A SOCIOLINGUISTIC ANALYSIS OF SWEARING BY THE MAIN CHARACTERS IN QUENTIN TARANTINO’SPULP FICTIONMOVIE
A THESIS
Presented as Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Attainment of the Sarjana SastraDegree in English Literature Study Program
By:
Hairil Akbar Arifin
11211141007
ENGLISH LITERATURE STUDY PROGRAM ENGLISH EDUCATION DEPARTMENT FACULTY OF LANGUAGES AND ARTS YOGYAKARTA STATE UNIVERSITY
A THESIS
Presented as Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Attainment of the Sarjana SastraDegree in English Literature Study Program
By:
Hairil Akbar Arifin
11211141007
ENGLISH LITERATURE STUDY PROGRAM ENGLISH EDUCATION DEPARTMENT FACULTY OF LANGUAGES AND ARTS YOGYAKARTA STATE UNIVERSITY
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“The trouble is, you think you have the time”
(Buddha)
“
もし、お前がリスクを恐れるなら、未来を切り開く事は
できない
”
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DEDICATION
I contentedly and happily dedicate this thesis:
to my beloved parents:
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this world, the Almighty, and the Most Merciful, for the best blessing, love, opportunity, and health that have been given to me. I devote my utmost and sincere gratitude for His assistance and guidance during the writing of this thesis. I would also like to acknowledge the contributions of individuals and the following groups for their helps and support, without which I would not have any strength to finish this thesis. Hence, I owe my deepest gratitude to:
1. Drs. Suhaini M. Saleh, M.A. my first supervisor, and Rachmat Nurcahyo, M.A. my second supervisor, who have given their priceless time and knowledge, not to mention their patience in order to guide me to complete this thesis;
2. Titik Sudartinah, M. A. my academic supervisor, who guided me during my study in this university;
3. my precious parents: Ach. Rifai and Dewi Murtasia who always love, motivate, support, and pray for me tirelessly;
4. my brother and sister: Fatahillah Zulfikar Muhammad and Nur Rohmah Kusuma Dewi who always give me inspiration during the writing process; 5. my housemates: Kholis, Sigit, Wisnu, and Iton for the funny times we
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APPROVAL SHEET... ii
RATIFICATION SHEET... iii
PERNYATAAN... iv
MOTTOS...v
DEDICATION... vi
ACKNOWLEDGMENT... vii
TABLE OF CONTENTS... ix
LIST OF FIGURES AND TABLES... xi
ABSTRACT... xii
CHAPTER I INTRODUCTION...1
A. Background of the Study ...1
B. Research Focus ...5
C. Objectives of the Study...6
D. Research Significances ...7
CHAPTER II LITERATURE REVIEW...8
A. Sociolinguistics...8
B. Bad Language ...11
C. Taboo ...13
D. Swearing ...16
1. Characteristic of swearwords...16
2. Types of Swearing ...18
3. Reasons for Swearing ...22
E. Pulp FictionMovie...24
1. Summary of the Movie………....24
2. The Main Characters ofPulp FictionMovie………26
F. Previous Studies ...26
G. Conceptual Framework...27
H. Analytical Construct………29
CHAPTER III RESEARCH METHOD...30
A. Type of Research ...30
B. Forms, Contexts and Source of the Data ...31
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D. Technique of Data Collection...32
E. Technique of Data Analysis ...33
F. Data Trustworthiness ...34
CHAPTER IV FINDINGS AND DISCUSSION...36
A. Findings ...36
B. Discussion...40
1. Type of Swearing...40
a. Emphatic Swearing...41
b. Dysphemistic Swearing ...43
c. Idiomatic Swearing...45
d. Cathartic Swearing ...48
e. Abusive Swearing...51
2. Reasons for Swearing ...54
a. Psychological Motives...54
b. Social Motives ...57
c. Linguistic Motives ...61
CHAPTER V CONCLUSION AND SUGGESTIONS...64
A. Conclusion ...64
B. Suggestions ...65
REFERENCES...67
APPENDICES APPENDIX A. Data sheet of Types and Reasons for Swearing in Quentin Tarantino’sPulp FictionMovie...69
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Table 1 : Format Data of the Sheet of the Types of Swearing and Reasons
for Swearing in the MoviePulp Fiction... 32 Table 2 :The Data Findings of Types of Swearing and Reasons for
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A Sociolinguistic Analysis of Swearing by the Main Characters in Quentin Tarantino’s Pulp FictionMovie
By
Hairil Akbar Arifin 11211141007 ABSTRACT
This research aims to (1) find out the types of swearing uttered by the main characters in
Pulp Fictionmovie, and to (2) observe the reasons for swearing uttered by the main characters in
Pulp Fiction movie. In order to analyze swearwords which emerge within the movie, sociolinguistic approach is employed by the researcher.
This research used descriptive qualitative method in order to describe the findings of swearing phenomena and the discussion deeply. Moreover, quantitative method was also employed to support the interpretation of the data by displaying fixed percentages in numerical form. The data were in the form of utterances uttered by the two main characters, Vincent Vega
and Butch Coolidge, while the contexts of the data were the dialogues between them which contain swearwords. The sources of data were the transcripts of each scene which involve the main characters in it. The data were collected and analyzed by categorizing the utterances which contain swearwords based on the objectives of the research and matching the transcripts within the movie carefully. The primary instrument of this research was the researcher, supported by the data sheet as the secondary instrument. The trustworthiness of the data was gained by triangulation.
The results of this research are stated as follows. Firstly, five types of swearing uttered by the main characters inPulp Fictionare dysphemistic, abusive, idiomatic, emphatic, and cathartic swearing. From sixty three data found in the movie, emphatic swearing becomes the most frequently used type of swearing. Emphatic swearing is mostly used by the main characters because it is considered as mild swearing in which it is not really provoking the listeners while hear it. Moreover, emphatic swearing is used in order to emphasize the statement of the main characters. The least frequently used type of swearing is abusive swearing. Abusive swearing becomes the least used swearing uttered by the main characters since employing it is considered as inefficient in which it totally intimidates or downgrades the pride of the listeners. Secondly, three reasons for swearing are found in the movie, i.e. psychological motives, social motives, and linguistic motives. Social motives become the most frequently used reason for swearing since mostly the main characters employ swearwords triggered by the people in their surroundings. Psychological motives become the least motive used by the main characters since their use only occurs when the characters employ swearwords for themselves.
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to be conducted. It also reveals the research problems and research focus. In addition, this chapter also mentions the objectives of the research and states the research significances.
