 2011: 226 as an action which intends to enforce harm on another person or to force upon an agreement. According to Culpeper 2011: 252,
this function apparently occurs in situations where different social structural power or social status exists. Nevertheless, it can also be used in more equal
relationship to bring about an acquisition in social power. An example of coercive impoliteness can be seen in the following dialogue
between a manager and her secretary. Manager :
I want the file for my tomorrow’s presentation on my desk in 10 minutes and bring a cup of coffee
from the coffee shop across the street.
Secretary : Err… Okay, but I’m having my lunch right now. Is
it okay if I do that after I finished? Manager :
I don’t care about what you are doing. 10 minutes. The function of the impoliteness strategies used by the manager in the example is
to affirm her position as the boss. She forces her secretary to carry her orders by using the power as she has higher status than her secretary in the office.
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3 Entertaining impoliteness
The last function of impoliteness is entertaining impoliteness. This function of impoliteness exploits the target or potential target of impoliteness which
includes entertainment at their cost Culpeper, 2011: 252. Together with all genuine impoliteness, a victim or potential victim are always required.
It is unexpected that although impoliteness tends to harm people or make them angry, it can also be entertaining. Unlike other studies under pragmatics
which has a dyad consisting of speaker and hearer, impoliteness can be arranged equally for both the over-hearing audience and the target audience, and that it can
entertain the audience Culpeper, 2011: 234. The following example illustrates the entertaining impoliteness. In the
exampl e, Girl A ridicules Girl B’s dress in a party.
Girl A : What a pretty dress you wear tonight. Girl B : Oh, thanks. I made it myself.
Girl A : Wow, really? ‘Cause I’d like to have one…. for my cat.
Although the utterances said by Girl A might have hurt Girl B’s feeling, it can
entertain the over-hearing audience.
c. Responses to Impoliteness
