ABSTRACT
Damastuti, Theodora Intan. 2016. Swear Words Used by Susan Cooper in the Spy Movie. Yogyakarta: Sanata Dharma University.
In daily communication, swear words are often used although they are offensive and can hurt other’s feeling. In the past, they were regarded as taboo especially for women. However, nowadays swear words have been widely used, for example, they can be found in the social media and TV shows. In using the swear words, it is not only men who take part in it, but also women. In the past, women avoided using swear words, whereas in this modern era women can swear as men do. Thus, the researcher is interested in investigating the swear words used by women.
The researcher aims to study swear words used by a female leading character namely Susan Cooper in the Spy movie. Two research problems were formulated in this research, they were 1) Which types of swear words are used by Susan Cooper in the Spy movie? 2) What motives affect Susan Cooper to use swear words in the Spy movie?
This research is a qualitative research. In analyzing the data the researcher applied the discourse analysis technique. The data used in this research was spoken language in a form of a transcript of the Spy movie. The first step in analyzing the swear words used by Susan Cooper was done by choosing utterances which contain swear words. Then, classifying the swear words into some types and motives.
The findings of the research showed that there were four types of swear words used by Susan Cooper, namely the expletive swear words, the abusive swear words, the humorous swear words, and the auxiliary swear words. The researcher found three motives of swearing used by Susan Cooper, namely the psychological motive, the social motive, and the linguistic motive.
ABSTRAK
Damastuti, Theodora Intan. 2016. Swear Words Used by Susan Cooper in the Spy Movie. Yogyakarta: Sanata Dharma University.
Dalam percakapan sehari-hari, kalimat umpatan sering digunakan meskipun kalimat tersebut kasar dan dapat melukai perasaan orang lain. Dahulu, kalimat umpatan dianggap sebagai tabu terutama untuk kaum wanita. Bagaimanapun juga, kini penggunaan kalimat umpatan itu sendiri telah banyak digunakan, contohnya kalimat ini dapat ditemukan di media sosial dan acara-acara TV. Dalam penggunaan kalimat umpatan, tidak hanya kalangan pria saja yang menggunakannya, namun demikian juga wanita. Pada jaman dahulu, wanita menghindari kalimat umpatan, sedangkan di era modern ini wanita mengumpat seperti layaknya lelaki. Oleh karena itu, peneliti tertarik untuk meneliti kalimat umpatan yang digunakan oleh wanita.
Penulis bermaksud untuk meneliti kalimat umpatan yang digunakan oleh tokoh utama wanita bernama Susan Cooper dalam film Spy. Terdapat dua permasalahan yang ada dalam penelitian ini, yaitu 1) Tipe kalimat umpatan apakah yang digunakan oleh Susan Cooper dalam film Spy? 2) Apakah motif-motif yang mempengaruhi Susan Cooper dalam menggunakan kalimat umpatan di film Spy?
Penelitian ini adalah penelitian kualitatif. Dalam menganalisa data, peneliti menggunakan analisis wacana. Dalam penelitian ini, data yang digunakan merupakan percakapan dalam bentuk naskah film Spy. Langkah pertama dalam menganalisa kalimat umpatan yang diucapkan oleh Susan Cooper yaitu memilah kata-kata yang mengandung kalimat umpatan. Langkah selanjutnya, mengklasifikasikan kalimat-kalimat umpatan tersebut kedalam beberapa tipe dan motif.
Penulis menemukan bahwa terdapat empat tipe kalimat umpatan yang digunakan oleh Susan Cooper, yaitu umpatan lontaran, umpatan hinaan, umpatan humor dan umpatan tambahan. Peneliti menemukan adanya tiga motif mengapa Susan Cooper mengumpat, yaitu motif psikologi, motif sosial dan motif linguistik.
SWEAR WORDS USED BY SUSAN COOPER
IN THE SPY MOVIE
A SARJANA PENDIDIKAN THESIS
Presented as Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements to Obtain the Sarjana Pendidikan Degree
in English Language Education
By
Theodora Intan Damastuti Student Number: 121214100
ENGLISH LANGUAGE EDUCATION STUDY PROGRAM DEPARTMENT OF LANGUAGE AND ARTS EDUCATION FACULTY OF TEACHERS TRAINING AND EDUCATION
SANATA DHARMA UNIVERSITY YOGYAKARTA
i
A Sarjana Pendidikan Thesis on
SWEAR WORDS USED BY SUSAN COOPER
IN THE SPY MOVIE
A SARJANA PENDIDIKAN THESIS
Presented as Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements to Obtain the Sarjana Pendidikan Degree
in English Language Education
By
Theodora Intan Damastuti Student Number: 121214100
ENGLISH LANGUAGE EDUCATION STUDY PROGRAM DEPARTMENT OF LANGUAGE AND ARTS EDUCATION FACULTY OF TEACHERS TRAINING AND EDUCATION
SANATA DHARMA UNIVERSITY YOGYAKARTA
iv
“DON’T
BE STRESS
DO YOUR BEST
FORGET THE REST
”
vii
ABSTRACT
Damastuti, Theodora Intan. 2016. Swear Words Used by Susan Cooper in the Spy Movie. Yogyakarta: Sanata Dharma University.
In daily communication, swear words are often used although they are offensive and can hurt other’s feeling. In the past, they were regarded as taboo especially for women. However, nowadays swear words have been widely used, for example, they can be found in the social media and TV shows. In using the swear words, it is not only men who take part in it, but also women. In the past, women avoided using swear words, whereas in this modern era women can swear as men do. Thus, the researcher is interested in investigating the swear words used by women.
The researcher aims to study swear words used by a female leading character namely Susan Cooper in the Spy movie. Two research problems were formulated in this research, they were 1) Which types of swear words are used by Susan Cooper in the Spy movie? 2) What motives affect Susan Cooper to use swear words in the Spy movie?
This research is a qualitative research. In analyzing the data the researcher applied the discourse analysis technique. The data used in this research was spoken language in a form of a transcript of the Spy movie. The first step in analyzing the swear words used by Susan Cooper was done by choosing utterances which contain swear words. Then, classifying the swear words into some types and motives.
