the translation of swearwords in pulp fiction€¦ · the translation of swearwords in pulp fiction...

Ce

ntr

o d

e E

stu

dio

s d

e P

ostg

rad

o

UNIVERSIDAD DE JAÉN Centro de Estudios de Postgrado

Master’s Dissertation/ Trabajo Fin de Máster

THE TRANSLATION OF

SWEARWORDS IN PULP

FICTION

Student: Barragán Jiménez, Luz María

Tutor: Dr. Francisco Javier Díaz Pérez

Dpt.: English Philology

Acknowledgements:

First of all I would like to thank my tutor, Javier, because without his help, support

and patient guidance, this paper would have not been possible. I would also like to

thank Alejandro Alcaraz because he took me to the Wonderful World of Translation.

Finally, but not last, I must thank my sons, Gonzalo and Javier, and my husband,

Juan, for bearing this time by my side and helping me to write this paper.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

1. INTRODUCTION…………………………………………………….……………………1

2. LITERATURE REVIEW……………..………………..………………………….……...3

3. PRAGMATIC FUNCTIONS OF SWEARWORDS………………..…………………...4

4. ON THE TRANSLATION OF SWEARWORDS……...……………………….….……8

4.1 Translation Strategies………………...……………………………………..12

5. METHODOLOGY…………..…………………………………………………………...14

5.1 Objectives……………………………………..………………………………14

5.2 Corpus of study……………………………….……………………………...15

5.3 Research design ……………………………….…..….……………………..16

5.3.1 Research stages……………………..……………………………..17

6. SWEARING IN PULP FICTION……………..………………………………………...18

7.TRANSLATION OF SWEARWORDS IN THE SPANISH VERSION OF PULP

FICTION ………………………………….……………………………………………..…..22

7.1 The term fuck and its morphological variants…………………………..22

7.2 The expletive shit …...............................................................................29

7.3 The term ass and its compound asshole …..........................................30

7.4 The word damn and its lexical variants………………………………......31

8. THE TRANSLATION STRATEGIES USED IN PULP

FICTION…………………………………………..………………………………………...34

8.1 The word fuck its morphological variants and compound words…..34

8.2 The term shit and its compound…………………………………………...36

8.3 The term ass and its compound asshole ……......................................36

8.4 The term damn, its variants and compounds……………………….....37

9. RESULTS AND DISCUSSION…………………….…………………………………..39

10. CONCLUSIONS…………………………………………….….……………………...41

BIBLIOGRAPHICAL REFERENCES…………………………..………………………..43

ANNEXES ………………………………………………………………………………….46

ANNEX 1. List of swear and offensive words obtained by driving AntConc

word searches…………………………………….……………………..………………....46

ANNEX 2. Translation Strategies…………………………………………..……..47

The Translation of Swearwords in Pulp Fiction

Luz M. Barragán Jiménez

1

1. INTRODUCTION

Swearing is a common practice done by all the speakers of a language, to one

extent or another. Swearwords may be considered offensive, rude, inappropriate,

insulting, and at some point they may be considered as “bad language.” They are

sometimes said to deteriorate our level of language and vocabulary. It is not a

question of being right or wrong, the fact is that everyone uses them, and as they are

part of the language, they should be analysed. They have always existed in language

and they are always present in our everyday conversation. Therefore, they cannot be

ignored.

One of the most controversial points regarding swearwords is their translation

from one language into another. Translators must pay attention not only to the

rendering of the meaning of the text from one language into another, but also to the

functions these words may have. It is thought that swearwords are mainly used to

cause harm or offence to the listener. However, they can also be used for other

different purposes, like expressing amazement or releasing tension. This fact should

be taken into account when translating.

All these factors make the translation of films one of the most difficult tasks for

a translator, but when they have to face the challenge of translating swearwords, this

task becomes even more demanding. The translation of swearwords or the omission

of their translation is one of the trending topics in the field of Translation Studies

nowadays. Swearwords are culturally determined and subjective, as the harm they

may cause to a person depends on the person and his/her consideration of the word.

Moreover, they tend to be considered as taboo in many languages. Some viewers

and translators feel uncomfortable due to the amount of swearwords introduced in

both the dubbing and the subtitling version, especially in the latter, as seeing a

swearword written on the screen may increase its impact. Others complain about the

fact that the tone of the original version is softened and therefore swearwords are

often omitted or softened, losing part of the original intention and flavour. All these

characteristics make their translation even more challenging.

This is one of the main reasons why I have decided to focus my research on

the translation of swearwords in the film Pulp Fiction, by Quentin Tarantino. I have



2

chosen to analyse this film due to the important amount of swearwords included in it,

and due to its director’s “reputation” in using a large number of expletives in his films.

I would like to mention at this point that my intention is not to criticise or question the

labour of the translators that have worked on the film, either for the dubbed or the

subtitled version, but to focus on the translations and strategies they have adopted in

order to accomplish this task.

The main objective of the present paper, then, is to analyse the way

swearwords are translated in the Spanish version of the film Pulp Fiction, in both the

dubbed and the subtitled versions. I will specially pay attention to whether these

swearwords are translated directly by an equivalent expletive in the original language

or, on the contrary, they are softened, as some authors point out, like Han and Wang

(2014). In order to research into this issue, I think the American film Pulp Fiction is an

excellent choice, since it is a very good source of swearing examples, not only due to

the amount of expletives used, but also because of their variety.

Regarding the different sections of my study, after providing a literature review

in the first point of my research, I have dealt with the pragmatics of swearing and the

various functions swearwords fulfil. In the second part of my research, I have dealt

with the different problems translators may encounter when translating swearwords.

My fourth point is devoted to the methodology I have followed in order to accomplish

my research. The fifth point is centred on swearing in Pulp Fiction, in order to analyse

it in the next section, dealing with the translation of swearwords in the Spanish

versions of the film.

The seventh chapter of my study focuses on the results I have obtained after

analysing the swearwords used in Pulp Fiction. Finally, the last section of my

research is devoted to the conclusions I have reached with this study, followed by the

bibliographical references and the annexes.



3

2. LITERATURE REVIEW

Academic studies on swearwords began three decades ago. It is a new

discipline; in the past not much attention was paid to the use of expletives and their

translation, as they were considered as taboo. Since then, there have been recent

studies on the translation of swearwords from one language into another and the

challenge this represents as they are culturally bound, and what can be acceptable in

a culture may not be so in another culture. Moreover, the use of swearwords, as

some researchers state, is a personal and subjective matter that can vary from one

person to another.

Zauberga (1994) established the main strategies followed by translators when

translating a swearword from one language into another, specifically in Latvian. She

also referred to the difficulties they may encounter when undertaking this task.

Trudgill and Andersson (1990) showed in their studies about swearwords that

expletives can have various functions depending on the contexts in which they are

introduced.

Studies conducted by Jay and Janschewitz (2008) have concluded that the

use of swearwords can cause an emotional impact on the listener. This impact is

closely related to the listener’s experience with a culture and its language etiquette.

Moreover, although swearing in public is not always well seen, it does not always

fulfil an aggressive or rude objective. Elsewhere, Jay (2009) ponders over the extent

to which taboo words are necessary in our everyday language. Expletives are

present in everyday language; they accomplish communicative goals and they can

communicate emotions in an easier and quicker way than non-taboo words.

Studies by Han and Wang (2014) have pointed out that when translated into

another language, especially in the field of subtitling, swearwords are very frequently

toned down. This is mainly due to four reasons: the lack of swear equivalents in the

target language; swearwords with a filling function tend to be omitted, especially in

subtitling; expletives in the source language may not be considered as such in the

target language, and swearwords in written language tend to be considered a more

offensive than in oral language.



4

3. PRAGMATIC FUNCTIONS OF SWEARWORDS.

According to Jay and Janschewitz (2008:267),

“The main purpose of swearing is to express emotions, especially anger and

frustration. Swear words are well suited to express emotion as their primary

meanings are connotative. The emotional impact of swearing depends on

one’s experience with culture and its language conventions.”

(Jay and Janschewitz 2008:267)

Therefore, it is impossible to define universally what impoliteness, rudeness,

and swearing is. Its primary aim is “to convey connotative and emotional meaning”

(Jay and Janschewitz 2008:267). Therefore, following their words, swearing depends

on a specific language, culture and individual. Swearwords will vary and differ from

one language to another. This makes the translation of swearwords a challenging

task. Expletives and the impoliteness and rudeness implied or not by these words

cannot be universally defined, as they are determined culturally and individually.

Considering whether swearing is rude or not depends on what is considered as

appropriate for the participants and also on a particular situation. This degree of

appropriateness is something human beings acquire since they are young, (Kasper,

1990). Therefore, swearing would be considered as rude or impolite when the

listener perceives it is as an offense. The use of swearing can be related according to

Jay and Janschewitz (2008) to different factors:

1. The Neurological factors that relate neurobiology to emotional language

use. Swearing episodes can be done on purpose, consciously or in an uncontrollable

way. Excessive swearing has been associated to neurological illnesses, such as

dementia or Alzheimer.