A. Background of the Study
In daily life, people invariably use language to interact with others. They
interact in order to convey their inclinations to the others. Nonetheless, the use of language is not that simple. It can be used to identify the status of people in society as well. This condition can be seen when the speakers comprehend to
employ proper language to the hearers in a certain circumstance. The more they experience to grasp the language deeply, the more they will be respected by
society. Therefore, language is not simply a role in communicative purpose, but it likewise serves to establish and maintain relationship with others.
By the existence of the culture in society, language automatically becomes
bounded with the culture itself. The relation between language and culture reflects the structure of a language whereby speakers of that language view the world. It is
inconceivable to understand or appreciate both language and culture without acknowledging the relation between them. In fact, various concepts such as Kinship System, Colour Terminology, Prototype, Taboo, and Euphemism emerge
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culture affects language to contrive various words in order to be tolerable in
society.
Taboo, which becomes one of the concepts in relation to language and
culture, needs to be explored further since it is an interesting phenomenon in society. According to Wardhaugh (2006:239), taboo is the proscription or restriction in any of society which causes anxiety, embarassment, or shame for the
one who employs it. In other word, taboo is acts created by society but society itself refuse their community to produce nonetheless. However, there are always
people who tend to utilize taboo in an attempt to demostrate their own freedom from such social constraints or to reveal the taboo as illogical and unwaranted, as in certain movements for ‘free speech’. In addition, the use and definition of taboo
words are basically the same but it varies in terms of expressions for every language, for example, the expressions of taboo words between English and
Bahasa Indonesia are different. It is extremely forbidden to utter anjing (dog) in Bahasa Indonesia since dog is considered as impure animal particularly for Moslem (majority people in Indonesia). Meanwhile, the word dog in English has
no effect to either the speaker or hearer, because dog is considered as a friendly animal and almost people have it as their pet.
In relation to taboo subject whereby exposes about bad language, it is necessary to involve swearing as the part of taboo, since swearing is described as a form of linguistic activity employing taboo words to impart the expression of
taboo, although not all of taboo words are swearwords. Swearing is used as the
main device of the speakers in order to give emphasis to their speech, which often combine with techniques like stress, intonation and tone of voice, as well as
non-linguistic phenomena like gestures and facial expression (Ljung 2011:5). Thus, the usage of swearing must involve the taboo words to strengthen swearing taking place in circumstance. The list of taboo words such as:shit, fuck, prick, and bitch
are well considered as swearing, but actually not all taboo words contain swearing. Consider for instance the words shag and fuck in which officially
accepted as the words for having sex and taboo in English speaker. However, only word fuck works as swearing, since comparing them by using well-formed structure such asfuck you, not give a fuck, and fucking idiot with the impossible
phrase likeShag you, not give a shag, and shagingg idiot. In fact, although the use of swearing is believed to intimidate and disturb others, in certain circumstance
they do not affect at all. It is due to the intimacy between the speaker and the hearer. Thus, it is interesting to find out the social role and context beneath the conversation of the speakers which contains swearing.
The use of swearing in social role is interesting because it is related to the speakers’ gender and social class. There is an assumption which believes that men
tend to swear more than women (McEnery 2006:29). It is completely true since men tend to be superior when they take the lead on conversation compared to women. They have free choice to speak with various styles and swearing
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standard English words are more frequently used among the lower social class.
Therefore, everyone including women can also produce swearwords based on their social role as a lower class.
From the explanation above, it can be assumed that the circumstances around the speakers take a huge part as influential factors of why people utter swearing. Patrick via Vingerhoets (2013:297), concludes that swearwords are
primarily used by soldier, sailors, laborer, uneducated people, and criminals. They commonly utilize swearwords with their colleague, family, or even to another
group of society because of the influence of their surroundings. Swearing, in fact, does not emerge in daily conversation but in movies as well, since it is believed that movie is the representation of reality. It is quite possible to find those
phenomena in the characters of movie based on the conversation of the characters. Therefore, in order to explore swearing phenomena, it is interesting to analyze a
movie which contains many swearwords entitledPulp Fiction.
Pulp Fictionmovie is about the story of American gangsters in the United States. The narration is presented out of sequence for each scene, but it is actually
related one to another. The story is about Vincent, as the main character in this movie who plays as a hit man, who does an order to take back a secret luggage
which belongs to his boss. During his mission, accompanied by his partners, Jules, he has to murder some people who deceived their boss. Shortly, they manage to do the mission given by their boss with a lot of struggles. Another scene tells
the match and get lost by his opponent. However, he accidentally beats his
opponent and wins the match instead. Marcellus gets angry and intends to chase him, but he manages to escape with his girl from the town.
Pulp Fiction becomes a suitable subject due to the possibility of swearwords uttered by the main characters, since the main characters are the representation of criminal lifestyle in society. This can be seen from the dialogues
among the characters which frequently add some swearwords. In addition, the scenes in this movie are presented by mixing humour and violence acts. It is quite
possible to find out the differences of swearwords uttered by characters depending on the context of this movie. Therefore, Pulp Fiction is an appropriate subject in this research.
B. Research Focus
In Pulp Fiction, there are many aspects which are interesting to be
analyzed under Sociolinguistics approach. Mostly, those aspects are bad languages which include slang words, swearing, vulgar, and blasphemy. It is possible since almost all of the characters in this movie are criminals; hence they
tend to use bad language as the representation of their identity in social role. However, swearing becomes primary focus to be analyzed since it is frequently
used rather than the other categories.
The focus of the research is to analyze swearwords phenomena uttered by main characters inPulp Fiction.Based on the background of the study and due to
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analyzed further since swearing involves several terms of linguistic resources such
as words, phrases, and sentences. By selecting each swearing expression and discovering the context of each dialogue uttered by main characters, it is expected
that the use of swearing is perfectly classified into several types; they are dysphemistic swearing, abusive swearing, idiomatic swearing, emphatic swearing, and cathartic swearing. The second problem is the functions of swearing. It needs
to be discovered as well since swearing is affected by several motives; they are psychological, social, and linguistic motives.
Based on the background and research focus above, the research problems can be formulated as follows.
1. What are the types of swearing employed by the main characters in
Pulp FictionMovie?
2. What are the reasons for swearing uttered by the main characters in
Pulp FictionMovie?
C. Objectives of the study
In connection to the research problems formulated above, the objectives of
the study are.