The findings of the research showed that there were four types of swear words used by Susan Cooper, namely the expletive swear words, the abusive swear words, the humorous swear words, and the auxiliary swear words. The researcher found three motives of swearing used by Susan Cooper, namely the psychological motive, the social motive, and the linguistic motive.
viii
ABSTRAK
Damastuti, Theodora Intan. 2016. Swear Words Used by Susan Cooper in the Spy Movie. Yogyakarta: Sanata Dharma University.
Dalam percakapan sehari-hari, kalimat umpatan sering digunakan meskipun kalimat tersebut kasar dan dapat melukai perasaan orang lain. Dahulu, kalimat umpatan dianggap sebagai tabu terutama untuk kaum wanita. Bagaimanapun juga, kini penggunaan kalimat umpatan itu sendiri telah banyak digunakan, contohnya kalimat ini dapat ditemukan di media sosial dan acara-acara TV. Dalam penggunaan kalimat umpatan, tidak hanya kalangan pria saja yang menggunakannya, namun demikian juga wanita. Pada jaman dahulu, wanita menghindari kalimat umpatan, sedangkan di era modern ini wanita mengumpat seperti layaknya lelaki. Oleh karena itu, peneliti tertarik untuk meneliti kalimat umpatan yang digunakan oleh wanita.
Penulis bermaksud untuk meneliti kalimat umpatan yang digunakan oleh tokoh utama wanita bernama Susan Cooper dalam film Spy. Terdapat dua permasalahan yang ada dalam penelitian ini, yaitu 1) Tipe kalimat umpatan apakah yang digunakan oleh Susan Cooper dalam film Spy? 2) Apakah motif-motif yang mempengaruhi Susan Cooper dalam menggunakan kalimat umpatan di film Spy?
Penelitian ini adalah penelitian kualitatif. Dalam menganalisa data, peneliti menggunakan analisis wacana. Dalam penelitian ini, data yang digunakan merupakan percakapan dalam bentuk naskah film Spy. Langkah pertama dalam menganalisa kalimat umpatan yang diucapkan oleh Susan Cooper yaitu memilah kata-kata yang mengandung kalimat umpatan. Langkah selanjutnya, mengklasifikasikan kalimat-kalimat umpatan tersebut kedalam beberapa tipe dan motif.
Penulis menemukan bahwa terdapat empat tipe kalimat umpatan yang digunakan oleh Susan Cooper, yaitu umpatan lontaran, umpatan hinaan, umpatan humor dan umpatan tambahan. Peneliti menemukan adanya tiga motif mengapa Susan Cooper mengumpat, yaitu motif psikologi, motif sosial dan motif linguistik.
ix
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
Whatever will be, will be, but it needs struggle, hard work, and support to make it become real. Therefore, I would like to thank God for his guidance, blessing, and support during my time in finishing this thesis. I would also thank my parents Laurensius Krisgiyanta and Fransisca Puji Astuti, and my little brother Daniel Tito Krisnando for giving me support and power.
I send my regards to the staff, and lecturers of the English Language Education Study Program especially my academic advisor, Agustinus Hardi Prasetyo, S.Pd., M.A. for his guidance during studying in Sanata Dharma
Univeristy. Moreover, I express my gratitude to Drs. Barli Bram, M.Ed., Ph.D., my supervisor, for all his guidance and feedback during the thesis writing.
I would like to thank my special friend Yusuf Riansa Adang Pradosa for the never ending support and love. I also send my gratitude to all of my friends especially Arin, Selvy, Deta, Mita and Penguin Kejim (class D) members for giving me support, power, love, and guidance so that I could finish this thesis.
Theodora Intan Damastuti
x
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Page
TITLE PAGE ... i
APPROVAL PAGES ... i
DEDICATION PAGE ... iv
STATEMENT OF WORK`S ORIGINALITY ... v
PERNYATAAN PERSETUJUAN PUBLIKASI ... vi
ABSTRACT ... vii
ABSTRAK ... viii
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ... ix
TABLE OF CONTENTS ... x
LIST OF TABLE ... xii
LIST OF APPENDIX ... xiii
CHAPTER I INTRODUCTION ... 2
A. Research Background ... 2
B. Research Problems ... 4
C. Problem Limitation ... 4
D. Research Objectives ... 4
E. Research Benefits ... 5
F. Definition of Terms ... 6
CHAPTER II REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURE ... 8
A. Theoretical Description ... 8
1. Language and Society ... 9
2. The Concept of Taboo ... 9
3. Women and Swearing in American Culture ... 12
4. Swear Words ... 14
5. Motives of Swearing ... 18
6. Review of Related Studies ... 22
xi
CHAPTER III RESEARCH METHODOLOGY ... 26
A. Research Method ... 26
B. Research Setting ... 27
C. Data Source ... 28
D. Data Gathering Technique... 28
E. Data Analysis Technique ... 28
F. Research Procedure ... 30
1. Selecting the Research Questions ... 30
2. Reviewing Related Literature... 30
3. Selecting Data Source ... 31
4. Collecting Data ... 31
5. Analyzing Data ... 31
6. Drawing Conclusions ... 31
CHAPTER IV RESEARCH FINDINGS AND DISCUSSION ... 32
A. Types of Swear Words in the Spy Movie ... 32
1. Expletive Swear Words ... 32
2. Abusive Swear Words ... 34
3. Humorous Swear Words ... 36
4. Auxiliary Swear Words ... 37
B. Motives of Swearing in the Spy Movie ... 39
1. Psychological Motive ... 40
2. Social Motive ... 42
3. Linguistic Motive ... 45
CHAPTER V CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS ... 48
A. Conclusions ... 48
B. Recommendations ... 49
REFERENCES ... 51
xii
LIST OF TABLE
Page Table 3.1 Format of the Table of the Types and Motives of Swear
xiii
LIST OF APPENDIX
1
CHAPTER I
INTRODUCTION
This chapter elaborates the introduction of the research. It consists of six sections, namely the research background, the research questions, the problem limitation, the research objectives, the research benefits, and the definition of terms. The research background presents the framework and reason of the research. The research questions provide the research problems that will be discussed. The problem limitation focuses on the limited scope of the research boundaries. The research objectives explain the main purposes of this research. The research benefits elaborate the advantages of this research. The last is the definition of terms which define the terms related to the main discussion in this research.