2. Psychological factors, these depend on the experience of the speaker.

The most common ones are anger, religiosity, sexual anxiety, verbal aggressiveness

and Type A personality (Martin and Anderson, 1997; Jay, 2000, 2005; Deffenbacher

et al. 2004; Rancer and Avtgis, 2006). Gender also plays an important role, as men

and women are educated differently, especially in terms of socialising. Women tend



5

to use less swear words than men. No one is born knowing how to swear; people

learn it from other people.

3. Sociocultural and pragmatic factors, swearing is influenced by the

culture and the society the speaker belongs to, as well as the context in which the

conversation is taking place. In addition, the personal relationship between the

interlocutors plays an important role in the use of swearing, the more familiar this

relation is, the more swearwords may be used. In other words, the number of

swearwords used is proportional to the degree of familiarity between the participants.

Here, gender also plays an important role, as mentioned above, as men are keener

to use swearwords than women. Another important factor related to swearing is the

native or non-native character of the speaker. According to Dewaele (2004) native

speakers possess a higher emotional force regarding swearing than non-native

speakers. In fact, this emotional force declines gradually in learned languages.

Moreover, swearwords have normally been considered as taboo, obscene,

rude and blasphemous language in society. However, swearwords have always been

used and they are commonly used in everyday life. Therefore, they accomplish

different pragmatic functions in conversational language. Pragmatics views language

not only considering the words in themselves. On the contrary, words are affected by

the context they are used in. All in all, pragmatics is concerned not only with the

words said, but also with context and with what is behind those words, the intention

their users have when uttering those words.

According to Wang (2013), swearwords fulfil four main functions and I will

illustrate those by means of examples from the object of my research, the film Pulp

Fiction.

a) To express emotion

Very often, swearing is used in order to express speaker’s feelings, as Jay

(2000:81) states. However, when a person uses swearwords is not only to express

negative emotions, like anger or disappointment, but swearwords are also employed

to communicate positive emotions like surprise, happiness or excitement, among

others (Crawford 1995:32-33, as shown in the following example.



6

(1) VINCENT: “Goddamn! That's a pretty fuckin' good milkshake.”

MIA: “Told ya.”

In this example, both swearwords Goddamn! and fuckin' are used to express

Vincent’s surprise at the fact that the milkshake was so delicious, as he did not

believe Mia when she told him.

b) To express emphasis

Swearwords are used as a way of emphasizing the speaker’s feelings. This

emphatic function helps speakers to understand the intentions behind the messages

uttered.

(2) LANCE: “This ain't Amsterdam, Vince. This is a seller's market.

Coke is fuckin' dead as disco. Heroin's comin' back in a big fuckin' way.”

In this second example, the word fuckin' is employed to upgrade the adjective

“dead” and the noun “way.” Both uses of fuckin' highlight the fact that coke is dead

and heroin is the drug coming more “fashionable.”

c) To express group identity or solidarity

Expletives can also be used in order to express group identity, especially

among friends. As highlighted by Jay and Janschewitz (2008), swearwords are used

to express group- membership or closeness.

(3) JULES to VINCENT: “Well you better be thinkin' about it now,

motherfucker! We gotta get this car off the road.”

In this example, Jules uses the word motherfucker to refer to Vincent, who is

his friend and “mate.” The way they refer to each other is accepted by their norm,

their friendship relationship. If they did not have a close relationship this would be

seen as an insult.

d) To express aggression

On other occasions, a speaker uses expletives with an aggressive intention,

because he/she wants to threaten the hearer. The purpose of swearwords in this



7

particular situation is to cause a harm to the listener and get an emotional impact on

him/her.

(4) JULES: “Say "What" again! C'mon, say "What" again! I dare ya, I

double dare ya motherfucker, say "What" one more goddamn time!”

In this example, Jules is threatening Brett with a 45 pistol, trying to interrogate

him. The swear words are used in order to increase the level of threatening Jules is

imposing over Brett and the rest of his friends.

As a way of concluding this section, swearwords cannot be only considered as

taboo, rude or obscene. They always fulfil an intention and this is not only negative; it

can be also a positive one, like surprise or friendship.



8

4. ON THE TRANSLATION OF SWEARWORDS.

Swearing is a psychological, emotional and sociocultural phenomenon. In

western cultures, swearing has always been sanctioned and restricted, as harm may

be provoked in a personal or institutional level. Speakers learn about taboo words

through social situations, and they learn about a swearing etiquette. Any native

speaker learns about how, when and with whom it is appropriate or not to use

swearwords. As expletives are culturally bound, translators will have to take cultural

differences into account. This is especially difficult in audio-visual translation, due to

its specific characteristics.

The term Audio-visual translation (AVT) was established in order to distinguish

this type of translation from other written types, i.e. literary or technical. This

distinction between AVT and other types of texts lies on the fact that AVT must

convey not only the translation of words but also audio-visual material. The two most

common modalities of AVT are subtitling and dubbing, which are the object of

analysis of this paper. Audio-visual translation presents other additional problems,

such as lip synchrony in the case of dubbing, or space and time restrictions in the

case of subtitling. The translation of swearwords from one language into another in

an audio-visual text also presents specific problems. Expletives, as explained before,

are culturally biased and their translation from one language into another is not

always an easy task. Translators should try to convey swearwords in the target

language giving them the same strength as in the source language (Soler, 2001:

123). The translation of swearwords has also considered to be unnecessary for the

full understanding of the plot of a film. In that sense, they can be omitted and the plot

can still be perfectly understood. “On the other hand, they can both be of quite

substantial importance for how a certain character appears on screen” (Mattsson,

2006:3). As is the case of Pulp Fiction, in which swearing plays an important role.

Swearing is part of the depiction of its characters: gangsters, drug sellers, dealers,

and thieves.

Translating, dubbing or subtitling a film or another type of audio-visual text is

not an easy task. And this task is double harder when facing a film, especially when

swearwords are frequently used in the source text dialogues. One of the hardest jobs

is to obtain a certain degree of spontaneity and naturalness, in such a way that the



9

text does not sound as a translation, but as a native text in the target language. One

of the key factors to achieve this purpose lies on the fact that the swearwords and

taboo words are translated in an appropriate way. Before dealing with the translation

of expletives, it might be convenient to provide an explanation of what a swearword is

and the different types it may encompass. According to the American Heritage

Dictionary of the English Language (2000), cited on Jay (2009:10), a taboo or swear

word is a “ban or inhibition resulting from social custom or aversion.” The Merriam

Webster Dictionary establishes that a swearword is: “a profane or obscene oath or

word.”1 According to Inglish and Arkell (1012), the only aspect swearwords share is

“the deliberate crossing of social norms” (Inglis and Arkell, 2012). They are in strong

connection to what is taboo in a culture, and it is due to social conventions specific to

a particular language that swearwords may be considered as “bad” words.

The first thing that must be taken into account when translating swearwords is

if they are used in a connotative or denotative way. This is really important as “[

swear words] are often used to express connotative meaning, such as the emotional

overtones of [the] word, the feelings, moods, attitudes and power that is

comprehended along with the denotative referent” (Jay, 1992:10). This fact is

essential in swearwords, because the connotations implied by the terms are what

may make them be “bad or dirty” words. This fact is what makes translation, both for

dubbing and subtitling, an extremely difficult task. Not all swearwords may be

considered offensive. They can be used as intensifiers, for instance, as in the

following example from Pulp Fiction, where Vincent and Jules describe Mr. Wolf:

(5) “He’s fuckin’ cool.” [¡Es totalmente guay!]

The translation of the primary meaning is more important than conveying

connotative implications. There may be occasions, as when they are used to imply

emphasis, that the swear word, can be omitted, which can be illustrated by the

example below:

(6) “VINCENT: I'm not fuckin' stoppin' you.” [VINCENT: No te estoy

parando]

1 http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/swearword

http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/swearword



10

When the swearwords are used in a connotative way, that is to say, in order to

insult, blaspheme, curse or swear, these words should be translated maintaining as

much as possible the connotation of the word more than its denotative meaning.

(7) “JULES (to himself): We should be fuckin' dead right now.” [JULES

(para él mismo): Deberíamos ser jodidos fiambres”]

Offensive words cannot be completely omitted, neither in subtitling nor in

dubbing modalities, as they are an essential part of the message uttered. Subtitles

must be condensed and the amount of words is limited, which favours the omission

of swearwords in subtitling. Moreover, there is also another important reason to omit

swearwords in subtitling, since these words tend to be considered more offensive

when they are written than when they are uttered in spoken language. “Especially

when they appear in enormous letters on the cinema screen” (Díaz Cintas and

Ramael 2007:196), where, at the same time, we are not alone, but surrounded by

other people. In addition, as subtitles are written, they are expected to be more

formal and, therefore, they normally contain a more neutral vocabulary (Pošta 2011:

35 cited in Ferklová 2014).

Audio visual translation can be “censored”, as the translator may receive

certain restrictions on what the product may look like (Ferklová 2014:8). Dubbing is

more predisposed to soften swearwords than subtitling. Subtitles, rather than

mollifying expletives, tend to omit or reduce a considerable number of them. They do

not tend to use milder terms. As Hjort (2009:4) explains, “many translators consider

the omission of swearwords a better strategy than mollification, as viewers may react

negatively to the mild words when used as equivalents of stronger original

expressions.”

