The correlation between the high offensiveness of swear words and their productivity: A comparison of selected Polish and English examples

Abstract

Although the negatively charged linguistic units, generally known as swear words, are interwoven into the speech of nearly all human beings, they remain a profound mystery for both laymen and scholars. In recent years, however, the perception of expletives has changed to the extent where the ground-breaking research concerning the phenomenon of swearing is happening before our very eyes. In view of the foregoing, the following paper shall contribute to the fast-developing domain by investigating whether the high offensiveness of the prevalent English and Polish coarse expressions impinges upon their productivity. Furthermore, the study intends to pinpoint the most productive and unproductive themes found in the realm of cursing.