A. Research Background
fucking is used to strengthen or emphasize the feeling of happiness towards
other’s success. In contrast, someone who says “You are son of a bitch” in anger
tone is regarded as rude since the meaning of this sentence is offensive. In the society, swear words are regarded as taboo because they contain inappropriate words and taboo words in a certain context. Therefore, taboo and swear words have a relation. Taboo and swear words have been widely used by people since they also convey denotative and connotative meaning. Mercury (1995) states that people can express their intended meaning without using offensive words. However, expressions without taboo do not carry the same substance. Thus, some words such as bastard, asshole, and prick have connotative meanings which are suitable to be revealed depending on the sociocultural aspects.
Language is used by both men and women for the same purpose; sharing information, opinion, thought and feeling. However, the way men and women use the language is quite distinct. Lakoff (1973) states that “women get discrimination in the use of language. The first one is in the way they are taught to use the language. The second one is in the way general language usage treats them.” This means that some words or lexical items are meant to be used by men and another for women. She also points out that women have their own language namely
women’s language. In women’s language features, women are seen on the
feminine side. One of women’s language features shows that women tend to avoid strong swear words. Women have a tendency to be more polite by evading the use of swear and taboo words.
In fact, nowadays there are a lot of women who use swear words. The development of modern world has changed the perspective of women towards the use of language. In this modern era, women can do what men can do; they can place themselves in men’s work. Talbot (2010, p. 196) points out that women can practice masculinity in the relation of their job and professionalism. Hence, the use of swear words takes part in it.
The researcher chooses the Spy movie because it contains a lot of swear words. The main character, Susan Cooper, uses swear words whenever she performs her job as a field agent. Moreover, this movie is also chosen by the researcher because it has good moral values. It shows how to break the comfort zone and how to position ourselves professionally in two roles, as who we truly are and who we are supposed to be at work or in other situations.
B. Research Problems
Based on the background in the previous section, two research problems are formulated as follows.
1. Which types of swear words are used by Susan Cooper in the Spy movie? 2. What motives affect Susan Cooper to use swear words in the Spy movie?
C. Problem Limitation
In the Spy movie, there are some female characters that swear. Hence, the researcher only focuses on the main character, Susan Cooper, who has an important role in the movie. This research is conducted to find the swear words types and the motives used by Susan Cooper in the Spy movie.
D. Research Objectives
This research is done in order to find out two objectives in line with the two research problems as listed below:
2. The motives of swearing used by Susan Cooper in the Spy movie.
E. Research Benefits
This part identifies the contribution of this research. The researcher expected that this research will give some benefits to the students and teachers of English Language Education Study Program and future researchers that are interested in investigating swear words.
1. English Language Education Study Program Students
This research is expected to enrich the example of swear words. By reading this research, the students are expected to get deeper knowledge about the types and motives of English swear words. Thus, students will be able to investigate and understand the phenomena of swearing in their surroundings.
2. English Teachers
This research is expected to give contributions for the teachers who read this research. This research can give additional information about impoliteness especially swear words. Teachers can share the knowledge in the right way to the students. Hence, it helps the students not to use particular swear words without having knowledge about the use of swear words whether it is spoken or in a written form.
3. The Readers
swear words. It can help the readers who want to study or have a business trip abroad understand the swear word phenomena in daily communication.
4. Future Researchers
This research will provide references for future researchers. This research also can give information to help future researchers in investigating the same topic.
F. Definition of Terms
This section defines the terms used frequently in this research. There are three important terms, namely swear words, taboo words, discourse analysis and Spy movie.
1. Swear Word
In this research, a swear word is defined as the potential offensive, inappropriate and unacceptable word in certain social context (Fagersten, 2012). For example the words fuck, damn and shit. Swear words can be used in every situation such as happiness, anger, and sadness. Since swear words contain offensive words, the use of swear words can cause harm for other people because the words are considered as impolite.
2. Taboo Words
taboo act. Taboo acts are not allowed to be spoken such as any words related to incest activity, for example the word motherfucker.
3. Discourse Analysis
Discourse analysis is a technique used to describe how language works through the speech detail. In order to understand how language works, discourse analysis gives a deep explanation. Gee (2010) states that discourse analysis is a technique that focuses on the speech or writing details. Thus, any speech data can be transcribed. Gee (2010) adds that discourse analysis is an interpretation. It is an
interpretation of people’s interpretative work that people have done in the certain
context. 4. Spy Movie
Spy is an action movie from America that was released in May 2015 by
8 CHAPTER II
REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURE
This chapter consists of two sections. The first section is the theoretical description and the second section is the theoretical framework. Theoretical description elaborates about the language and society, the concept of taboo, the swearing women and American culture, the swear words, the motives of swearing, and the review of related studies. The second section is the theoretical framework. In the theoretical framework, the writer elaborates the relation between the theories used in the current research.
A. Theoretical Description
1. Language and Society
Language has a strong connection with society. Hence, there is a specific branch of study called sociolinguistics. Holmes (1992, p. 1) points out that
“Sociolinguistics is the study about language and society”. Sociolinguistics
explains about the language that is used in the society especially its function and how it works. In the other words, sociolinguistics is the study of how the society uses the language and how the language affects the society. Wardhaugh (2009)
suggests, “Sociolinguistics is concerned with investigating between language and
society with the goal being a better understanding of the structure of language and of how languages function in communication…” (p. 13). Sociolinguistics also has a strong connection between other subjects such as psychological perspectives (Yule, 2010). Sociolinguistics is a study about language and society which is related to how attitudes and perceptions are expressed and how the behaviors of an individual or groups are identified.