In this audio-visual modality, it is easier to convey emotions through

paralinguistic features proper to the oral language that cannot be conveyed in

subtitles, such as stress, rhythm and intonation. Differences in culture represent a

challenge for translators, and cross-cultural differences with respect to the use of

swearwords pose one of the most difficult problems translators must overcome.

In subtitling, due to the restraints in space and time, translators tend to

condense and reduce spoken features, like pauses, repetitions or even swearwords.



11

Translators must focus on the most informative and essential elements of the original

script (Díaz Cintas, 2013). Subtitles must be kept short, so that the viewer has time to

read the dialogues on the screen. Therefore, the most relevant information that is

crucial to understand what is going on the screen must be chosen. This practice can

deprive the viewer of a lexical characterisation of the different characters. “This

means the omission of redundant linguistic features which are always present in

speech (repetitions, expressive elements with little informational value)” (Ferklová,

2014) and of course swearwords. They are part of oral language, although not

necessary for the understanding of the text, even though they express emotions.

According to Han and Wang (2014), Chen (2004), Fernández (2009),

Greennail (2012), among others, in subtitling, there may be at least four reasons why

translators do not translate swearwords, which are the following:

Firstly, there may not be an equivalent swearword in the target language, as

expletives are connected to culture and literal translations are seen as unnatural by

the target audience.

Secondly, time and space restrictions favour the omission of swearword fillers

which are not essential for the understanding of the source text.

Thirdly, swearwords in the source language may not be considered as taboo

words in the target language.

Fourthly, in subtitles, as they involve written language, swearwords tend to be

considered more offensive.

In summary, we can consider that certain tendencies can be identified in

audio-visual translation in terms of translating swearwords. There will be fewer

expletives in subtitles than in dubbing (Han and Wang, 2014:1). Moreover,

swearwords used as intensifiers will be omitted, especially in subtitling due to the

restriction in space and length. Expletives used to curse, blaspheme or insult will not

normally be omitted. They can be softened or replaced by another term in the target

language.



12

4.1 Translation Strategies

In order to analyse the different translation solutions adopted in the Spanish

version of Pulp Fiction, I have followed the classification of translation strategies

established by Zauberga (1994):

1. Softening, this strategy consists in accommodating the original

swearword appearing in the source text to the target text, lowering its tone. The

translator chooses to discard certain terms due to their vulgar connotations. The

slang language is lowered to obtain a neutral language.

(8) Marsellus Wallace: “I’ll be damned”

Dubbing translation: Marsellus Wallace: ¡Mira tú qué gracia!”

2. Stylistic compensation is used when the translator introduces a swearword in

a place corresponding to a source textual fragment which did not contain any

swearword. This solution is considered to “compensate” for the omission swearwords

in other parts of the original text.

(9) MAYNARD: “Now you just wait one goddamn minute!”

Subtitling translation: MAYNARD: “Espere un momento, ¿qué coño

hace?”

3. The Direct transfer strategy is applied when the translator renders the

swearwords by means of their established counterparts in the target language. That

is to say, the swearword is translated by means of the translation offered by

dictionaries.

(10) BUTCH: “Fuck! Good news Scotty”

Subtitling version: “¡Joder! Buenas noticias Scotty”

To these strategies proposed by Zauberga, I have added following my

supervisor’s advice, two other translation strategies:

4. Omission, which as its name indicates, consists in the deletion or not

translation of the original swearword, which is excluded in the target text.



13

(11) JULES: “I don't remember askin' you a goddamn thing”

Subtitling version: JULES: “No recuerdo haberte preguntado.”

5. Functional equivalent, which is employed when the main aim of the translation

is to reproduce the same pragmatic function fulfilled by the swearword in the source

text. This can imply that the swearword is translated by a different swearword with a

similar tone in the target language. The employment of this strategy can be due to

the lack of a literal counterpart in the target language or because the swearword in

the target language does not seem appropriate. However, some authors, such as

Stackelberg (1988: 12), have questioned the freedom of translators to change the

original text in order to obtain an effect on the viewer that could have been

interpreted in a biased way by the translator.

(12) VINCENT: “[...] they fuckin' drown 'em in it.”

Dubbing translation: “Las bañan en esa mierda.”



14

5. METHODOLOGY

5.1 Objectives

The main objective of the present paper is to analyse the way swearwords are

translated into Spanish in both the dubbed and the subtitled versions of the film Pulp

Fiction. To achieve this general objective, the following specific objectives will be

pursued:

1) To analyse the translation solutions adopted to render some specific

swearwords, namely ass and its compound asshole, shit and the compound bullshit,

damn, and its morphological variants, damned and the compounds Goddamn and

Goddammit, and fuck and its morphological variants fucking, fucker and fucked, as

well as the compounds motherfucker and motherfucking.

2) To analyse the effect of the modality of audio-visual translation variable

(subtitling vs. dubbing) on the translation of swearwords, to test whether what some

authors, like Hjort (2009), have pointed out – that viewers feel more uncomfortable

when seeing a swear word written than when it is pronounced in the dubbing –

applies in this case or not.

The object of my research is relevant, as swearwords are actually used in

most languages and they fulfil an important function. Therefore, when translating a

film, the translation problem posed by the presence of swearwords will have to be

tackled. It is important to analyse the way in which these swearwords are translated

and to what extend they are fully or partially translated. This subject has started to

get the attention of many authors like Jay (1992, 200, 2005, 2008, and 2009), Han

and Wang (2014) or Fernández (2009), and many others, being the subject of study

in several PhD dissertations.

Swearwords have been used for ever and they will continue to be used, as

they serve to express different human emotions. Obviously, their translation will

always continue to be a challenge for the translator.



15

5.2 Corpus of study

The corpus of my study is the film Pulp Fiction, both in its dubbed and subtitled

versions in Spanish. Pulp Fiction is an American crime black comedy. It was written

and directed by Quentin Tarantino in 1994. I have chosen this film, since I consider it

is a perfect example to analyse the use and translation of swearwords.

Pulp Fiction is a neo-noir crime black film. The film is considered iconic,

among other things, for its dialogues, being a perfect example of slang language, its

ironic mixture of violence and humour, its nonlinear storyline and its numerous

references to pop culture and cinematographic allusions. It relates four different

stories that converge: Los Angeles mobsters, fringe players, insignificant criminals

and a mysterious briefcase.

In 2008, an Entertainment Weekly poll appointed the film Pulp Fiction as “the

finest film to have been released since 1983.”2 Moreover, many critics have

considered it as one of the best-written films of all time.3

Regarding the variety of language used in the film, Pulp Fiction is set in the

city of Los Angeles, USA. Therefore, the geographical variety used is Western

American English. The characters appearing in the film are middle class and low

class, and most of them are gangsters, stealers, drug sellers, dealers, and people

who belong to the underworld of Los Angeles. As a consequence, they use a social

dialect proper to their social class, with plenty of swearwords. This is set in opposition

to a few characters who rarely use a swear word, such as Winston Wolfe, performed

by Harvey Keitel, whose linguistic variety is more elevated, containing a scarce

number of swearwords.

As it is a film, the register used is an oral one, using everyday language. The

language used in the streets, characteristic of a world of crime and drug selling, full of

swearwords and slang expressions. It is fictional language, as the dialogues were

2 Jun 18, 2007. "The New Classics: Movies". http://www.ew.com/article/2007/06/18/new-classics-

movies last consulted on 10th August 2016. 3 "101 Greatest Screenplays". Writers Guild of America, West. http://www.wga.org/writers-room/101-

best-lists/101-greatest-screenplays, last consulted on 10th August 2016.

http://www.ew.com/ew/article/0,,20207063,00.html

http://www.ew.com/article/2007/06/18/new-classics-movies

http://www.ew.com/article/2007/06/18/new-classics-movies

http://www.wga.org/subpage_newsevents.aspx?id=1807

http://www.wga.org/subpage_newsevents.aspx?id=1807

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Writers_Guild_of_America,_West

http://www.wga.org/writers-room/101-best-lists/101-greatest-screenplays

http://www.wga.org/writers-room/101-best-lists/101-greatest-screenplays



16

written for the film. Plenty of time is devoted to monologues and dialogues in the film

that reveal the characters' personalities and points of view about life.

The script of the original version of the film I have used contains 27,528 words,

and they belong to 3,555 different word types, although this figure is not precise, as

the script is not absolutely faithful to the screen dialogues. Some of the expletives I

have recorded where not included in the original script of Pulp Fiction. Therefore,

these examples were included later to the word list I obtained from AntConc.

Moreover, the corpus of study of this paper is made up with not only the original

version of the script but also the translations for the dubbed and subtitled versions in

the target language, Spanish.