1. to find out the type of swearing which employed by main characters
inPulp Fiction; and
D. Research Significances.
Regarding the background and the objective of the research, this research is expected to give contribution, both theoretically, and practically.
1. Theoretically, these findings of research are expected to enrich knowledge on sociolinguistics, especially the use of swearing which can be analyzed under the study of bad language.
2. Practically, this research is expected to be beneficial to other researchers, especially for student of English Language and
30 CHAPTER III
RESEARCH METHOD
This chapter presents a guidance of how the study was conducted. It
includes the type of research, forms, context, and source of data, research
instrument, technique of data collection, technique of data analysis, and data
trustworthiness.
A. Type of Research
This research employed descriptive qualitative research. The qualitative
method was used in order to interpret the data which describe context within
it. Hence, the conclusion was made without making generalization. The data
and their analysis were in the description form. According to Moleong
(2008:6), qualitative research is a research concerned on a phenomenon which
related to behavior, motivation, action, in which they are described through
words and languages contextually. Moreover, Surachmad (1994:47) states that
descriptive research is a method which deals with collecting, classifying,
analyzing, and interpreting the data in order to solve an actual problem.
Therefore, Vanderstoep and Johnston (2009:167) state that the aims of
descriptive qualitative research tend to be descriptive rather than predictive.
This was similar with the objectives of this research, to classify and describe
the types of swearing (dysphemistic swearing, abusive swearing, emphatic
swearing, idiomatic swearing, and cathartic swearing) and the reason for
swearing (psychological motives, social motives, and linguistic motives) in
Although this research employed qualitative method, quantitative method
also involved in it in order to support the interpretation of data. Vanderstoep
and Johnson (2009:7) state that quantitative method is employed to interpret
the statistical work in certain phenomenon. Thus, it made easier to explain the
result of the research by describing it using form of percentage.
B. Forms, Contexts, and Source of Data
In this research, the data were in the form of utterances uttered by two
main characters, Vincent Vega and Butch Coolidge in Pulp Fiction Movie.
The contexts of data were the dialogues between the characters which contain
swearwords. The sources of data were the transcripts of each scene which
involve the main characters in it. These transcripts were taken from
https://subscene.com
C. Research Instrument
Qualitative research needs to involve the researcher as the main
instrument. Bogdan and Biklen (1982:27) state that researcher is the key of the
instrument in qualitative research. Since the researcher was considered as the
key instrument, he measured and determined whether the utterances could be
categorized as valid data or not. The researcher also collected the data,
analyzed the data, and reported the result of the research. In addition, a data
sheet was also employed as the secondary instrument in order to classify the
data that have been collected. The data sheet was presented in a table form. It
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were the types of swearwords and the reason for swearwords. The format of
the data can be illustrated in the table below.
Table 1. Sample Data Sheet of Types of swearing and Reasons for Swearing
inPulp FictionMovie chit-chat and Vincent tells something funny about his experience in Amsterdam. Jules responds it by saying F*ck*ng to him..
Notes:
Types of swearing Reasons for swearing
DS:Dysphemistic Swearing PM:Psychological Motives
AS:Abusive Swearing SM:Social Motives
ES:Expletive Swearing LM:Linguistic Motives
IS:Idiomatic Swearing
CS:Cathartic Swearing
D. Techniques of Data Collection.
In this research, content analysis was employed as the data collection
technique. According to Kothari (2004:96), data collection in descriptive
interview, questionnaires and other methods which include (a) warranty
cards; (b) distributor audits; (c) pantry audits; (d) consumer panels; (e) using
mechanical devices; (f) through projective techniques; (g) depth interviews,
and (h) content analysis. Contents analysis includes analyzing the contents of
documentary materials and all verbal materials which can be either printed or
spoken. Therefore, in order to collect the data from the movie, it needs
several steps as follows.
First, the researcher watched the movie. Second, the researcher
downloaded the transcript. Third, the researcher re-watched the movie and
the transcripts were checked in order to ensure accuracy. Fourth, the
researcher marked all the utterances which supposedly contain swearwords in
the movie. Last, the researcher classified the collected data into a data sheet.
E. Techniques of Data Analysis
In analyzing the data, qualitative method used inductive approach.
According to Vanderstoep and Johnston (2009:168), inductive approach is a
process of reasoning where observation came first, then followed by theory,
hypothesis and interpretations.
After collecting the data, the researcher conducted four procedures on the
data analysis. First, the data were classified based on two objectives of the
research. Second, data trustworthiness was checked by consulting to the
lecturers and linguistics students. Third, the data which have been collected
were analyzed, described, and interpreted by researcher. Fourth, the
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F. Data Trustworthiness
Moleong (2001:173-175) states that trustworthiness can be achieved by
using four criteria. They are credibility, transferability, dependability and
conformability. In this research, the researcher only used credibility and
conformability to triangulate the data. Credibility is a concept which measure
the extent of findings accurately. Thus, the researcher observed the data
thoroughly in order to organize them as being credible. Moreover,
conformability is used to demonstrate the neutrality of the research
interpretations. Conformability aims to measure how far the findings and the
interpretations of the data, hence the research can be used by other
researchers to extent their knowledge. Therefore, the researcher provided all
data to get the degree of conformability.
In order to get trustworthiness, the researcher did the triangulation to test
the data and the data analysis. According to Moleong (2001:330), there are
four types of triangulation on the research, they are by theories, by
researcher, by method, by researcher, and by source. However, in this
research, the researcher only used two types of triangulation: by theory, and
by researcher.
Triangulation by theory was conducted by employing various theories of
bad language, for instance theory of swearing and the use of their types and
their functions in order to analyze the data. Meanwhile, triangulation by
researcher was conducted by consulting the research analysis to thesis
addition, the researcher demanded three partners from English Language and
36 CHAPTER IV
FINDINGS AND DISCUSSION
In this chapter, there are two sections which describe findings and discussions.
Findings section describes the result of analysis related to the problems which are
mentioned in chapter I including the types of swearing and the reasons for swearing. The
second section describes the discussions of the research which present the explanation of
the data result which have been analyzed followed by the example.