2. The Concept of Taboo
The origin of the English word taboo is from the word tabu. In Polynesia language tabu means forbidden or forbid (Allan & Burridge, 2006). In this sense, taboo is used to describe something that should not be done. Taboo emerges from
society’s belief in action which can cause harm, discomfort and shame. Based on
Freud (1919), in the opposite of taboo, the Polynesian word noa describes something which is decent and common.
immoral or improper, it deals with the behavior which is prohibited or inhibited in
apparently irrational manner” (p. 29). According to these explanations, taboo
words are related to many aspects. One thing can be considered as taboo based on its society and its belief. Something which is inappropriate or impolite to be done is not only related to action but also the use of language itself. Taboo is also related to the use of language. Trudgill (1983) states that taboo in language is related to things that should not be said and the avoidance of using certain words and expressions. Therefore, taboo in acts is related to behavior that should not be done and taboo words are related to certain words which should not be spoken.
Taboo is a prohibition or avoidance of any behavior in the society which harmful to its members because it can cause anxiety, embarrassment or shame (Wardhaugh, 2006, p. 239). There are a lot of tabooed subjects, such as sex, death, excretion, bodily function, and religious matters. The taboo objects that must be avoided are your mother-in-law, certain game animals, and the use of your left hand. For example, in the relation of Moslem religion, women who are in their period are not allowed to go to the mosque and do the prayer. This action is considered as taboo because they believe that their bodies are dirty and not appropriate to face God. This case is related to taboo that is triggered by uncleanliness as the factor (Allan & Burridge, 2006).
and strongly rejected by the society. However, any sexual activity including incest is regarded as taboo word and it should be avoided. An example for this case is the word motherfucker.
Taboo words are words which can harm other people’s feeling if it is
spoken or written. Trudgill (1983) defines taboo words as, “In language, taboo is associated with things which are not said, and in particular with words which are
not used.” A taboo word which is spoken and break government’s law can lead
to punishment and social shame. Meanwhile, people start to use taboo words in the shake of freedom. Those who use taboo words in their conversation defining their life as freedom and the symbol of strength. By breaking the rules, people find out that their lives are more desirable and exciting.
Taboo words are considered as swear words because they use offensive and inappropriate words which can give harm and shame to other people. Consequently, the use of swear words and taboo words are under the law. Fershtman, Gneerzy, and Hoffman (2011) describe, “Taboos are enforced by social punishment. The most familiar social punishment involves the attitudes
and reactions of other members of society.” (p. 141). Taboo words have their
own sanction whether it is from government’s law or individual matter. However, in using the language we have to look at our situation in order to avoid the use of impolite language such as taboo words.
a. To draw attention to oneself
People have many ways to gain other’s attention. Sometimes, people use taboo words to gain attentions (Wardhaugh, 2006). In this sense, taboo words are used since they contain strong words which can trigger other’s reaction easily.
b. To show contempt
Taboo words are often used by people who are in contempt (Wardhaugh, 2006). It is the feeling that someone is useless and worthless. Here, taboo words take a role in weakening other’s position.
c. To be aggressive or proactive
People often use taboo words to provoke someone (Wardhaugh, 2006). Since taboo words are using offensive words which can cause shame and harm to other people, they are suitable to provoke other’s feeling and to make them behave aggressively.
d. To mock authority
Taboo words are used to mock those who have authority (Wardhaugh, 2006). The government is one of the parties who usually get demonstrated and protested from society. Sometimes, people use taboo words against the government because they do not agree with the rules or the new policies.
3. Women and Swearing in American Culture
In American social life, cursing or the use of offensive emotional language has become ubiquitous (Jay, 2005). Both men and women are using curse words in their daily conversation. In English-speaking society, women are regarded as taboo to swear (Hughes, 2006, p. 502). This case is related to Lakoff’s (1992) statement about women’s language. She states that women tend to avoid the use of swear words. Historically, American women are expected to avoid sexual thought. In the United State of America, sexuality is regarded as a taboo topic (Jay, 2005). Jay compares some data on the cursing frequency in America between 1986 and 1996, especially from Los Angeles, Massachuset, and California. The findings show that American women tend to use mild oath such as oh my god. Moreover, in the 1996-1998, college female students tend to use
profanity such as hell, goddamn, and Jesus to curse.
Based on Jay’s experiment, men are swearing more often rather than
women. As women start to enter historically occupied by men, women’s cursing
becomes more relaxed. Jay (2005) points out American women are swearing in public more openly rather than 20 years ago.
In the society, women who curse tend to represent bad characters, such as drunks, whores, and drug users (Jay, 2005). However, the act of cursing is related
to the speaker’s personality. Personality is an individual’s consistent pattern of
(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
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
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.
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
absofuckinglutely. The words such as bloody and fucking are commonly used in
the auxiliary swear words. Some examples of this swearing type are the fucking car and I’m bloody tired.
In this research, the researcher applies Andersson and Trudgil’s (1992) theory. This theory is regarded suitable to answer the research question about the type of swear words used in the Spy movie.
5. Motives of Swearing
In explaining the motives, the researcher uses the term swearing. Fagersten
(2012) points out that “swearing refers to the use of words which have the
potential to be offensive, inappropriate, objectionable, or unacceptable in any
given social context” (p. 3). In short, swearing points the action or realization of
using the swear words.
The use of swear words in the society is banned whether institutionally or by an unwritten social norm. Although swear words are regarded as uneducated, rude and harmful, people put on this part of language in their conversation. Some have been living with swear words as their daily language that bound with their speech. Therefore, Andersson (1985) classifies different motives of swearing, namely the psychological motive, the social motive, and the linguistic motive (as cited in Karjalainen, 2002, p. 26).
a. Psychological Motive
is an important meeting, losing our wallet in the crowded area, and accidentally tripping over a pebble while we are in a morning run are the examples of something happen immediately which can go wrong. Everyday people can get frustrated and angry when unpleasant and unexpected things happen. Hence, when people get an immediate and unexpected thing happens in their life, they will normally give a reaction. This reaction is aimed to release or express strong feelings in one way or another, for example, we may kick a rock and let simple and less forceful argh. Andersson (1985) points out that dealing with unexpected event, shock, and immediate emotion, some people will give following reaction beneath the anger and frustration feeling by swearing (as cited in Karjalainen, 2002). This statement is supported by Jay (2009), he describes that swearing is like “a horn in someone’s car”. It means that someone can utter swearing spontaneously or firstly consider it. Therefore, swearing can indicate many emotions such as anger, frustration, joy, and surprise.