5.3 Research Design

The research I have carried out in this paper is a basic or theoretical non-

experimental research, as it started driven by my curiosity and desire to expand my

knowledge on the translation world, and specifically on the translation of swearwords

from English into Spanish. Moreover, according to the source of information, it is a

primary research as it is centred on the film Pulp Fiction and the language used in

this film. With regard to the approach of the research, it is an analytic investigation,

due to the fact that I have analysed and identified the different swearwords used in

the film, and after having selected the most usual ones, I have investigated the

solutions adopted to translate those words. Consequently, my research has a

heuristic or inductive purpose, namely to establish the practice translations adopted

when translating expletives, both in the dubbed and the subtitled versions. Finally,

regarding the data analysed in this research, they have been analysed in a

quantitative way and interpreted in a statistical way. Consequently, the data have

provided the different parameters in the translation of the swearwords object of study.

However, sometimes my research can be a qualitative one in the analysis or

identification of the translation strategy used to translate a swearword.

The words object of my investigation, already cited in the previous section,

have been chosen due to the fact that they have been considered among the most

common swearwords in English, according to Jay (2009). Moreover, they are among



17

the 11 most common swear words used on Network TV.4 They can be found

throughout the whole film, because as I have already mentioned, Pulp Fiction is full

of swearwords. However, many of these examples can be localized specially in the

scenes “Prologue - The Diner,” “The Gold Watch,” “The Bonnie situation” and

“Epilogue - The Diner.”

5.3.1 Research stages

First, in order to collect the data from the film proposed, Pulp Fiction, I have

used the free software corpus analysis, AntConc. I have driven a wordlist search, so I

could obtain the different swearwords from the corpus of study. From a list of words

of 3,555 different word types, I have obtained a list of 40 swearwords (annex 1). After

obtaining this word list, I have decided about the swearwords on which I want to

centre this investigation. I started driving different concordances searches in order to

get all the textual fragments in the source text containing the expletives I have

selected for my study. I have kept a record of the data in Excel broadsheets. As I

have not got the script of the film in Spanish I have carefully watched the film in order

to identify the different solutions adopted to translate those words, both in the dubbed

and the subtitled versions. Unfortunately, I realised that the script was not totally

faithful to the actual dialogues, where some parts were omitted, and many others

were added, especially swearwords. As I realised that my corpus was incomplete, I

had to expand or rewrite my own corpus of study. I added the examples from the

original version film, and analysed the translations provided in the dubbed and

subtitled versions. Curiously enough, the first thing I realised when recording those

missing examples in the film script was that most of them corresponded to the word

fuck.

4 Fuck, damn, ass, and shit are together with hell, bitch, penis, vagina and other genitals, crap, screw,

suck and piss are the most popular swearwords used on Network TV, according to a survey appearing in the webpage 11 POINTS by Sam Greenspan, “11 Most Popular Swear Words On Network TV in 2010,” http://www.11points.com/TV/11_Most_Popular_Swear_Words_On_Network_TV_in_2010, last access: 15th September 2016.

http://www.11points.com/TV/11_Most_Popular_Swear_Words_On_Network_TV_in_2010



18

6. SWEARING IN PULP FICTION

Despite the fact there are hundreds of taboo expressions and words in

English, the semantic fields these taboo words refer to are quite limited. In English,

taboo words are mainly related to two different semantic fields: sexual references

(blow, cunt, fuck, etc.) and those that are considered as blasphemes or profane

(goddamn, Jesus Christ, etc.). In a second level, taboo words are related to

scatological referents and disgusting objects (shit, crap, etc.); animal names (bitch,

ass, pig, etc.); ethnic-racial-gender insults (nigger, fag, etc.);, insults referring to

social, physical, psychological or sexual issues (retard, lard ass, etc.) and ancestral

allusions (son of a bitch, bastard, etc.) among other categories.

Swearing is a common practice in the film Pulp Fiction, by Quentin Tarantino.

Its dialogues are full of expletives everywhere. The film script contains 3,555 word

types, of those there are 40 different swearwords used in the film, like for example

Jesus Christ, bastard or dork. According to Jay (2009:156) 70 different taboo words

types have been publicly recorded in studies conducted in 1986, 1997 and 2006.

Amongst them, the most usual ones are revealed to be 10: fuck, shit, hell, damn,

goddamn, Jesus Christ, ass, oh my God, bitch, and sucks. In fact, according to Jay’s

studies, the words fuck and shit “account for roughly 80% of the data. Actually,

fuck and shit alone amount to one third to one half of all the episodes in counts

between 1986 and 2006.” (Jay, 2009:156)

In the present study, I have centred my investigation on six different

swearwords. These expletives, apart from being included in Jay’s list, are some of

the most used words in the film analysed, Pulp Fiction. The words I decided to focus

my study on are the following:

a. Fuck and its morphological variants (fucked, fucking, fucker) and its

compounds motherfucker and motherfucking.

b. Damn and its variant, damned and its compounds Goddamn and

Goddammit.

c. Shit and its compound bullshit.

d. Finally the word ass and its compound asshole.



19

The term that appears most frequently is the word fuck in any of its

morphological variations excluding compounds (with 184 occurrences), the word

motherfucker and its variants (with 34 occurrences). The term shit appears 66 times,

and the compound bullshit just once. The word ass appears on 39 occasions and the

compound asshole on 4. Finally, the term damn and its morphological variants are

present 10 times and the compounds Goddamn and Goddammit 21 times.

Regarding the different swearwords object of this study, the table below offers

a quantitative classification, sorted by their grammatical category of all the examples

of the word fuck and its morphological variants in the film Pulp Fiction.

Form Grammatical

category N % N=%

Fucking /fuckin’ Adjective 62 29%

114 = 53% Adverb 52 24%

Motherfucker Noun 28 13% 28 = 13%

Fuck

(Wh- + the fuck)

Noun 18 8%

27 = 12.5% (Verb + the fuck)

Noun 8 4%

Fuck Adjective 1 0.5%

Fuck

Fucking Verb 3 1%

24 = 11% Fuck Verb 19 9%

Fucked Verb 2 1%

Fuck Interjection 9 4% 9 = 4%

Fucked Adjective 6 3% 6 = 3%

Motherfucking / motherfuckin’

Adjective 6 3% 6 = 3%

Fucker Noun 1 0.5% 1 = 0.5%

TOTAL 215 100% 215=100%

Table 1. Number of occurrences and percentages of the word fuck in Pulp Fiction.

As can be seen above, fucking /fuckin’ is the commonest form, accounting for

53% of the swearwords analysed. It is used both, as an adjective and as an adverb

(29% as an adjective, and 24% as an adverb).

The second swearword in frequency is motherfucker, accounting for 13% of

the cases, frequently used than the adjective counterpart motherfucking, as could be



20

expected. The least used forms are fucker as a noun and fuck as an adjective, both

being used just once throughout the whole film.

All in all, then, the use of the word fuck, its morphological variants and

compounds are the most widely employed swearwords in the film. This finding can

be explained, among other factors, by the fact that the film analysed, Pulp Fiction, is

set in the suburbs of Los Angeles, and its main characters are drug dealers,

gangsters and stealers.

The second most commonly used swearword in Pulp Fiction is the term shit,

as the table below shows:

Form Grammatical

category N % N=%

Shit Noun 65 97%

66 = 98.5% Verb 1 1.5%

Bullshit Noun 1 1.5% 1= 1.5%

TOTAL 67 100% 67=100%

Table 2. Number of examples of the word shit and its compound bullshit.

As the figures reveal in the table above, the word shit is the second more used

in the film, a total of 67 times, of those the form shit is used 66 times, only once as a

verb, whereas 65 examples of the word as a noun are found. There is also only one

appearance of the compound noun bullshit.

The next swearword is the word ass, as portrayed in the table below.

Form Grammatical

category N %

Ass Noun 39 93%

Asshole Noun 3 7%

TOTAL 42 100%

Table 3. Number of occurrences of the term ass and its compound asshole in Pulp

Fiction.

As the figures reveal, the word ass is used as a noun more frequently

(92.85%) than the noun asshole, which is only used in 7.15% of the cases.



21

Finally, the term damn, its morphological variants and compound words are

those which are less frequently used in the film, as the figures below shows.

Form Grammar category

N % Total

percentage

Damn

Adverb 2 6%

32% Noun 2 6%

Adjective 4 13%

Verb 2 6%

Goddmamn Adjective 12 39%

68% Adverbs 4 13%

Goddammit Adverbs 5 16%

TOTAL 31 100% 100%

Table 4. Number of occurrences of the term damn and its compound Goddamn in Pulp

Fiction.



22

7. TRANSLATION OF SWEARWORDS IN THE SPANISH VERSION OF

PULP FICTION

The present section is focused on a quantitative analysis of the translation of

the swearwords object of my study into Spanish in both audio visual modalities:

dubbing and subtitling. Section 8, in turn, presents a more qualitative analysis which

tries to explain the results presented in the present section.

7.1 The term fuck and its morphological variants.

Regarding the word fuck, it was said that

[i]n the entire language of proscribed words [...] one words reigns supreme,

unchallenged in its preeminence. It sits upon a throne, an absolute monarch,

unafraid of any princely offspring still unborn, and by its subjects it is hated,

feared, revered and loved, known by all and recognised by none.

(Sagarin, 1968:136)

As Sagarin stated, the term fuck (including its lexical variants, like fucker,

fucking, or motherfucker) is at the same time one of the most loved and most hated

swearwords in English, as well as the most commonly used taboo word. This fact is

evident in the film Pulp Fiction, as testified by the figures presented in the previous

section, which reflected that it was used 216 times.

