International Guest Lecture on the Occasion of Dictionary Day 2024 What’s good about bad language? (Prof Dr Kate Burridge, Monash University Melbourne)

Termin: Montag, 9. Dezember 2024, 18:15 - 19:45
Raum: C 702 (Bismarckstr. 1)
Zoom: https://fau.zoom-x.de/j/64314983504?pwd=1GnJpZ78aZM6m3Gr88uUBqLbx54x4k.1
(Meeting-ID: 643 1498 3504; Kenncode: 296220)

EMLex ('European Master in Lexicography') /
IZD (Interdisciplinary Centre for Dialects and Language Variation)

International Guest Lecture on the Occasion of Dictionary Day 2024

Prof Dr Kate Burridge (Monash University Melbourne, via Zoom):
What's good about bad language?

Many think that swearing is a sign of verbal deficiency — people resort to cuss words when they have no other words at their disposal. And yet there is no research suggesting this link, and nothing to support the branding of swearers as “ignorant”, “lazy” or “stupid”. Swear words are socially and emotionally indispensable, vital parts of our linguistic repertoires that help us mitigate stress, cope with pain, increase strength and endurance and bond with friends and colleagues — it shouldn’t be surprising the controversial little words are often described as “strong language”. These sociocultural and psychological benefits offer strong motivation that no doubt accounts for the consistent historical failure of legislation and penalties against swearing. We are not looking at just some “bad habit” that can be broken, like smoking cigarettes or nail-biting.