A. Findings
Table 2: Data findings of types of swearing and reasons for swearing
1 Dysphemistic Swearing 0 16 0 16 25.39
2 Abusive Swearing 0 4 0 4 6.34
3 Idiomatic Swearing 0 13 0 13 20.64
4 Emphatic Swearing 0 11 11 22 34.93
5 Cathartic Swearing 8 0 0 8 12.70
Total 8 44 11 63 100
Percentage (%) 12.70 69.84 17.46 100
It can be seen in Table 2 that the most frequently used type of swearing which employed by the main characters is emphatic swearing, in which it appears twenty-two times (34.93%). Vincent employs this type seventeen times and Butch employs it four times. It becomes the most frequently used type of swearing since both main characters tend to use swearing within conversations in order to emphasis their statements to the listeners. Moreover, the main characters frequently employ this type since it is considered as mild swearing and not really provoking the listeners while hear it.
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The third frequently used type is idiomatic swearing, in which it appears fourteen times (22.23%). Vincent employs this type ten times and four times are employed by Butch. Since idiomatic swearing is considered as meaningless swearing, in which the meaning of utterances cannot be interpreted and subconsciously uttered by the characters while in high tensions, both of the characters employ it regularly.
The fourth frequently used type is cathartic swearing which appear eight times (12.70%). Vincent employs this type seven times and Butch employs it only once. The reason why Vincent employs cathartic swearing more than Butch is because Vincent’s background as criminal, which makes him uttering swearwords whenever he feels stress out caused by certain incident.
The last is abusive swearing which appears only four times (6.34%). Vincent employs this type only once and Butch employs it three times. Although this type is the strongest type in order to provoke the listeners, Vincent only employs once since the use of abusive swearing needs critical conditions caused by some people. Meanwhile, in this movie, Vincent seems to manage all of obstacles without being provoked, except in one case when he is being mocked by Jules and Paul about Mia’s background. On the other hand, Butch employs this type three times since he needs to employ abusive swearing when he is being threatened by Marsellus.
social motives, and linguistic motives. In Table 2, the most frequent reason for swearing employed by the main characters is social motives, which appears forty-four times (69.84%). This becomes the dominant reason for swearing since both main characters particularly employ swearing when they attempt to interact or socialize but the listeners force them to utter swearing. The second frequent reason for swearing is linguistic motives which appear eleven times (17.46%). This reason which shows swearing as behavior, particularly for emphasis the argument without insult the listeners become the less favorite to use. The last is psychological motives which only occurs eight times (12.70%). Apparently, this becomes the least frequent reason for swearing since it only occurs when the characters utter swearing for themselves; hence such circumstances rarely occur in the movie.
In conclusion, five types of swearing are all uttered by the main characters in
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swearing is divided into two motives, social motives and linguistic motives, since the use of it does not always refer to the people in surroundings, but it just simply as behavior in order to emphasis statement uttered by the main characters without referring to anyone. Lastly, cathartic swearing is only influenced by the psychological motives since the use of cathartic swearing triggered by psychological factors, in which the intention is just simply to release the stress and it does not provoke anyone.
B. Discussion
In this section, the researcher discusses the findings comprehensively in order to answer two problems in Chapter 1. This section consists of two parts. The first part is presented to answer the first research problem which concerns the types of swearing uttered by main characters in Pulp Fiction Movie. The second part is presented to answer the second problem which concerns the reason for swearing. Therefore, the examples of data are presented with some detailed explanations in order to give comprehensive understanding answering those problems.
1. Types of Swearing
a. Emphatic Swearing
Emphatic swearing becomes the most dominant type used by the main characters inPulp Fiction. It is described as the use of sexual terms or profane words in order to emphasis the statements uttered by the speakers. Hence, as the main characters, Vincent and Butch, tend to employ it when they are either in emotional state triggered by social circumstances or simply emphasizing something without referring to the hearer.
In Pulp Fiction, emphatic swearing appears twenty-two times and three of them are presented below:
Vincent : “Then what did Marcellus do?”
Jules : “Sent a couple of cats over to his place. They took him out on his patio, threw his ass over the balcony. Nigger fell four stories. They had a little garden down at the bottom enclosed in glass, like a greenhouse. Nigger fell through that. Since then he kind of developed a speech impediment.”
Vincent : “That’s adamnshame.”
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Vincent does not mean that he is going to condemn or provoking someone, but it is simply as adverb in order to express emphasis of the wordshameuttered by him.
Another example is shown as follows: Butch : “Are you sure?”
Fabienne: “No.”
Butch : “Fuck! Motherfucker! Do you know how fucking stupid you are? No! It’s not your fault. If you left it at the apartment, it’s not your fault. I had you bring a bunch of stuff. I reminded you about it but I didn’t illustrate how personal the watch was to me. If all I gave a
fuckabout was the watch I should’ve told you that. You’re not mind reader, are you?”
(datum No 39) This conversation occurs when Butch wants to escape with Fabienne from Marsellus, and he finds out that his precious watch is left behind by Fabienne in the apartment. Butch makes sure that Fabienne puts his watch in somewhere by asking to her, but she responds his question in a muddle. Butch goes mad and utters several swearwords in order to provoke her. One of the swearwords that he has been uttered is fucking stupid. Butch employs the obscene word fucking followed by the word
stupid in order to emphasis his statement that his girlfriend is totally retarded, since she leaves behind his precious watch and has no idea where she puts it.
The next example of emphatic swearing is the dialogue between Vincent and the drug dealer, Lance. Here is the dialogue:
Vincent : “Ok, then what happens?”
Lance : “I’m kind of curious about that myself.” Vincent : “This ain’t nofuckingjoke, man!”
This conversation occurs when Vincent brings Mia into Lance’s house. Actually, Mia overdoses on drugs and Vincent asks Lance to help her. Lance attempt to find his medical books in order to save Mia. Soon, after he gets his medical books, he asks Vincent to shoot Mia’s breast by injection. Vincent wonders what will happen next after he injects her, hence he asks Lance about it. Apparently, Lance is also curious about that since he never took care of people who overdosed before. Therefore, Vincent utters the word fucking followed by the word joke. This swearword works as adverb in order to emphasis Vincent’s statement since in that critical condition he does not want Lance joking around.
b. Dysphemistic Swearing
Dysphemistic swearing is the second frequent type of swearing used by Vincent and Butch inPulp Fiction. Dysphemistic swearing, or used to be known as dysphemism, is the term which used in conversation in order to illustrate how awful something is. Therefore, it can be regarded as swearing since the use of it tends to use taboo word and triggered by the emotion of the speakers.
InPulp Fiction, there are sixteen data of dysphemistic swearing which appear in the dialogue uttered by the main characters. Three of them are presented as the examples of explanation as follows:
Lance : “Hey, hey, are you deaf? You are not bringing thisfucked up bitch
into my house.”