I have classified the different occurrences of the term fuck, its morphological

variants and compounds in the film Pulp Fiction, considering their form and their

grammatical category in order to analyse whether all those variables have an effect

on their translation. The symbol appearing in the different tables, corresponds to

the not translation of the word analysed.



23

Swearword Word class Dubbing N % Subtitling N %

Fucking

Adjective

Jodido/a 23 37% Jodido/a

Puto/a 12 19% Puto/a 1 2%

18 29% 50 80%

Maldito/a 4 6% Maldito/a 6 10%

Joderse 1 2% Joder/se 2 3%

¡Joder! 3 5% Hijo de puta 2 3%

Coño 1 2% Gilipollas 1 2%

Table 5. Translation of the word fucking as an adjective.

As an adjective, in the dubbing modality the form fucking is mostly translated

as jodido/a, which is its established equivalent swearword in Spanish. The second

most commonly used translation is puto/a, which is probably a more natural Spanish

term, as compared to jodido.

In the subtitling modality, the omission of the term fucking is preferred, as in

80% of the occurrences (50 out of 62), the term is not translated. In contrast, in the

dubbed version, only 29% of the occurrences of the term are not translated. On the

few occasions when the term is translated in the subtitled version, the term most

commonly used is maldito/a, which is a milder swearword in Spanish.

In addition to the figures and data recorded above, I have found an example

where the expletive fucking, where the translator has introduced a swearword which

the source text did not contain, in order to compensate for the omission of another

swearword. This solution has been adopted in addition to translating the word by a

direct counterpart. The term introduced has been the interjection ¡coño! as can be

seen in the examples below:

(13) BUTCH: “Of all the fuckin' things she coulda forgot, she forgets my

father's watch.”

Dubbed translation: “De todas las jodidas cosas que podría olvidar,

olvida el reloj, ¡coño!”



24

Swearword Word class Dubbing N % Subtitling N P

27 52% 43 82%

¡Joder! 7 13% ¡Joder! 2 4%

Jodido/a 5 9%

Coño 3 6% Coño 1 2%

Fucking Adverb Puto/a 3 6% De puta madre

2 4%

Maldito/a 2 4% Maldito/a 1 2%

Carajo 1 2%

Joder 2 4%

Cojonudo 1 2% Cojonudo 1 2%

Capullo 1 2% Cabrón 1 2%

Mierda 1 2%

Table 6. Translation of the term fucking as an adverb.

When the word fucking is used as an adverb, a swift in the preferences in

translation is found. In both the dubbing and the subtitling modalities, the omission of

the term in the target text is preferred. In the dubbing modality, on 27 occasions out

of 52, and in the subtitling one, on 43 out of 52 occasions, the word fucking is not

translated.

In the dubbed modality, the most commonly used translation of the term is

¡joder! used as an interjection (13%), whereas in the dubbing version two terms are

the most commonly employed, appearing on two occasions each: ¡joder! and de puta

madre.

Similarly to what happened in the translation of the term fucking as an

adjective, I have found an example, where the translator introduces an expletive

where there was not any in the source text. In this case, the translator introduces the

interjection ¡coño! to compensate for another expletive which may be omitted in

another part of the dialogue.

(14) JIMMIE “No marriage counselor, no trial separation –fuckin'

divorced. And I don't wanna get fuckin' divorced.”

Dubbed translation: JIMMIE: “Me pediría el puto divorcio. Y, ¡joder! Yo

no tengo ganas de divorciarme. ¡Coño!”



25

As a verb, no matter its form, the translations of the word fuck are:

Swearword /Form/ N Word class Dubbing N % Subtitling N %

Fucking / 3 Joder 9 37.5% Joder 13 54%

Fuck / 19 Follar 3 12.5% Tirarse (Follar)

1 4%

Fuck

Fucked / 2

Verb 7 29% 7 29%

¡Joder! 2 8% ¡A /Vete a la

mierda! 2 8%

¡Vete al cuerno!

2 8% ¡A tomar por

culo! 1 4%

Cargarla 1 4%

Table 7. Translation of the term fuck as a verb.

As a verb, the word fuck appears in three different forms: as its bare form fuck,

as a past participle fucked, and as a present participle fucking. When the form fuck

functions as a verb in the three different forms stated above, the most usual

translation is joder in both the dubbed and the subtitled versions. In both versions,

Omission is the second most frequent technique in the translation of the word fuck as

a verb (7 times out of 24 and 29%). Table 8 portrays the data of fuck as an

interjection, adjective, and noun.



26


Fuck Interjection ¡Joder! 7 75% ¡Joder! 9 100%

¡Mierda! 2 25%

Fuck Adjective Capullo 1 100% Imbécil 1 100%

Wh- the

fuck

Noun

Coño 10 56% Coño 4 22%

Cojones 2 11% Cojones 1 5.5%

Puto 1 5.5% ¡Hijo de

puta! 1 5.5%

Mierda 1 5.5%

¡Maldito hijo de puta!

1 5.5%

Puñetas 1 5.5%

¡No me jodas!

1 5.5%

1 5.5% 12 67%

Verb + the fuck

Noun

Puto/a 3 37.5% Traer floja 1 12.5%

Carajo 2 25% Sudarle 1 12.5%

¡Mierda! 1 12.5%

Jodido 1 12.5%

1 12.5% 6 75%

Table 8. Translation of the term fuck as an interjection, a noun and an adjective.

As an interjection, the word “fuck” is most generally translated as the Spanish

expression ¡joder! 75% of the occasions in the dubbing version and in the subtitling

one 100% of the times. This case, then, is an exception in the subtitled version of the

film, as more often than not the swearword is omitted or not translated.

The term fuck as an adjective has appeared in the film just once. This has

been translated differently in both audio-visual modalities. In the dubbed version, the

term is translated as capullo, whereas in the subtitled version it is translated as

imbécil, which is a milder term in Spanish. This fact corroborates the fact that in

written language, in subtitles, milder or more neutral words are preferred when

translating a film.

Finally, as a noun, the term fuck appears becoming part of two different types

of expression: Wh- + the fuck and verb + the fuck.

The expression Wh- the fuck… is preferably translated as coño in the dubbed

version (56%), whereas in subtitling, this term is translated as coño only 22% of the



27

times. In the subtitled version, the expression is more commonly omitted (67%). In

contrast, in dubbing, the translation of the expression is just omitted once (5.5%).

Regarding the use of verb + the fuck, once again, there are differences in the

translation between the dubbed and the subtitled versions. In the dubbing modality,

the expression is translated most commonly as puto/a (37.5%). However, in subtitling

the omission of the term is preferred (75%). In this modality, the expression is just

translated twice as se la suda and se la trae floja. Once again, the translation of the

swearwords in the subtitled version is milder than in dubbing.

The term fucked has been translated as follows:


Joder 2 33% Joder 1 17%

Fucked Adjective Putada 1 17%

3 50% 5 83%

Table 9. Translation of the word fucked as an adjective.

The adjective fucked appears 6 times in the film Pulp Fiction. As can be

observed in the table above, in both the dubbing and the subtitling modalities, the

omission of the term is preferred in the majority of the occasions. Nevertheless, there

is a significant difference in figures: in dubbing 50% of the time is omitted, whereas in

the subtitles the term fucked is omitted in 83% of the cases. When the term is

translated, in both audio-visual modalities, the term is generally rendered as joder.


Fucker Noun Maldita

bola 1 100% 1 100%

Table 10. Translation of the term “fucker” in Pulp Fiction.

The term fucker, as shown in the table above, is only used once. While in the

dubbing modality, the translator chooses to translate the word using the expression

maldita bola, in the subtitled version, the term is not translated. The translator

decides to omit the term. In both cases, the translator has decided to sanitise the

English term.

Regarding the compound forms of fuck, motherfucker and motherfucking,

Table 11 portrays the results:



28


Hijo de puta 6 21% Hijo de puta 7 25%

Cabrón 6 21% Cabrón 5 18%

Cabronazo 5 18%

4 14% 14 50%

Motherfucker Noun Mierda /

puta mierda 2 7%

Me cago en la puta

1 4%

Mariconazo 1 4% Puta madre 1 4%

Capullo 1 4%

Me cago en

la leche 2 7%

Puto 1 4%

Table 11. Translation of the word motherfucker in Pulp Fiction.

The expletive motherfucker has multiple translations in Pulp Fiction, especially

in the dubbed version. It is worth mentioning that in both the dubbing and the dubbing

modalities, the most generally used translation is hijo de puta. Moreover, this is

employed more times in the subtitles than in the dubbing, although the variety of

translation in the dubbing is richer. As most of the translations of the swearwords,

this term is omitted more frequently in the subtitling version than in the dubbing (50%

versus 14%).

Apart from the results explained above, when translating the term

motherfucker, I have found another example where the translator not only translates

the expletive, but he also introduces another one not present in the original text.

Furthermore, this technique is present in both modalities of the Spanish version. This

is done probably due to the compensation of an omitted swearword.

