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?