Vincent : Thisfucked up bitch isMarsellus Wallace’s wife.
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This conversation occurs when Vincent brings Mia into Lance’s house. Despite Lance’s job as a drug seller, apparently he does not want to get involved with the problem of his customers. Therefore, he goes mad when he knows Mia is overdose and Vincent brings her to him instead. He utters the phrasefucked up bitch which refers to Mia. In response to this, Vincent also utters such phrase in order to show how disgusting he is through this condition. In fact, the phrasefucked up bicth is swearwords which interpreted as dying woman in usual term. Since both Lance and Vincent want to illustrate Mia’s condition in bad terms, dysphemistic swearing seems to be the appropriate type of swearing in this circumstance.
The second example is the dialogue between Butch and taxi driver, Esmeralda. Here is the example:
Esmeralda : “and what is your name?” Butch : “Butch”
Esmeralda : “Butch, what does it mean?”
Butch : “I’m American honey, our name doesn’t meanshit”
meaning of his name, since he is still in tension escaping from Marsellus and does not want to talk about such thing.
The third example of dysphemistic is derived from dialogue between Lance and Vincent. Here is the example:
Lance : “Hey, uh, what do you think about Trudi? She ain’t got a boyfriend. You wanna, uh, hang out? get high?”
Vincent : “Which one is Trudi? The one with allshitin her face?” Lance : “No, that’s Jody. That’s my wife.”
Vincent : (laughing) “I’m sorry, man.” Lance : “Thank you”
(datum No 18) This conversation occurs when Vincent purchases some drugs form Lance. After the business is done, Lance offers Vincent to have a date with his sister, Trudi. Apparently, Vincent thinks that Trudi is lance’s wife, the woman who piers all of her body especially her face with needles. Therefore, Vincent employs the swearword shit in order to describe Jody’s piercing. The use of dysphemistic swearing is considered as an effective way in order to describe trudy’s piercing since Vincent looks upon it as awful things to do.
c. Idiomatic Swearing
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In Pulp Fiction, there are thirteen data of idiomatic swearing employed by Butch and Vincent. Three examples of the data will be explained below:
Jody : “Listen, while you’re looking for it, she’s gonna die on our carpet”
Lance : “Honey, I’m going to fucking kill you if you don’t shut up! Vincent : Get in here!Quit fucking aroundand give her the shot!
(datum No 30) This conversation occurs when Vincent is in trouble with Mia’s overdose. Vincent asks Lance to save Mia as soon as possible; hence Lance attempts to look for his medical book. While he is looking for the book, Jody keeps talking about the trouble caused by Vincent and it seems to bother Lance so much. Both of them are eventually arguing each other until Vincent stops it by swearing at them. Vincent utters swearingquit fucking around in which it cannot be interpreted literally since the obscene wordfuckingdoes not make sense when it is combined with other words. In fact, that phrase idiomatically could be interpreted as “stop arguing”, since Lance and Judy constantly argue one another while Mia is dying. Therefore, in order to arouse the attention, Vincent utters such swearing toward both of them.
The second example of idiomatic swearing is the conversation between Butch and his girlfriend, Fabienne.
Butch : “Fabienne, that was my father fucking watch. Do you have any idea what he had to go through to get me hat watch? I don’t have time to go into it, but he went through a lot. All this other shit you could set on fire but I specifically reminded not to forget the fucking watch! Now think, did you get it?”
Butch : “You believe so? What the fuckdoes that mean?”
(datum No 36) Butch feels aggrieved at Fabienne because she is the one who takes responsibility of his precious watch yet she has no idea where she puts it recently. It seems that Fabienne is so afraid of Butch since Butch constantly swears in order to remind her mistake with various types of swearing. In the end, since Fabienne’s response is faltering, Butch utters idiomatic swearingwhat the fuckin order to arouse Fabienne’s attention for not being faltering anymore. In fact, the phrase what the fuck which belong to the type of idiomatic swearing may have various meanings since it is regularly uttered by the speakers in many circumstances. In relation to this situation, that phrase simply to arouse listeners’ attention.
The third example which shows idiomatic swearing is the conversation between Vincent and his partner, Jules. Here is the example:
Vincent : “and you know what they call a Quarter-Pounder with cheese in Paris?”
Jules : “they don’t call it a Quarter-Pounder with cheese?
Vincent : “No, Man. They got the metric system there. They wouldn’t knowwhat the fucka Quarter-Pounder is” Jules : and what do they call it?
Vincent : They called it a “Royale with Cheese”
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Europe. Vincent delivers this joke to Jules in order to show intimacy between them as partners. While Vincent delivers his joke, the phrasewhat the fuck which indicates idiomatic swearing automatically uttered by him since the situation of conversation is informal and both of them are well acquainted. In fact, the use of idiomatic swearing in this situation is well-accepted because it does not provoke both of them, it just simply to indicate informal situation between them.
d. Cathartic Swearing
Cathartic swearing is the fourth frequent type used by main characters inPulp Fiction.It is uttered by the main characters in order to release their stress reliefs such as frustration, sudden pain, and regret toward something. There are eight data of cathartic swearing uttered by Vincent and Butch in the movie; it means that the use of this type is rare compare with others type which have been explained above. The factor which causes main characters rarely employ swearing is the circumstances of them are not possible to employ this type, in which the uses of swearing in this movie are mostly triggered by the people in their surroundings. Therefore, almost all of the examples of dysphemistic swearing in the movie are dialogue of one character swears to himself.
The first example of dialogue which shows cathartic swearing is the dialogue of Vincent. Here is the example:
(datum No 20) This dialogue occurs when Vincent wants to get back home after he had a dinner with Mia, Marsellus’ wife. He needs to practice first in the toilet in order to tell her that he needs to go home earlier since Vincent respects his boss so much and does not want to give bad impression toward Mia. When he tries to talk with Mia, he surprises to find out that Mia overdoses on drugs and seems dying. This situation triggers Vincent to utter swearing subconsciously. He utters several swearwords which refer to religious things and sexuality such asJesus Christandfuck me.In fact, those swearwords indicate cathartic swearing since the uses of them do not refer to anyone, they are employed in order to release Vincent’s stress button.
The second example of cathartic swearing is swearword uttered by Butch. Here is the example:
Butch : “are you sure?” Fabienne : “No”
Butch : “Fuck! Motherfucker! Do you know how fucking stupid you are? No! It’s not your fault. If you left it at the apartment, it’s not your fault. I had you bring a bunch of stuff. I reminded you about it but I didn’t illustrate how personal the watch was to me. If all I gave a fuck about was the watch I should’ve told you that. You’re not mind reader, are you?”