(15) MARSELLUS WALLACE “This business is filled to the brim with

unrealistic motherfuckers who thought their ass aged like wine.”

Dubbed version: “Este negocio está lleno hasta los topes de cabrones

irrealistas. Hijos de puta que creían que sus culos iban a envejecer como el vino.”

Subtitled version “Este negocio está hasta los topes de hijos de puta no

realistas. Hijos de puta que piensan que su culo envejece como el vino.”

Finally, the results for the term motherfucking are the following ones:



29


Puto/a 4 67%

Motherfucking Adjective 1 16.5% 6 100%

Joder 1 16.5%

Table 12. Translation of the adjective motherfucking.

The adjective motherfucking is translated as puto/a in the majority of its

occurrences (67%) in the dubbed version. However, in the subtitles, the translation of

the word is omitted in 100% the occasions it appears.

7.2 The expletive shit

The word shit, as mentioned above, appears in two lexical forms: shit and its

compound bullshit. The tem shit is used as a verb and a noun, as the table below

shows:


Shit Verb 1 100% 1 100%

Mierda 22 34% Mierda 15 23%

29 45% 40 62%

Carajo 2 3% Gilipollez/ces 2 3%

¡Joder! 2 3% Joder 1 1.5%

Gilipollas 1 1.5% Cabrón 1 1.5%

Shit Noun Hijo de puta 1 1.5% Cojonuda 1 1.5%

Cagada/s 1 1.5% Hijo de puta 1 1.5%

Coño 1 1.5% Coño 1 1.5%

Jodido lio 1 1.5% Cagar 1 1.5%

Caca 1 1.5% De mierda 1 1.5%

Gilipolleces 1 1.5% Jodido lio 1 1.5%

Cagar 1 1.5%

Asqueroso 1 1.5%

Puto rollo 1 1.5%

Table 13. Translation of the term shit as a verb and a noun in the film Pulp Fiction.

The swearword shit as a verb only appears once in the film, and it is not

translated in any of the audio visual modalities.



30

However, as a noun, the term appears 65 times, and its translation in both

audio-visual modalities is quite diverse, more in the dubbed version than in the

subtitles. In both modalities, the omission of the term is preferred. Moreover, when

the term is translated, in both the dubbed and subtitled versions it is rendered as

mierda (dubbing version: 34%; subtitles: 23%).


Bullshit Noun Gilipolleces 1 100% Tonterías 1 100%

Table 14. Translation of the compound word bullshit.”

As can be observed below, the expletive bullshit only appears once in the film

and it is translated in different ways in both audio-visual modalities. In the dubbed

version, bullshit is translated as gilipolleces and in the subtitles it is translated as

tonterías. Therefore, the tone of the expletive word has been softened in the

subtitles.

7.3 The term ass and its compound asshole

This swearword appears as the noun ass and the compound term asshole.


21 54% 31 79%

Culo/s 15 38% Culo 7 18%

Ass Noun Joder 1 3%

Puto/a 2 5%

Gilipolleces 1 3%

Table 15. Translation of the word ass in Pulp Fiction.

The noun ass is employed 39 times in the film Pulp Fiction. In both audio-

visual modalities, dubbing and subtitling, the most common translation is its Spanish

counterpart culo (15 times in dubbing and 7 in subtitling). However, in both modalities

the term is omitted or it has not been translated in the Spanish version in most of its

occurrences.


Asshole Noun Capullo/s 2 67% Cabrón 1 33%

1 33% 2 67%

Table 16. Translation of the compound noun asshole.



31

As can be seen in the table above, the noun asshole is translated differently in

the dubbed and subtitled versions. In dubbing, it is translated twice as capullo/s,

whereas in its third occurrence it is omitted. On the contrary, in the subtitled version

the term is omitted twice, while it is translated as cabrón in one case.

7.4 The word damn and its lexical variants

The word damn appears in its various morphological variants damned and

damn, together with its compound words Goddammit and Goddamn.


2 50% 2 50%

Adjective Puto 1 25% Maldito 1 25%

Damn

Putada 1 25% Maldito capullo 1 25%

Noun Mierda 1 50% Me la trae floja 1 50%

1 50% 1 50%

Adverb

¡Maldita sea!

1 50% ¡Maldita sea! 1 50%

¡Joder! 1 50% ¡Joder! 1 50%

Table 17. Translation of the term damn as an adjective, a noun and an adverb.

As an adjective, the term damn is not translated on 50% of the occasions, both

the dubbed and the subtitled versions. However, the other two occurrences of the

term are translated differently. In the dubbed version, damn is translated as puto and

putada, whereas in the subtitles of the film, it appears as maldito and maldito capullo.

The term damn is found only twice as a noun. In both audio-visual versions, it

is omitted in one of the examples whereas in the other one it is translated, although

in a different way. In the dubbed version damn is translated as mierda, whereas in

the subtitles it is rendered as the expression me la trae floja.

Finally, the adverb damn is translated exactly in the same way in both audio-

visual modalities, once as ¡maldita sea! and once as ¡joder!



32


Goddamn Adjective

Maldita 3 25%

Coño 1 8% Coño 2 17%

5 42% 10 83%

Puto 1 8%

Putada 1 8%

Joder 1 8%

Table 18. Translation of the adjective Goddamn in Pulp Fiction.

As shown above, this adjective is not translated most of the time in the

Spanish version of Pulp Fiction. In the dubbed version, it is omitted in 42% of the

cases, whereas 83% of the occurrences in the subtitling version have been omitted in

the target text. This finding applies to most of the swearwords found in the film.

In both versions, the term is generally translated by means of the Spanish

swearword coño.

In the case of the term Goddamn, I have also found one example of

introduction of a swearword in the Spanish version, which was not present in the

original text.

(16) JODY “It's only one-thirty in the goddamn mornin'!”

Dubbed version: “¡Mierda! Es la una y media de la maldita madrugada.”

Finally, the last term analysed is Goddammit.


Goddammit Interjection

¡Maldita sea! 3 60% ¡Maldita sea! 4 80%

¡Ostia puta! 1 20%

1 20% 1 20%

Table 19. Translation of the term Goddammit in Pulp Fiction.

In most of the occurrences this interjection has appeared in the Spanish

version it has been translated in both audio-visual modalities (dubbing: 60% and

subtitling: 80%). Surprisingly, Goddammit is more frequently translated than other

expletives. This can be due to the fact that this expletive is not considered as strong



33

as other swearwords, such as fuck. When the term is translated, it is done by means

of the expression ¡Maldita sea!

In the light of the figures included above, it can be said that, when translated,

generally the swearwords object of this study are rendered as their established

counterpart in the target language. Most of the times, however, swearwords are not

translated, that is to say, the swearword is omitted in the Spanish target text.

Omission is more frequent in the subtitles of the film than in its dubbed version. This

is due to the fact that the impact of swearwords is higher when they are written than

when they are uttered in oral language.



34

8. TRANSLATION STRATEGIES IN PULP FICTION

As I made clear in the methodology chapter, my intention is to analyse

the use of the different translation strategies employed in Pulp Fiction. In order to do

so, I have investigated the way the translation strategies have been used in the

Spanish version of the film in both, the dubbing and the subtitling modalities.5 At this

point, I must make clear that I have found some examples which involve the

translation of the swearword appearing in the source text and the introduction of

another expletive which do not correspond to a source text swearword. These

swearwords have been introduced in the Spanish version as a compensation for

others which have been omitted. They have not been introduced as part of the

strategies used as these swearwords are introduced in order to compensate for the

omission of others. They do not correspond to the translation of any expletive

appearing in the source text. This can be seen in the example below:

(17) “JIMMIE: And I don't wanna get fuckin' divorced.”

“JIMMIE: Y no quiero hablar del puto divorcio, ¡joder!”

As seen above, the expletive ¡joder! is introduced although it does not

correspond to a swearword in the source text.

8.1. The word fuck its morphological variants and compound

words6.

DUBBING SUBTITLING

Swearword Strategies N % N %

Fuck

Omission 60 28% 146 68%

Direct transfer

71 33% 34 16%

Functional equivalent

68 31% 24 11%

Softening 17 8% 12 5%

Table 20. Translation strategies used for the translation of the term fuck.

As can be observed in the table above, we can find different uses of the

translation strategies depending on the version which has been used. In both 5 The full analysis of the different words and forms can be consulted in Annex 2.

6 “Fuck, fucked, fucking, fucker, motherfucker and motherfucking”



35

modalities, the three most commonly used strategies are Omission, Direct transfer

and Functional equivalent. However, the figures in each modality are completely

different.

In the dubbing modality, the most frequent strategy is Direct transfer.

Translators preferred to translate the term fuck and its variants using the Spanish

equivalent of the word and its variants: joder, jodido, etc. The second most frequent

strategy is to translate the term by a Functional equivalent, such as coño. Finally, the

third strategy in frequency is Omission: the term is omitted in 60 occasions (28% of

the total of occurrences).

In the subtitling modality, in turn, the main strategy is Omission, (147 times out

of 216). In the written translation translators prefer to omit the swearwords from the

original version. This corroborates the statement by Vertanen (2001:136), cited on

Hjort’s work (2009), according to whom, the force of the swearword when written is

stronger than when it is said orally. Moreover, some viewers are shocked by the use

of swearwords in subtitles. The second most common strategy is Direct transfer,

followed by Functional equivalent as the third most commonly employed strategy.

