How could I not post Hsi-Yao Su’s “Global Swearword, local ideologies: The Re-semiotization and indexical field of Fuck in Taiwan” (Language & Communication, July 2026; open access)?
Abstract
This study examines how the English swearword fuck is taken up in Taiwan—a context where English functions as a foreign language—by analyzing metapragmatic commentaries on a controversial moment in which a prominent actress uttered fuck during her acceptance speech at a major awards ceremony. While swearing in official settings, especially by a woman, is conventionally viewed as inappropriate, public reactions to this incident were mixed, with a majority supportive. Drawing on Christie’s (2013) discursive-pragmatic approach to swearing and on the linguistic-anthropological and sociolinguistic notions of indexical order (Silverstein, 2003), indexical field (Eckert, 2008), and language ideological assemblage (Kroskrity, 2010), the analysis identifies multiple, and at times conflicting, indexical associations in the metapragmatic discourse: fuck as inappropriate/vulgar, genuine/authentic, cosmopolitan/sophisticated, performative/professional, gendered, and class-oriented. These associations function as micro-instantiations of broader ideological regimes of moral order, gender propriety, cosmopolitanism, and affective performance. By linking micro-level evaluations to a heterogeneous yet traceable ideological assemblage, the study shows the analytic value of a language ideological perspective for socio-pragmatics research and demonstrates how global linguistic hierarchies are re-semiotized through local moral and affective dynamics.
The “controversial moment” is utterly charming:
When Ying-Hsuan Hsieh, an acclaimed actress in Taiwan, received the [Golden Bell] Best Actress award, she began her acceptance speech in Mandarin Chinese, Taiwan’s national language, as expected. However, because she had been nominated for two roles, she mistakenly thanked the wrong production team. Realizing her error mid-speech, she exclaimed “fuck” in English before restarting her acknowledgements in Mandarin. The incident was uncensored in the live broadcast, and Hsieh later apologized on Facebook to “all the parents” for not being a good role model. Public responses to the incident were mixed but largely supportive, which is particularly intriguing given that both swearing in public (especially in a high-profile event) and by a woman are stereotypically considered inappropriate in Taiwan and cross-culturally.
I’m delighted by the largely supportive response, and this is the kind of scholarship I can get behind unreservedly.
Aside: does Taiwan still use Giles-Wade? As in the author’s surname, Hsi, and the actress’s name, spelled here “Ying-Hsuan Hsieh”. WP spells it with a mixture of GW and pinyin, “Hsieh Ying-xuan”.
Aside: does Taiwan still use Giles-Wade?
It uses a wild mix which I also find utterly charming. No mandated transliteration there!
The respectable UK equivalent would have been “oh, bugger!”
I blame creeping Americanisation.
But in France “Ah, putain!” seems to be holding the fort in spite of the strong ongoing Americanisation
I presume a Russian would say “Ох, блядь!”
A Russian can say fuck as well, if they are a sufficiently cosmopolitanized Russian.
True.
Vis-à-vis this research, how would Russians react to a young actress, generally seen as ‘classy’, using either “fuck” or “ох, блядь” in similar circumstances?
In many cases, I imagine, with boisterous misogynistic humor, but I don’t know in what proportion or how much sympathy there would be.
Separately, I wonder what Ms. Hsieh would have said had she cursed in her native tongue instead of English?
That is discussed in the paper.
So it is:
(Wiktionary.)
Hey: Map of Chinese dialectal equivalents for 肏 (“to fuck; to have sex with”).
Merde has the advantage that it lets you express yourself in real time while you’re turning your fury up to 11: Eh, mère DEUX !!
Locus classicus. Fully integrated into the syntax.
It uses a wild mix which I also find utterly charming. No mandated transliteration there!
Indeed. As you walk along long-standing suburban streets, you can find a wild variety of transliterations of the street name and/or suburb it passes through. Feng Jia Night market on Fengjia Road just outside Feng Chia University, Taichung. (See the photo of the entrance sign — and if you don’t like that spelling … well, there are other signs.)
Since we’re in Taiwan: Jensen Huang suggests to child in Taipei to learn Taiwanese — click the ‘encouraged’ link to hear the codeswitching Taiwanese/Mandarin/English.
If you don’t mind a wild tangent keep reading. O/W skip this post.
“Fuck me to tearrrrs!”
It wasn’t the words, but the soprano tone that grabbed attention. And that because the emitter was built like a linebacker. Vicente (very Greek name) was my Wharton Graduate MBA roommate in the late 1970s. He and his family had left Fidel et alia around 1960 and settled near Disneyland.
He was a college buddy of my first wife and introduced us.
I have never heard that expression from another person. Is it SoCal? Cuban import?
“Fuck me to tearrrrs!”
Sounds quite romantic, really. Emotionally overwhelmed by the act of coition. Precious moments …
[Assuming “tear” as in /ti:ɹ/. /tɛ:ɹ/ would be less romantic. But de gustibus … Still, speaking as a medical professional, I would deprecate this.]
Pleasantries aside, what is the history of self-cursing to express astonishment, as in “I’ll be damned”, “Fuck me [± adverbial flourishes]”, “Shiver me timbers”, etc.? Is it a uniquely English phenomenon?