Lindahl (2008) points out that in expressing feelings, swear words are used frequently because they are more cathartic than emoting without cursing. Using offensive words in expressing the feelings can give a better and relief feeling. Thus, there can be differences between shouting fuck and ouch when we hit our thumb with the hammer.
their feeling by doing something which is not dangerous for them and another person, besides the form should be in verbal. The second, it restores emotional stability. By performing swear words, people can redeem their anger and frustration.
b. Social Motive
Anderson (1985) points out that swear words are more shocking when they are uttered in public (as cited in Karjalainen, 2002). In social motive, swear words can be used while people are in a company. Karjalainen (2002) states “We may swear to assert our identity in a group, to shock, to amuse, to insult, to
indicate friendship, to mark social distance or social solidarity, etc.” When swear
words are used based on these reasons, the feeling of anger and frustration do not necessarily occur.
One example is the use of swear words by a nice and sweet old lady as stated by Karjalainen (2002). In the train, there are two teenagers using swear words. While the old lady stands up and readies to get off from the train, she adds swear words in her speech. Her behavior causes a bunch of laugh in the train. The way the old lady uses swear words is a way for commenting the teenagers who do swearing in a vulgar way. The effect of swearing depends on the fact of who the speaker is. In this case, the speaker is not a young, or perhaps less educated, but an old sweet lady. Swear words are more effective and shocking if they are uttered in unexpected situation and place.
people are more likely influenced by the new group that they join, it is including the use of swear words. In the relation between friends, swear words are a remark of friendliness. Using swear words in the social function and not causing any negative impact means that there is a certain understanding between the speaker and the addressee especially in friendship area.
c. Linguistic Motive
People have various ways of expressing themselves. They can use different words and different grammatical structures. The simple example is in the way we praise other’s work, some might say “That was amazing”, and then
close friends might say “That was fucking amazing” and our teachers might say
“That was a great job”. Andersson (1985) describes “we are free to use any of
the tens of thousands of words in our vocabulary, as long as they convey the
message we wish to communicate” (as cited in Karjalainen, p. 30). Therefore, in
a linguistic standpoint we can say “What a very nice rocking chair” as well as
“What a fucking nice rocking chair”, both of these examples are acceptable.
In this point, swear words appear to emphasize or strengthen what people say. Linguistic swearing are not directed to others and sometimes show other’s way of speaking. The example of linguistic motive is in “I’m fucking hilarious”.
6. Review of Related Studies
In this section, the researcher provides two example studies which have been done by the previous researchers. There are some previous researchers who investigated the phenomena of swear words. The topic may be different but the theme is still in the scope of swear words.
One research about swear words done by Lindahl (2008). Her research
was entitled “The x-word and its usage: Taboo words and swear words in general
and x-words in newspapers”. Lindahl focused on the significant of taboo words and their usage in English as well as research on how they were used, or not used, in media. The aim was to find the x-words in media, such as f-word and c-words or what can be interpreted such as fuck and cunt. In examining the use of x-words she studied the British newspaper namely the Guardian and the Observer.
The findings showed that the most common x-words used in the newspapers were f-words, c-words, and the n-words. There were several ways of using x-words. In the common way of using x-words was to show the reader that the words were already taboo or regarded as taboo in the certain context. The result also showed that x-words were still the part of language in which they still could be found in newspapers although they were replaced by the x-words.
The second research on swear words was done by Setiawan (2016). In
Setiawan’s research, the research discussed the types and factors of swearing
words used by the main characters in the 21st Jump Street movie. In finding the
result, Setiawan employed theory about the types of swear words from Jay, namely cursing, profanity, blasphemy, taboo or obscenity, scatology, insult, and slurs. The theory about reasons of swearing that he used was Andersson’s theory. Andersson classifies the motives of swearing into three motives namely, the psychological motive, the social motive, and the linguistic motive.
Similar to Lindahl and Setiawan’s researches, this research also discusses the use of swear words. While the research by Lindahl focuses only in the use of x-words on newspapers, this research is similar to Setiawan’s research which focuses on categorizing all of the swear words which occur in the movie into some types. While Setiawan’s research focuses on swear words uttered by men characters in the 21st Jump Street movie, this research focuses on the female main character that performs a job as CIA’s field agent in the Spy movie. Besides, in finding the types of swearing the researcher employs different theories from Setiawan. In addition, the researcher uses some references provided in both of researches to enrich the theory in this research.
B. Theoretical Framework
This part synthesizes the relevant theories that help the researcher in conducting the research. The theories also help the researcher to answer the two research questions. The main theories used in this research are related to taboo, taboo words and swear words. The first aim of the research is to find the types of swear words used by Susan Cooper in the Spy movie. The second objective is to find the motives of swearing used by Susan Cooper in the Spy movie.
In answering the first research question, the researcher used Andersson and Trudgill’s (1992) theory. They classify the types of swear words into four types. The first is expletive swear words. The expletive swear words are used to express
the speaker’s feeling or emotion such as anger and frustration. They are not
swear words are used to declare harm to other people directly. They use strong abusive words such as name-calling and different types of curse, e.g. You bastard! The third is humorous swear words. The humorous swear words are directed to other people but in humorous way. It used to put a sense of humor in a conversation and create a playful situation, e.g. Get your ass in gear! The last is auxiliary swear words. This type has empty meaning and regarded as “a way of speaking”, e.g. He is fucking hot!
26
CHAPTER III
RESEARCH METHODOLOGY
This chapter presents the methodology used to obtain the data of the research. There are six sections in this chapter namely, the research method, the research setting, the data source, the data gathering technique, the data analysis technique, and the research procedure. The research method elaborates the method used in the chosen research. The research setting focuses on when the research was conducted. The data source describes the origin of the data used in the research. The data gathering technique explains the technique in gathering the data. The data analysis technique describes the researcher’s ways in analyzing the findings. The last, the research procedure aims to summarize the steps taken in the research.