Apart from the figures reflected in the table above, and as I have already

mention in chapter 7.1, when translating the word fuck and its variants, I have found

three cases in the dubbed version, and another one in the subtitled version, where

and expletive has been introduced. These cases of Stylistic compensation have not

been included in the table above, as they are not real translation of these words. On

the contrary, they have been introduced in the Spanish version as compensation for

those expletives that have been omitted.



36

8.2. The term shit and its compound7.

DUBBING SUBTITLING


Shit

Omission 29 43% 41 61%

Direct transfer

24 36% 16 24%


12 18% 8 12%

Softening 2 3% 2 3%

Table 21. Translation strategies used in the translation of shit.

When translating the word shit and its variants, translators also prefer to use

the Omission strategy. The difference between the dubbing and the subtitling

modalities is quite significant, as in the subtitling modality the term shit has been

omitted 41 times, and in dubbing only 29 times.

Similarly to what happened with the term fuck, the second and third most

frequent strategies are Direct transfer and Functional equivalent. When translating

the term, translators prefer to do it by means of its established term in Spanish rather

than substituting it by another swearword.

8. 3 The term ass” and its compound asshole.

DUBBING SUBTITLING


Ass

Omission 18 43% 30 71%

Direct transfer

15 36% 8 19%


6 14% 2 5%

Softening 3 7% 2 5%

Table 22. Translation strategies used in the translation of the term ass and its

compound.

Once again, as happened with the terms fuck and ass, the most frequently

used strategy is Omission, whereas the second one is Direct transfer. Moreover, in

the subtitles the number of omitted terms in the target language is higher than in the

dubbed version (71% in subtitles versus 43% in dubbing).

7 Shit and its compound bullshit.



37

8. 4 The term damn, its variants and compounds8.

DUBBING SUBTITLING


Damn

Omission 9 29% 17 55%

Direct transfer

7 23% 7 22.5%


14 45% 7 22.5%

Softening 1 3%

Table 23. Translation strategies used in the translation of the word “damn.”

Regarding the translation strategies used to render the word damn, its

morphological variants and compounds, it is the only occasion on which the most

commonly used strategy does not coincide in both modalities. Whereas in the

dubbing version, the most common strategy is functional equivalent, in the dubbing

version it is omission, as in the rest of the terms analysed. This change can be due to

the fact that the established equivalent in Spanish, maldito/a, is not considered a

strong term. The degree of offensiveness of this term is not considered as strong as

that implied by other swearwords analysed in this paper.

Similarly to what was explained in the analysis of the expletive fuck, I have

found one more example of Stylistic compensation, in the translation of the term

Goddamn, as it was seen in chapter 7.2. This case has not been included as it is not

a real translation of the term, but a compensation for the omission of other expletives

The charts below represent the number of occurrences of the different

translation strategies employed in the translation of the analysed swearwords in the

dubbing and subtitling modalities.

8 “Damn, damned” and the compounds “Goddamn” and “Goddammit.”



38

Chart 1. Translation strategies in dubbing used in Pulp Fiction.

Chart 2. Translation strategies in subtitling used in Pulp Fiction.

Dubbing

Omission

Direct transfer


Softening

Subtitling

Omission

Direct transfer


Softening



39

9. RESULTS AND DISCUSSION

As can be seen in the analysis of the different forms of fuck exposed in the

previous sections of this paper, the most usual translation of this word involves its

Spanish equivalent joder. This is especially noticeable when fuck is an interjection,

adjective, adverb or verb. However, when the term is part of a set formula as in Wh-

+ the fuck or verb + the fuck, the term is translated as puto in both cases.

Regarding the compounds motherfucker and motherfucking, they are

respectively translated as hijo de puta and puto/a. Therefore, when the word is

translated, the strategy most commonly used is Direct Transfer, translating the word

by a direct term in the target language. However, it must be noted that despite these

translations, the word fuck has been omitted in a great number of examples (24% in

dubbing and 66% in subtitling), especially when the forms are fucking and fuck.

The most common translation of the word shit, in turn, is its established

equivalent in Spanish, mierda, in both audio-visual modalities. The compound bullshit

only appears once and in both modalities it is translated, although not in the same

way. In the dubbed version, it is translated as gilipolleces, whereas in the subtitles it

appears as tonterías. The translation of swearwords in the subtitled version is

softened due to the main reasons exposed in the previous sections. Nevertheless,

the omission of the term is most frequent than its translation, as happened with fuck.

Shit is omitted in dubbing in 29 instances out of 67 (43%), whereas in subtitling it is

omitted 40 times (60%).

As for the word ass and its compound word asshole, ass is usually translated

by means of its established equivalent in Spanish, culo, whereas its compound

asshole is translated as capullo in the dubbed version and as cabrón in the Spanish

subtitles.

Regarding the translation strategies used when dealing with this term, the

translation of ass and its compound is omitted most of the times. Shit is omitted 18

times in dubbing (43%), whereas in the subtitled version, it is omitted 30 out of 42

instances (71%).



40

Finally regarding the term damn and its compound Goddamn and Goddammit,

the results have been completely different to those of the previous swearwords. In

both audio-visual modalities, the most common translation for the term is maldito/a

and ¡maldita sea! Curiously enough, Omission is not the most common translation

strategy employed in subtitling, representing only 27% of the instances, it is

Functional equivalent, used 46% of the occasions. However, this is not the case in

dubbing, as the most usual strategy is, once again, Omission, 15 times out of 26

occurrences (58%).

Surprisingly, and contrary to the results obtained in the analysis of the terms

fuck, shit and ass, the dubbing translation of damn is not softened. Translators have

opted for translating the swearwords by a direct equivalent in Spanish. This may be

due to a compensation for a previously omitted swearword, or it can also be due to

the fact that this term in Spanish maldito/a is not considered as a strong swearword,

but as a mild one.

As a summary of the results presented above, the translation strategy most

widely employed in the translation of all the words analysed in this research is

Omission, in the subtitling and the dubbing modalities. Although, the difference in

figures between Omission and Direct Transfer strategies is minimum in the dubbed

version. Translators tend to omit a certain amount of the swearwords from the

original text in English. In the dubbing version, these instances of omission can be

due to different factors already mentioned in chapter four:

1. The high amount of expletives used in the original text, and the degree of

offensiveness they may cause to the viewer.

2. The impossibility of using or translating such a high amount of swearwords

in the same text, especially because the text is a film and requirements in

length and time must be fulfilled.

However, when the swearwords are translated by a counterpart term into

Spanish, the translation strategy most widely used in both dubbing and subtitling is

Direct transfer. Translators prefer to introduce the counterpart translation of the

swearword in the Spanish language than an equivalent term.



41

10. CONCLUSIONS

In my research, I have analysed the translation of the swearwords fuck, shit,

ass, and damn, their morphological variants and its compound appearing in the film

Pulp Fiction. I have also examined the differences between the translations for

subtitles and for dubbing. Finally, I have also paid attention to the different translation

strategies used in both the subtitling and the dubbing modalities.

The results of the analysis show that regarding the translation of the

swearwords proposed for this study, when the term is translated, more often than not

this is done by means of a Direct transfer or the use of an established equivalent in

the target language. This is the case in both types of audio-visual translation, in

dubbing and subtitling. Another finding reveals that dubbed translations tend to be

more literal than translations in subtitles. Swearwords tend to be softened or omitted

on more occasions in subtitling than in dubbing.

Regarding translation strategies, a great number of expletives are omitted in

both audio visual modalities, being Omission the most common translation strategy.

Furthermore, the number of omitted swearwords in subtitles is higher than in

dubbing. Omission of swearwords can be due to different facts, as already mentioned

in this paper:

1. Swearwords are considered unnecessary for the understanding

of a text. Therefore their translation is not essential for the complete

comprehension of the audio-visual text.

2. There may not exist an equivalent term in the target language.

Thus, the translation of the swearword would be considered unnatural by

viewers.

3. In subtitles, swearwords can be considered more offensive, due

to their written nature. Moreover, subtitles are limited to strict rules in length,

time and space.

In relation to translation strategies, I have also noticed that there are nine

examples of Stylistic compensation that is the introduction of a swearword in the

target translation that does not correspond to any swearword in the source text. This



42

translation solution is more frequently adopted in dubbing, 9 times, than in subtitles,

where it has been used just once. Translators may have applied it for two main

reasons:

1. To compensate for the omission of swearwords in different parts

of the text.

2. To give more emphasis or strength to the text.

As a concluding remark, it could be said that Omission is the most widely used

strategy in order to translate swearwords. Expletives are considered taboo language,

and that might explain their omission, even though swearwords fulfil pragmatic

functions, such as communicating surprise or relief tension, not only anger and insult.

This omission of swearwords is greater in subtitling than in dubbing, as expletives are

considered to be more offensive when they are written.



43

BIBLIOGRAPHICAL REFERENCES

Primary Source:

Pulp Fiction, 1994, directed by Quentin Tarantino. MIRAMAX.