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Fabienne is nervous and cannot answer him clearly. Therefore, several swearwords have been uttered by Butch in order to release his tension and provoke Fabienne. One of the swearwords which are uttered by Butch indicates cathartic swearing. This can be seen in the first swearword fuck uttered by Butch in the dialogue. In this scene, Butch utters such swearword while he throws his suitcase away, in which it obviously indicates that he utters swearing in order to release his tension. Later, the next swearwords which are uttered by him shows provocation at Fabienne, since the cathartic swearing is not enough to release his tension.
The third example of cathartic swearing is swearwords uttered by Vincent when he wants to talk with Lance. Here is the example:
Vincent : (trying to contact Lance) “Fuckyou Lance, Answer”
(datum No 22)
e. Abusive Swearing
Abusive swearing is the least frequent type of swearing used by the main characters in Pulp Fiction. In this movie, there are only four data of type of swearing which indicate abusive swearing. The use of this type is to abusing or creating the distress to the listeners. There are three characteristic of abusive swearing in its use; those are referring the listeners toward effluvia, sexual activity, and undignified activity. In this movie, this type is considered ineffective swearing since abusing the listeners straightly is not the best option to be used for the main characters. This is due to the characteristic of swearing itself in which it mostly provoke or abuse the listeners already. Therefore, there are only 4 data of abusive swearing uttered by main characters inPulp Fiction.
The first example of abusive swearing is taken from the dialogue among Vincent, Jules, and Paul. Here is the example:
Paul :”have you meet Mia?” Vincent : “Not yet”
Jules and Paul : (laughing)
Vincent : “What’s so fucking funny?” Paul : “Not a godamn thing” Jules : “I got to piss”
Vincent : “Look, I’m not a fuckng idiot, all right? It’s the big man wife. I’m gonna sit across from her… chew my food with my mouth closed… laugh at her fuckng jokes, and that’s it.”
Paul :”hey my name is Paul, and this shit is between you all” Vincent :”Then why you did fuckng ask me about it for?Asshole
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them. One of the questions is about Mia, Marsellus’ wife who is going to have a dinner with Vincent. In this scene, Vincent who does not know about the background of Mia is being laughed by Jules and Paul. It makes Vincent looks silly among them. Thus, he utters various type of swearing at Paul, the one who provokes him in the first time, by referring him into effluvia term asshole in the end of his conversation. In fact, Vincent forces himself to utter abusive swearing to Paul since he is totally aggrieved at Paul and does not have any choice but to abusing him in order to release his distress.
The second example of abusive swearing is taken from the dialogue between Butch and Marsellus. Here is the dialogue:
Butch : “You feel that sting, big boy? That’s pride fucking with you, see? You got to fight through that shit.”
Marsellus : “You better kill me”
Butch : “Yeah, somebody’s going to get killed. Somebody’s going to get theirmoterfuckinghead blown to.”
fact, the intention of Butch utters such swearing is to create the distress toward Marsellus, and incest term which is considered as disgusting thing seems to be an effective swearing in order to express it.
The third example of abusive swearing is the conversation between Butch and his girlfriend, Fabienne. Here is the dialogue:
Butch : “are you sure?” Fabienne : “No”
Butch : “Fuck!Motherfucker! Do you know how fucking stupid you are? No! It’s not your fault. If you left it at the apartment, it’s not your fault. I had you bring a bunch of stuff. I reminded you about it but I didn’t illustrate how personal the watch was to me. If all I gave a fuck about was the watch I should’ve told you that. You’re not mind reader, are you?”
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2. Reasons for Swearing
This section discusses the reasons for swearing uttered by the main characters, Vincent and Butch in Pulp Fiction. This part gives detailed explanations about the second problem in Chapter I. There are three reasons for swearing in this chapter. Those are psychological motives, social motives, and linguistic motives. Each of categories will be explained below:
a. Psychological Motives
There are eight data of swearing which influenced by psychological motives. The first of example of psychological motives in Pulp Fiction is the conversation between Jules and Vincent. Here is the dialogue:
Jules : “You want to play blind man, go walk with the shepherd, but me, my eyes are fucking open.”
Vincent : “what the fuck does that mean?
Jules : “I mean that’s it for me. From here on, I consider myself my ass retired.”
Vincent :“Jesus Christ!!!”
Jules : “Don’t blaspheme”. Vincent :“Goddammit!!!”
Jules : “I said don’t do that”.
Vincent : Why are you fucking freaky out on us?”
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The second example of swearing which is influenced by the psychological motives is the dialogue between Vincent and Jules in the restaurant. Here is the dialogue:
Vincent : “You’re serious? You are really thinking about quitting?” Jules : “The life?”
Vincent : “Yeah”
Jules : “Most definitely” Vincent :“fuck”
(datum No 58) This conversation occurs when Vincent and Jules are heading back to their base. After they manage to solve all of their problems in order to retrieve their boss suitcase, they decide to calm themselves by having breakfast together. Meanwhile they are enjoying their meal, Vincent still curious about Jules’ decision to retire after the job is completed. He asks to Jules for once again in order to convince him that all of Jules saying is kind of joke. Unfortunately, Jules is serious and really want to quit the job after it finishes. Vincent is enraged by hearing it and utters obscenity word fuck. As a matter of fact, the swearwordfuck does not refer to Jules, Vincent utters such swearword at himself in order to reduce his emotion because of Jules’ decision seems to be irrational for him. In addition, Vincent utters such swearing while his face does not face Jules, it looks like he just blurts swearing out accidentally without any intention. Thus, it is clearly proven that the reason for swearing in this scene due to the psychological motives.
Vincent : “what happened this morning, man, I agree it was peculiar, but water into wine, I…”
Jules : “all shapes and sizes, Vincent.”
Vincent : “Don’t f*ck*ng talk to me like that way, man!”
Jules : “if my answers frighten you, Vincent, then you should cease asking scary question”
Vincent : “Wait, I’m going to take sh*t. Let me ask you something, when did you make this decision? When you were sitting there and eating that muffin?”
Jules “Well yeah, I was sitting here eating my muffin and drinking my coffee and replaying the incident in my head and when I had what alcoholics refer to as a moment of clarify.
Vincent :”Fuck!!! To be continued.”