A. Research Method
The focus of this research was on the utterances used by Susan Cooper, the main character in the Spy movie, related to swear words. The methodology was employed to answer the two research problems. First, which types of swear words are used by Susan Cooper in the Spy movie? Second, what motives affect Susan Cooper to use swear words in the Spy movie?
they construct a “reading,” or portrayal, what is being studied” (p. 421). The goal
of this method is to draw the explanation of what is being studied in the rich detail to help someone who does not experience it understand. Qualitative research is in the form of a narrative description and an interpretation of phenomena.
Further, this research used discourse analysis since it studied the use of language especially the speech details. Gee (2010) states that “a discourse analysis is based on the details of speech (and gaze, and gesture and action) or writing that are arguably deemed relevant in the context and that are relevant to the arguments
the analysis is attempting to make”. Discourse analysis is an interpretation of the
interpretative work that people have done in the certain context. Therefore, any speech data can be transcribed in more or less details to help people interpret the data. The researcher used the descriptive discourse analysis for this research. In descriptive discourse analysis, the language is described in order to understand how it works and reveals its meaning.
B. Research Setting
C. Data Source
The data source in this research was a movie transcript entitled Spy. The transcript was got from www.subscene.co.in. After finding the transcript, the researcher checked whether the transcript was correct and suitable to the utterances in the movie or not. The researcher also named the dialogue based on the characters who spoke because the original transcript did not provide the
characters’ name. After that, the swear words used by Susan Cooper were taken as
the data.
D. Data Gathering Technique
In gathering the data there were five steps taken by the researcher. First, the researcher watched the movie. Watching the movie was done fifth times in order to make a deep understanding about the movie. Second, the researcher searched for the transcript of the movie on the internet. Third, the researcher looked at the transcript and collected some dialogues which contain the discussed features. Fourth, after the data was collected, the researcher classified the data into some categories based on its features using a table. The last, the researcher analyzed each types and motives used in the movie.
E. Data Analysis Technique
1. Organization
In identifying major organizing ideas, the researcher needed to make some categorization. Therefore, the researcher searched the utterances which contain of swear words in the script. The researcher broke down the script into smaller units. The smaller units can be the form of a sentence or individual words.
2. Describing, Classifying and Interpreting
In a detailed description, the researcher described what was seen in the movie and took further action by classifying the types and the motives. In the classification, the researcher took the qualitative information. Then the researcher made some categories of information. After that, the interpretation was done to make sense of the data and read the meaning of the data. In this research, the researcher described the data by making categories in the form of tables. After that the researchers interpreted the data. Table 3.1 is the table used by the researcher to classify the types of swear words and the motives of swearing used by Susan Cooper in the Spy movie.
Tabel 3.1 Format of the Table of the Types and Motives of Swear Words in the Spy Movie
No Code & Time
Dialogue Swear Words
Legend and Abbreviations:
01:14:47 : Hour: 01; Minute: 14; Second: 47
ES : Expletive Swear Words PM : Psychological Motive
ABS : Abusive Swear Words SM : Social Motive
HS : Humorous Swear Words LM : Linguistic Motive
AUS : Auxiliary Swear Words
3. Presenting the Data
After the swear words uttered by the main character were found, the researcher summarized the data. Further, the researcher also interpreted the data found.
F. Research Procedure
This section explains the process of the research. The research was conducted in six steps.
1. Selecting the Research Questions
The first step, the researcher decided to choose swear words in this research. Then the researcher focused on Susan Cooper’s conversation in the Spy movie as the data source. The researcher formulated two research questions. The first one deal with the types of swear words used by Susan Cooper. The second one deals with the motives of swearing used by Susan Cooper in the Spy movie.
2. Reviewing Related Literature
The researcher reviewed some theories about the types of swear words and the motives of swear words. The theories of the types of swear words were presented by Andersson and Trudgill (1992). The motives of swearing were
theories used also supported by some other experts such as Jay (2009) and Freud (1991).
3. Selecting Data Source
The researcher chose Susan Cooper’s swear words in the Spy movie to collect the data. Then the researcher made a table of the types and the motives of swear words to analyze the data.
4. Collecting Data
The researcher watched the Spy movie for fifth times. While watching the movie the researcher tried to analyze the features used by the main character. After that, the researcher searched for the transcript of the movie.
5. Analyzing Data
After the script of the movie was found, the researcher started to find the swear words used by Susan Cooper in the movie. The researcher broke down the feature into some categories. After that, the researcher put each category into the table. Further, the researcher described and elaborated the data.
6. Drawing Conclusions
32 CHAPTER IV
RESEARCH FINDINGS AND DISCUSSION
This section discusses the findings from the first and the second research questions. There are two discussions which elaborate the answers from the two research questions. The first research question deals with the types of swear words used by Susan Cooper in the Spy movie. The second one deals with the motives of swearing used by Susan Cooper in the Spy movie.
A. Types of Swear Words in the Spy Movie
Based on the findings, there were 85 swear words spoken by Susan Cooper in the Spy movie. Susan Cooper used all of the swear word types namely, Expletive Swear Words (ES), Abusive Swear Words (AS), Humorous Swear Words (HS), and Auxiliary Swear Words (AUS).
1. Expletive Swear Words
[1] Nancy : This mission's gonna cost you money, you know. The clothing allowance cut off halfway through the last...
Susan : My God, can you just please concentrate on getting the new bodyguard? Goddamn it! Please! (01:28:14).
Example 1 happened when Nancy became so talkative about Susan’s new suit (see Appendix, p. 63). Susan bought a suit for herself because Rayna argued the way she dressed up. She wanted to look fancier in that night’s event. Therefore, Nancy argued that Susan became consumptive and bought a suit that would suffer her money. Susan was frustrated about Nancy because Nancy was very talkative. Nancy focused more on Susan’s new suit rather than the mission. She used the interjection Goddamn it! to show her frustration and anger but not directed to insult Nancy. This word belongs to expletive swear words because it helped Susan shows her anger.
[2] Ford : Looks like you're sweating to me.
