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Animal Swear Words in Compliments on X: A Pragmatic Study

Jurnal Sastra Indonesia · Vol. 13 No. 3 (2024) · pp. 293–302

DOI
10.15294/r11y2464
ISSN
2685-9599, 2252-6315
Published
2024-11-30
Publisher
Universitas Negeri Semarang
Language
eng

Abstract

Few people know that swear words are not always used to express anger. They can also be used to express positive emotions, such as compliments. The phenomenon of using swear words in compliments was found on one social media, X, formerly known as Twitter. This study aims to analyze the pragmatic meanings and pragmatic functions of animal swear words in English compliments on social media X. This study is descriptive research with a qualitative approach. The data were collected by observing the animal swear words-contained tweets on X. The data were analyzed by using the distributional method (the basic technique and either one of the seven extended techniques: deletion, substitution, extension, insertion, reversion, transformation, and repetition) and the identity method by referring to the theories of Hughes (2006), Ljung (2010), Kreidler (2008), and Spears (2000). The results of the study showed that the word bitch ('female dog'; ’unpleasant woman’) was the only swear word used in compliments. The pragmatic meaning of the swear word is an utterance, meaning 'girl' or ‘guy.’ Meanwhile, the practical functions of the swear word in compliments are as an anaphoric use of epithets and noun supports. This study is expected to reduce misunderstandings among Indonesian EFL (English as a Foreign Language) students when communicating with other English speakers on social media X.

Keywords

Collaboration network of the authors

22 authors · 48 co-authorship links · 1 across different organisations

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  • Hasanuddin University
  • Universitas Handayani Makassar
  • Affiliation unknown
  • Different organisations
  • Same organisation
  • Affiliation unknown
  • Thicker line = more joint articles · bigger circle = more articles
Show as table
Co-authorOrganisationJoint articles
Abdul Latief ArdaUniversitas Handayani Makassar1
Ismail IskandarAffiliation unknown1
Faisal AbdullahAffiliation unknown1
Besse AstutiAffiliation unknown1
Novianti AbidinHasanuddin University1
Andi Suci WahyuniHasanuddin University1
Ismai IskandarHasanuddin University1
Mutiah Wenda JuniarHasanuddin University1
A.M Aswin AnasHasanuddin University1
RosyaniAffiliation unknown1
Muhammad RidwansyahAffiliation unknown1
Ade KusmanaAffiliation unknown1
Isra Rizka PratamiAffiliation unknown1
Ika SumantriAffiliation unknown1
Herliwati HerliwatiAffiliation unknown1
Mijani RahmanAffiliation unknown1
Achmad Syamsu HidayatAffiliation unknown1

Affiliations come from OpenAlex; journal OAI-PMH metadata carries none. Authors without an OpenAlex ID are matched by name, which can merge or split people.

Metadata source: OAI-PMH (metadata jurnal) https://journal.unnes.ac.id/journals/jsi/oai, first harvested 6 Nov 2026, last seen 8 Nov 2026.
Original metadata (oai_dc) 
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	<dc:title xml:lang="en">Animal Swear Words in Compliments on X: A Pragmatic Study</dc:title>
	<dc:creator xml:lang="en">Putri, Aprilia Kartika</dc:creator>
	<dc:creator xml:lang="en">Fitriah, Siti</dc:creator>
	<dc:creator xml:lang="en">Triandana, Anggi</dc:creator>
	<dc:creator xml:lang="en">Amri, Ulil </dc:creator>
	<dc:creator xml:lang="en">Putra, Yoga Mestika</dc:creator>
	<dc:subject xml:lang="en">pragmatic</dc:subject>
	<dc:subject xml:lang="en">animal swear words</dc:subject>
	<dc:subject xml:lang="en">compliments</dc:subject>
	<dc:description xml:lang="en">Few people know that swear words are not always used to express anger. They can also be used to express positive emotions, such as compliments. The phenomenon of using swear words in compliments was found on one social media, X, formerly known as Twitter. This study aims to analyze the pragmatic meanings and pragmatic functions of animal swear words in English compliments on social media X. This study is descriptive research with a qualitative approach. The data were collected by observing the animal swear words-contained tweets on X. The data were analyzed by using the distributional method (the basic technique and either one of the seven extended techniques: deletion, substitution, extension, insertion, reversion, transformation, and repetition) and the identity method by referring to the theories of Hughes (2006), Ljung (2010), Kreidler (2008) , and Spears (2000). The results of the study showed that the word bitch ('female dog'; ’unpleasant woman’) was the only swear word used in compliments. The pragmatic meaning of the swear word is an utterance, meaning 'girl' or ‘guy.’ Meanwhile, the practical functions of the swear word in compliments are as an anaphoric use of epithets and noun supports. This study is expected to reduce misunderstandings among Indonesian EFL (English as a Foreign Language) students when communicating with other English speakers on social media X.</dc:description>
	<dc:publisher xml:lang="en">Universitas Negeri Semarang</dc:publisher>
	<dc:date>2024-11-30</dc:date>
	<dc:type>info:eu-repo/semantics/article</dc:type>
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	<dc:type xml:lang="en">Peer-reviewed Article</dc:type>
	<dc:format>application/pdf</dc:format>
	<dc:identifier>https://journal.unnes.ac.id/journals/jsi/article/view/14142</dc:identifier>
	<dc:identifier>10.15294/r11y2464</dc:identifier>
	<dc:source xml:lang="en">Jurnal Sastra Indonesia; Vol. 13 No. 3 (2024): November; 293-302</dc:source>
	<dc:source>2685-9599</dc:source>
	<dc:source>2252-6315</dc:source>
	<dc:language>eng</dc:language>
	<dc:relation>https://journal.unnes.ac.id/journals/jsi/article/view/14142/2171</dc:relation>
	<dc:rights xml:lang="en">Copyright (c) 2024 Jurnal Sastra Indonesia</dc:rights>
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