(datum No 63) The background of this conversation is still about the retiring decision of Jules. In the restaurant, while both of them are having breakfast together, Vincent still encourages Jules in order to clear Jules’ mind that retirement is not the best option. He regularly asks Jules several times to make sure that his partner is really serious about his decision. Knowing that his partner is really serious about it, he cannot hold himself and utters swearwordfuck. He apparently utters such swearword in order to release his tension over irrational explanation uttered by Jules. Therefore, the swearword uttered by Vincent is considered not to provoke Jules, it indicates catharsis and the use of it is influenced by psychological motives.
b. Social Motives
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and communicating with others, and social circumstances take huge parts for the speakers utter swearwords. In fact, the use of swearword which is influenced by social motives indicate that the speakers intend to provoke, to insult, to amuse, or even to do intimacy to the hearer. Therefore, unlike the psychological motives which are triggered only by emotive factors, social motives emerge when the uses of swearing involve emotive issue caused by social factors and the intention is to provoke the listeners. In this research, social motives becomes the most frequently used of reason for swearing since the main characters, Vincent and Butch, deal with many people while they are trying to solve their problems. There are at least forty-four data which indicate social motives as the reason for swearing in this research, and four types of swearing which include in it.
The first example of swearing which is triggered by social motives is the dialogue between Jules and Vincent. Here is the dialogue:
Vincent : “but you know what the funniest thing about Europe is?” Jules : “what?”
Vincent : “It’s a little difference. I mean, they got the same shit
inappropriate word like shit which has been uttered by Vincent does not represent that he is in high tension. The wordshit in this circumstance is kind of dysphemistic term which It is used simply to amuse Jules since at the moment he tells about something funny and swearing seems like a common conversation for them. Therefore, the wordshituttered by Vincent indicates social motives as its reason.
The second example of swearing which is triggered by social motives is the dialogue between Butch and Marsellus. Here is the dialogue:
Butch : “You feel that sting, big boy? That’s pride fucking with you, see? You got to fight through thatshit.”
Marsellus : “You better kill me”
Butch : “Yeah, somebody’s going to get killed. Somebody’s going to get theirmotherfuckinghead blown to.”
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The third example of swearing which is triggered by social motives is the dialogue between Vincent and Lance. Here is the dialogue:
Lance : “Just keep talking to her. She’s getting the shot. I’m gonna go get my little black medical book.
Vincent : “What thefuckdo you need a medical book for?” Lance : “I never had to give an adrenaline shot before.” Vincent : “you’ve never given an adrenaline shot before?”
Lance : “I never had to. I don’t go joypopping with a bunch of bublegummers.”
Vincent : “Get the shot!!!” Lance : “I am if you’ll let me.
Vincent : “I ain’tfuckingstopping you.
(datum No 28) The background of this conversation is when Vincent needs to cure Mia who is dying caused by overdoses. He has no other option but to bring her into Lance’s house. In Lance’ house, both of them struggle to make Mia’s condition becomes better by shooting her breast using some medicine. While they want to start her treatment, they are still arguing about how to shot her. Finding out that Lance still needs his medical books since he has no idea how to cure Mia, Vincent is angry at him and utters swearwords which are related to obscenity term such as fuck and fucking. In this scene, swearing which have been uttered by Vincent has an intention
c. Linguistic Motives
Linguistic motives are used as the reason for swearing in order to express the way of speaking of the speaker, in which it is mainly used to emphasize speaker’s statement. In addition, the use of this reason does not provoke the listeners because it is simply as the way of speaking of the speakers in daily life, since swearing is commonly used in certain circumstance in society. Thus, in relation to the type of swearing, emphatic swearing strongly bounds with this reason. This is due to the characteristic of linguistic motives which tend to emphasize statement of the speakers. In addition, there are at least eleven data which indicate the use of linguistic motives as the reason for swearing. The implementation of this reason in swearing expression can be seen in the following examples:
The first example of swearing which is triggered by linguistic motives is the dialogue between Vincent and Jules, here is the dialogue:
Vincent : “So, that means it could be up to five guys up there?” Lance : “It’s possible.”
Vincent : “We should havefuckingshotguns.”
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emphasis of nounshotgun, hence the use of this swearword does not provoke Jules and it simply indicates emphasis over Vincent’s way of speaking.
The second example of Swearing which is triggered by linguistic motives is the dialogue between Lance and Vincent. Here is the dialogue:
Lance : “Hello”
Vincent : “Lance, Vincent. I’m in a big fucking trouble man. I’m coming to your house”
(datum No 23) This conversation occurs when Vincent is trying to contact Lance in order to cure Mia over overdoses. Once Lance is greeting him on the phone, Vincent suddenly tells his problem straightly. He even adds the swearwordsfuckingin his explanation. In fact, the swearword which is uttered by Vincent does not used for provoking or amusing Lance. It is used in order to show how dangerous his condition since he just spent the night with his boss’ wife and ended up with her dying because of overdoses. Therefore, the wordfuckingin this dialogue indicates linguistic motives as the reason for swearing.
The third example of swearing which indicates linguistic motives as the reason is the dialogue between Vincent and Jules. Here is the dialogue:
Vincent : “Look, I’ve given million ladies a million foot massages, and they all meant something. Now, we act like they don’t, but they do. That’s what so fucking cool about them. There’s sensuous thing about going on where, you know… you don’t talk with about it, but you know it, and she knows it. Fucking Marsellus knew it, and Antwan should have fucking better knows better. I mean, that’s his
Jules : “that’s an interesting point. Come on. Let’s get into the characters.
64 CHAPTER V
CONCLUSIONS AND SUGGESTIONS
This chapter contains two different sections: conclusions and suggestions. In
conclusions, two points of objectives are concluded based on the research. In
suggestions, some suggestions are given related to the results of the research.
A. Conclusions
Based on the findings and discussions in Chapter IV, some conclusions can be
formulated as follows.
1. Types of Swearing
The first objective of this research is to identify and to describe the types of
swearing inPulp Fiction.There are five types of swearing which have been analyzed
in this movie. They are dysphemistic swearing, abusive swearing, idiomatic swearing,
emphatic swearing, and cathartic swearing. The most frequently used type of
swearing inPulp Fictionis emphatic swearing in which it is presented in twenty-two
data (34.93%). This is due to the background of the main characters in which they
deal with criminal activities in daily lives. Thus, emphatic swearing is employed in
order to strengthen their statement or simply as their way of speaking. On the other
hand, the least frequently used type of swearing is abusive swearing. There are only 4
data (6.34%) which indicate the use of this type. It becomes the least used type of
swearing since employing it is considered as inefficient and the main characters
2. Reasons for Swearing
The second objective is to describe the reasons for swearing in Pulp Fiction.