Susan : Jesus! What are you doing in my room? (00:37:17)
Example 2 shows the dialogue between Susan and Ford (see Appendix, p. 54). In this dialogue, Susan got startled because Ford suddenly sat in her hotel room. Firstly, Ford hid in the dark and said something which made Susan swearing Jesus to show her surprised feeling. Susan also got startled because Ford was not supposed to be there. Previously, Ford said that he did not agree if Susan became a field agent who tracked Rayna down. Thus, Susan became more surprised because Ford still got involved in this case by meeting her secretly.
[3] Susan : I am so badass! 01:23:26
(Monologue)
Rayna. Susan was not as fast as the shooter because they were driving a car while Susan was only riding a scooter. In order to be able to catch the shooter, Susan tried to go through a short cut. In the end of the way, she found out that the street was under construction. Susan saw a plank which could be used to jump her scooter. When she jumped she said I’m so badass! The swear word badass occurred in this speech. The word badass was used by Susan to show her excitement and surprised towards herself because she could do such extreme action.
2. Abusive Swear Words
The second type of swear words found in the movie is an abusive swear word. Abusive swear words are usually derogatory and directed to other people (Andersson & Trudgill, 1992). An abusive swear word is used to insult others; it means that people will threaten others without respect (Ljung, 2011). The following dialogues show the examples of abusive swear word types in the Spy movie.
[4] Rayna : You're my bodyguard, not my business partner... so just focus on guarding my body.
Susan : So not knowing who we're meeting tonight is gonna make me extra effective. That's okay. I get it. I got shit to do. You'll probably be fine. Why don't I go get you a nice dress to be buried in? Dumbass. 01:16:52
where they were going to go. But, instead of answering Susan’s question, Rayna insisted that Susan did not need to know Rayna’s business. She also added that
Susan’s job was only for guarding her. As a spy who needed to know all of the
information, Susan tried to convince Rayna that she needed to know about where and who they were going to meet to make her guarding more effective. She added dumbass as an insult to Rayna to show that she was such a dumb person for not
telling Susan about what they were going to do. If Rayna did not tell Susan, then Susan could not guard her effectively and the effect was probably Rayna might die. As a result, she would be a very dumb person who wanted to die only because of not telling the information.
[5] Ford :Help me out!
Susan :You motherfucker! I'm gonna report you to HR. 01:56:32
In the dialogue above, Susan and Ford argued when they were hanging in the bottom of the helicopter (see Appendix, p. 69). Susan was trying to catch Deluca who escaped with the nuclear bomb using the helicopter. Susan jumped into the bottom part of the helicopter when Deluca fled the helicopter, but suddenly Ford jumped into Susan and hung in Susan’s legs. He said that he wanted to take Deluca down. The fact was Ford just made Susan became harder to climb up while Ford was trying to climb up through Susan’s body. Therefore, Susan used a taboo word motherfucker to swear towards Ford in order to abuse
Ford’s attitude.
Example 6 happened between Nicola and Susan when they were fighting (see Appendix, p. 55). Nicola was a man who worked for Deluca. His duty was to kill Ford, one of the CIA agents. When Nicole switched Ford’s bag with a bag of bomb, Susan saw it and she tried to tell Ford. Her action was photographed by Nicole. As a passive agent who was ordered to watch and report, Susan should not make any contact with the enemies. Therefore, if Nicole brought her photo to Deluca her undercover would be revealed. Therefore, Susan tried to catch Nicole and followed him into a building. There, Nicole pushed Susan and he wanted to stab Susan using a knife. When Susan aimed to shoot him, her ammo was out from her gun. Nicole mocked CIA’s ability based on Susan’s action. Susan replied Nicole by using name-calling asshole because she got angry over Nicole’s statement. After that, she showed her real skill to fight, even though it had been ten years she did not get the field training, Susan was still excellent in fighting. The word asshole is categorized as abusive swear word because it uses name-calling especially the taboo word asshole to replace Anton’s name.
3. Humorous Swear Words
Andersson and Trudgill (1992) state that humorous swear words are consciously directed to other people but they are not derogatory. Humorous swear words are used to put a sense of humor in a conversation and create a playful situation. The use of humorous swear words types are illustrated in the following examples.
[7] Susan : Do you think I still work for you? Rayna : Whatever. Fuck you.
This conversation happened when Rayna was caught by the police (see Appendix, p. 69). Rayna asked Susan to pack her things because she would spend her life in jail. Yet, Susan told Rayna that she did not work for her anymore. Susan was just a spy who got undercover as Rayna’s bodyguard to be able to track down the bomb. Rayna said fuck you to Susan to show that she did not care about anything because she had lost everything including Susan who usually protected her. Susan replied Rayna by saying fuck you too, this word did not mean to offense Rayna, but Susan wanted to create funny moment with Rayna. The swear word was spoken in humorous way which followed by smile from both parties.
[8] Susan : One of your eyes is bigger than the other. Fine : Really?
Susan : No. You're perfect, Goddamn it. Asshole. 01:41:08
This conversation happened between Susan and Fine when Susan was prisoned by Rayna (see Appendix, p. 64). Fine tried to explain the situation to Susan. Actually, Fine did not betray CIA and joined Rayna, he faked his death and joined Rayna to gain her trust and find the bomb. Yet, Susan felt angry but also relieved that he was fine. Therefore, Susan made a joke as what Fine ever did to her. Firstly, in a serious tone she asked Fine to get closer to her and told Fine that one of his eyes was bigger than the other. But then, Susan laughed and told him that he was perfect. She added swear words goddamn and asshole to create a funny situation and wiped out the serious conversation between them.
4. Auxiliary Swear Words
is known as ‘lazy speaking’. It means that auxiliary swear words have empty
meaning which often expressed in non-emphatic tone. The examples of auxiliary swear words are described as follows.
[9] Rayna : What are you, a porn star?