There are three motives which indicate the reasons for swearing which is found in
Pulp Fiction. They are psychological motives, social motives, and linguistic motives.
Social motives become the most frequently used reasons for swearing in which there
are forty-four data (69.84%) which indicate these motives. The main characters
mostly employed social motives because their background of society which
represents criminal life. Thus, it triggers them to utter swearwords almost in every
conversation. On the other hand, psychological motives become the least frequency
used reason for swearing in which it only appears eight times (12.70%). This is due to
the characteristic of psychological motives in which they are only triggered by the
tension of the speakers and the intention is to release stress relief. Therefore, the main
characters rarely used such motives since the conflict which triggered them uttering
swearwords are mostly influenced by people in their surroundings.
B. Suggestions
Based on the conclusion, some suggestions can be stated as follows.
1. To students of linguistics
In analyzing swearwords, students of linguistics need to pay more attentions
on the uses of swearing in society. Currently, there are still many people who
consider that swearing as bad language in which it is only used in order to hurt or to
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conducted on this movie, the uses of swearing might be triggered by various motives
such as stress relief in psychological motives or speaking behavior in linguistic
motives Therefore, the linguistic students are suggested to discover swearing
phenomenon further in order to have a deeper understanding.
2. To others researchers
This research focuses only on the type of swearing and the reasons for
swearing. Thus, it is suggested on the next research that there will be researchers who
conduct the same topic with a further analysis, such as the issue between swearing
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Timothy, J. 1999.Why We Curse: A Neuro-Psycho-Social Theory of Speech. Amsterdam: John Benjamins Publishing.
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Karjaleinen, M. 2002.Where Have All the Swearwords Gone? An Analysis of the loss of Swearwords in Two Swedish Translations of J. D. Salinger’s’Cacther in the Rye.Unpublished Pro Graduate Thesis, Faculty of Arts, Department of English, University of Helsinki, Retrieved on 22 November 2015 from
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Appendix A. Data Sheet of Types of Swearing and Reasons for Swearing in Quentin Tarantino’sPulp Fiction
Notes:
D S: Dysphemistic Swearing I S : Idiomatic Swearing P M : Psychological Motives A S: Abusive Swearing C S : Cathartic Swearing S M : Social Motives
E S: Emphatic Swearing L M : Linguistic Motives
No Code
Vincent: but you know what the funniest thing about Europe is?
Jules : What?
Vincent: It’s little difference. I mean, they got the sameshitover there that they got here, but it’s just a little different.
√ √ Vincent and Jules are heading to execute
the targets by car. In the middle of the road, Vincent tells about his experiences in Amsterdam to Jules. He employs swearwords by changing usual term into
the word shit in order to make his story
more interesting to Jules.
2 IS-LM 00:08:16
Jules : They don’t call it a Quarter-Pounder with cheese?
70 3 ES-LM
00:08:43
Vincent: you know what they put on French fries in Holland instead of ketchup?
Jules : What? Vincent: Mayonnaise. Jules : Goddamn.
Vincent: Haha, I’ve seen’em do it, man. They are fuckingdrown’em into thatshit
√ √ Vincent tells Jules a funny moment when he was in Amsterdam and found out that people there prefer to put mayonnaise rather than ketchup. Hearing this, Jules feels disgusting and Vincent keep continuing his story by uttering swearwordsfucking to show his curiosity and the word shit to illustrate how awful his experience is.
Vincent: So that means it could be up to five guys up there?
Jules : It’s possible
Vincent: We should havefuckingshotguns.
√ √ Before entering an apartment where their targets are located, Vincent feels a bit of fear since he only bring revolver while he estimates there are a lot of enemies in there, thus he swears to show his anger by uttering
Fuckng shotgun to emphasis his
statement that they should bring more deadly weapon. .
6 DS-LM 00:10:24
Vincent: So, what’d he do, fuckher? Jules : no,no,no,no. Nothing that bad. Vincent: Well then, what then?
Jules : Give her foot massage.
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Vincent: Then what did Marcellus do?
Jules : Sent a couple of cats over to his place. They took him out on his patio, threw his ass over the balcony. Nigger fell four stories. They had a little garden down at the bottom enclosed in glass, like a greenhouse. Nigger fell through that. Since then he kind of developed a speech impediment.
Vincent: That’s adamnshame.
√ √ Vincent asks Jules about what
happens to Antwan, the one who’s doing dirty thing with their boss wife. Jules describes that Antwan was completely finished by Marsellus. Imagining the situation, Vincent expresses it by uttering damn to emphasis his disgrace.
8 DS-LM 00:11:29
Jules : it was a foot massage. A foot massage is nothing. I give my mother foot massage. Vincent: No. It’s laying hands in a familiar way on
Marsellus’ new wife. I mean, is it as bad as eating herpussyout. No. but it’s the samefuckingballpark.
Jules : whoa, whoa, whoa. Stop right there.
√ √ Jules and Vincent are arguing about how
bad to give foot massage for women. Vincent strongly believes that foot massage will lead into something pervert; hence he utters obscene word likep*ssyin which it is the bad term of woman genital. Vincent’s intention utters such thing is to illustrate how bad the situation is. Moreover, he also emphasizes his statement by expressing
it using the phrase fucking ballpark
which indicates that the situation is definitely not the same.
9 ES-LM 00:11:34
72 10 ES-LM
00:13:14
Vincent: Look, I’ve given a million ladies a million foot massage, and they all meant
something. Now, we act like they don’t, but they do. That’s what sofckingcool about’em. There’s sensuous thing about going on where, you know…you don’t talk with about it, but you know it, and she knows it.FuckingMarsellus knew it, and Antwan should’vefuckingbetter known better. I mean, that’s hisfucking wife, man. This ain’t a man with a sense of humor about thisshit.You know what I’m saying?
73 Marsellus: In the fifth, your ass goes down. Say it! Butch : In the fifth, myassgoes down.
√ √ Butch, as a boxer, is asked by Marsellus to manipulate the match and giving up in the fifth round. Hence Marsellus asks Butch to repeat what he is saying to make sure that Butch will keep it in mind.
16 ES-PM 00:25:25
Paul : Hey, my name is Paul and this sh*t is between you all.
Vincent: Then what did youfuckingask me about it for?Asshole!!!