Susan : You're fucking hilarious, huh? 01:14:40
This conversation was happening when Susan was in Rayna’s private plane (see Appendix, p. 57). When Rayna saw how Susan fought against the man who tried to kill her and knew that Susan could learn how to ride the plane quickly, Rayna realized that Susan must be a CIA agent. In order to protect her undercover, Susan was lying to Rayna that her real name was Amber Valentine and she was Rayna’s secret bodyguard who was sent by Rayna’s father. The name that Susan used was Nancy’s spy name which had ever told to Susan at the office when they talked about what kind of name that they would use if they became a spy. At that time Susan responded to Nancy’s name which was the same as what Rayna said. Therefore, Susan remembered that moment when she and Nancy talked about that name. Susan responded by saying fucking hilarious in non-emphatic tone to show her agreement about that name.
[10] Susan : This shit ends now! 01:57:10 (Monologue)
auxiliary swear words because it was not spoken in non-emphatic tone and not directed to anyone.
[11] Rayna : Who is this?
Susan : I'm sorry. I didn't know the police were here. This is my colleague, detective. The one I fucking told you about. 01:20:51
Susan was shocked because she met Nancy in Budapest (see Appendix, p. 61). Nancy was sent to track Susan because CIA could not make any contact with her. When Susan accidentally met Nancy, Rayna found them. So, Susan tried to make a reason about who Nancy was. Susan told Rayna that Nancy was the detective that she had talked about. The word fucking was used by Susan only as a way of speaking. It was not directed to insult any of them and it was also uttered in non-emphatic stress.
B. Motives of Swearing in the Spy Movie
The second research question concerns with the motives of swearing used by the main character, Susan Cooper. Andersson (1985) classifies the motives of swearing into three types, those are Psychological Motive (PM), Social Motive (SM), and Linguistic Motive (LM) (as cited in Karjalainen, 2002, p. 26).
disappointment, frustration, happiness and so on. Thus, there should be no other motives which take part in it.
On the other hand, swearing which uses social or linguistic motive must have its own strong reason. People who use swear words for social motive must have social impulsion or the influence of social maintenance. The social motive in swearing used to strengthen group identity, show intimacy in friendship, and also show hatred and social distance toward others. The occurrence of linguistic motive depends on the linguistic effect. Those who use linguistic motive are emphasizing their speech or only for a way of speaking. Therefore, the context is playing apart in interpreting the categorization of swearing motives uttered in the movie.
1. Psychological Motive
The first motive categorization found in the Spy movie is the psychological motive. Psychological motive deals with someone’s psychological effect in swearing. Andersson (1985) points out that dealing with unexpected event, shock, and immediate emotion, some people will give following reaction beneath the anger and frustration feeling by swearing (as cited in Karjalainen, 2002). Swearing which encouraged by psychological motive can release stress and
express someone’s emotion such as, frustration, anger, joy and surprise. There are
some examples of psychological motives presented below.
[12] Ford : This shit's the real deal, life and death. This, the field... is a hell of a lot different than sitting behind your fucking monitor... googling shit.
Unless you're so extreme that you've got a second dick... coming out of your hip! 00:57:50
This conversation happened when Ford and Susan met in the event which attended by Rayna and Deluca (see Appendix, p. 56). Ford got angry with Susan because he thought that Susan was following him and she would ruin the mission. Ford did not trust Susan to take Rayna and Deluca down because Susan was only working in the CIA’s office and did not being trained to be the field agent. Hence, Susan got angry and insulted Ford for being clumsy following the enemies who suspected Ford and tried to kill him instead of trusting Susan to do the mission. Besides, Ford carried a gun which came up from his pant and Susan insulted Ford by using the word dick to show her anger towards his attitude. If other people suspected it, Ford could not give a logical reason for something that coming up from his pants. The word dick is categorized as psychological motive because it
expresses Susan’s anger feeling toward Ford.
[13] Ford : I watched the couple that raised me explode in a van. I watched the woman I love get tossed from a plane... and hit by another plane, midair. I drove a car off a freeway... on top of train… while I was on fire. I was on fire. Not the car. I was on fire. Susan : Jesus, you're intense. 00:38:36
In this conversation, Ford told Susan about what he had done as a spy (see Appendix, p. 55). He elaborated some actions that he did to show how capable he was. This behavior was aimed to compare between the real spy and Susan who was only CIA’s office lady. For that reason, Susan was amazed towards all of
Ford’s extreme actions. The word Jesus belongs to psychological motive because
[14] Susan : Oh, God! Aldo : Yes
Susan : Can't be happening. Damn it, I was having such an empowering moment before this started. 01:43:43
Example 14 shows the conversation between Susan and Aldo which happened when they were being captured and tied in Rayna’s torture room (see Appendix, p. 65). Susan wanted to escape from that place and she asked Aldo to untie her. Both of them were tied and it was very difficult to untie Susan’s rope. Therefore, Aldo climbed upon Susan’s body while Susan’s lying on the floor in order to be able to reach the rope. When Aldo tried to untie her, Susan said damn. This swearing belongs to the psychological motive because it was uttered to release Susan’s feeling over the situation. Susan felt embarrassed and surprised that a man was trying to help her by climbing upon her body. In the previous action, she felt so powerful by fighting the bad guys. Then, the moment when Aldo climbed upon her body made her feeling embarrassed and not as cool as before.
2. Social Motive
situations that can cause insult. There are some examples of swearing in social motive explained below.
[15] Rayna : Penny, do you feel the need to tell anybody about what you just saw?
Susan : I'm not gonna tell anybody. That asshole got what he deserved. I knew from the second I saw him, I thought... "That guy doesn't deserve a throat." So, good on you. 01:02:44
In Example 15, Rayna asked Susan about what would she do after she saw Rayna killed the man who was trying to poison her (see Appendix, p. 56). Susan was aware that Rayna’s bodyguards were ready to shoot her if she had potential reason to tell other people. Therefore, she told Rayna that she would not tell anybody about what just happened, and Susan said that the guy was bad and he deserved to die. As a result, Susan used word asshole to the man who tried to poison Rayna and said that his death was worth it in order to gain Rayna’s trust. The word asshole is regarded as social motive of swearing because it is used to strengthen Rayna and Susan’s relation. Here, Susan was trying to show hatred towards others in the shake of getting Rayna’s trust and maintained their social relation.
[16] Susan : One of your eyes is bigger than the other. Fine : Really?
Susan : No. You're perfect, God damn it. Asshole. 01:41:08