Corpus Analysis tool:

AntConc, Anthony Laurence. http://www.laurenceanthony.net/software.html

Secondary sources:

The American heritage dictionary of the English language, 2000: New York: Oxford

University Press.

Beebe, L. 1995: Polite fictions: Instrumental rudeness as pragmatic competence. In

Linguistics and the Education of Language Teachers: Ethnolinguistic,

Psycholinguistic, and Sociolinguistic aspects. Georgetown University Round

Table on Languages and Linguistics 1995, James Alatis, Carolyn Straehle,

Maggie Ronkin, and Brent Gallenberger (eds.), 154-168. Washington, DC:

Georgetown University Press.

Crawford, M. 1995: Talking Difference: On Gender and Language. London: Sage.

Deffenbacher, J, et al. 2004: Evaluation of two new scales assessing driving anger:

The Driving Anger Expression Inventory and the Driver’s Angry Thoughts

Questionnaire. Journal of Psychopathology and Behaviour Assessment 26:

87-99.

Dewaele, J. M. 2004: The emotional force of swearwords and taboo words in the

speech of multilinguals. Journal of Multilingual and Multicultural Development

25: 204-222.

Díaz Cintas, J. 2003: Teoría y práctica de la subtitulación: inglés/español. Barcelona:

Ariel.

Díaz Cintas, J. and A. Remael, 2007: Audiovisual Translation: Subtitling.

Manchester/Kinderhook: St. Jerome Publishing.

http://www.laurenceanthony.net/software.html



44

Ferklová, S. 2014: Subtitles vs. Dubbing: Approaches to Translation of Swear Words

and Slang in Film. Master’s Diploma Thesis. Masaryk University. Brno.

Han, C. and K. Wang, 2014: “Subtitling swearwords in reality TV series from English

into Chinese: A corpus-based study of The Family.” The International Journal

for Translation and Interpreting Research. Vol. 6, No 2: 1-17.

Hjort, M. 2009: Swearwords in Subtitles, A Balancing Act. The Translation of Dialects

in Multimedia inTRAlinea, http://www.intralinea.org/ (last consulted on 29th

September 2016).

Inglis-Arkell E. 2012: A brief history of four letters word. io9: Science and

entertainment from the world of tomorrow. http://io9.com/5912901/a-brief-

history-of-four-letter-words (last consulted on 4th October 2016)

Jay, T. B. 1992: Cursing in America: A Psycholinguistic Study of Dirty Language in

the Courts, in the Movies, in the Schoolyards, and on the Streets.

Philadelphia/Amsterdam: John Benjamins Publishing Company.

Jay, T.B. 2000: Why we Curse. Philadelphia: John Benjamins.

Jay, T.B. 2005: American women, their cursing habits and religiosity. In Women,

Religion, and Language, Jule Allyson (ed.), 63-84. New York: Palgrave-

Macmillan.

Jay, T and K. Janschewitz, 2008: The pragmatics of swearing. Journal of Psychology

4: 267-288.

Jay, T. 2009: “The Utility and Ubiquity of Taboo Words” in Perspectives on

Psychological Science, 4, 2: 153-161.

Kasper, G. 1990: Linguistic politeness: Current research issues. Journal of

Pragmatics 14: 193-218.

Mattson, J. 2006: Linguistic Variation in Subtitling: The Subtitling of Swearwords and

Discourse Markers on Public Television, Commercial Television and DVD.

MuTra 2006 - Audiovisual Translation Scenarios: Conference Proceedings.

http://www.intralinea.org/

http://io9.com/5912901/a-brief-history-of-four-letter-words

http://io9.com/5912901/a-brief-history-of-four-letter-words



45

http://www.euroconferences.info/proceedings/2006_Proceedings/2006_Mattss

on_Jenny.pdf (last consulted on 4th October 2016)

Martin, M. and C. Anderson, 1997: Aggressive communication traits: How similar are

young adults and their parents in argumentativeness, assertiveness, and

verbal aggression: Justifications for sending and hurt from receiving verbally

aggressive messages. Communication Research Reports 13: 19-26.

Pošta, M. 2011: Titulkujeme profesionálně. Praha: Apostrof.

Rancer, A. and T. Avtgis, 2006: Argumentative and Aggressive Communication:

Theory, Research, and Application. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.

Sagarin, E. 1968: The Anatomy of Dirty Words. New York: L. Stuart.

Soler, B. 2011. Swearing and Translation: A Study of the Insults in the Films of

Quentin Tarantino. Universitat de València: Servei de Publicacions.

Trudgill, P. and L. Andersson, 1990: Bad Language. Oxford: Basil Blackwell Limited.

Vertanen, E. 2001: Ruututeksti tiedon ja tunteiden tulkkina. In Alussa oli käännös,

Oittinen, R. & Mäkinen, P. (eds.). T ampere: T ampereen yliopistopaino Oy.

Von Stackelberg, J. 1988: Translating Comical Writing. Translation Review 28:10 -

14.

Wang, N. 2013: An analysis of the pragmatic functions of swearing. Griffith Working

Papers in Pragmatics and Intercultural Communication 6: 71-79.

Zauberga, I. 1994: Pragmatic Aspects of the Translation of Slang and Four Letter

Words. Perspectives: Studies in Translatology 2: 137- 145.

http://www.euroconferences.info/proceedings/2006_Proceedings/2006_Mattsson_Jenny.pdf

http://www.euroconferences.info/proceedings/2006_Proceedings/2006_Mattsson_Jenny.pdf



46

ANNEXES

ANNEX 1. List of swear and offensive words obtained by driving AntConc word searches.

Number of examples appearing in the script

Number of examples recorded from the

film Swearword

94 117 Fuckin’/Fucking

65 66 Shit

38 39 Ass

35 56 Fuck

26 28 Motherfucker/s

16 16 Goddamn

13 Bitch

11 Hell

10 Nigger

9 Evil

8 Bloody

8 8 Fucked

7 Filthy

5 6 Motherfuckin’

4 8 Damn

4 Mess

3 3 Assholes

3 Freaks

3 5 Goddammit

2 Bullshit

2 Jesus Christ

2 Crap

2 2 Damned

2 Dorks

2 Fool

2 Piss

2 Pricks

2 Stud

1 Bastard

1 Blaspheme

1 Sacre bleu

1 Bottom

1 Chicks

1 1 Fucker

1 Idiot

1 Imbecile

1 Jesus

1 Negro

1 Pooh



47

ANNEX 2. Translation Strategies

The following tables show the different translation strategies used in order to

translate all the swearwords object of this study, in both in dubbing and subtitling the

Spanish version of the film, Pulp Fiction.

1. The term fuck and its morphological variants:

TRANSLATION STRATEGIES

Term N / Grammatical

category Dubbing N % Subtitling N %

FUCKING 62 / adjective

Direct

transfer 27 44%

Direct

transfer 2 3%

Omission 20 32% Omission 51 82%

Functional

equivalent 12 19%

Functional

equivalent 2 3%

Softening 3 5% Softening 7 11%

Table 1. Translation strategies used in fucking as an adjective.




FUCKING 52 / adverb

Omission 26 50% Omission 44 84.5%

Direct

transfer 12 23%

Direct

transfer 2 4%

Functional

equivalent 11 21%

Functional

equivalent 6 11.5%

Softening 3 6%

Table 2. Translation strategies used in fucking as an adverb.



48




FUCKING 3 / verb


Direct

transfer 1 33%

Direct

transfer 1 33.3%

Functional

equivalent 1 33.3%

Table 3. Translation strategies used in fucking as a verb.




FUCKER 1 / noun Functional

equivalent 1 100% Omission 1 100%

Table 4. Translation strategies used in fucker.




FUCK 19 / verb

Direct transfer 12 63% Direct

transfer 10 53%


Softening 3 16% Softening 2 10%

Functional

equivalent 1 5%

Functional

equivalent 1 5%

Table 5. Translation strategies used in fuck as a verb.



49




WH- THE

FUCK 18 / noun

Functional

equivalent 15 83%

Functional

equivalent 6 33%

Softening 1 5.6%

Direct transfer 1 5.6%

Omission 1 5.6% Omission 12 67%

Table 6. Translation strategies used in Wh- + the fuck expression.




VERB +

THE FUCK? 8 / noun

Functional

equivalent 3 37.5%

Softening 3 37.5% Softening 2 25%

Omission 1 12.5% Omission 6 75%

Direct transfer 1 12.5%

Table 7. Translation strategies used in verb + the fuck expression.




FUCK 9/interjection

Direct

transfer 7 75%

Direct

transfer 9 100%

Softening 2 25%

Table 8. Translation strategies used in fuck as an interjection.




FUCK 1 / adjective Functional

equivalent 1 100% Softening 1 100%

Table 9. Translation strategies used in fuck as an adjective



50




FUCKED 2 / verb Direct transfer 1 50%

Direct

transfer 2 100%

Softening 1 50%

Table 10. Translation strategies used in fucked as a verb




FUCKED 6 / adjective

Functional

equivalent 3 50% Omission 5 83%

Direct transfer 2 33% Direct

transfer 1 17%

Softening 1 17%

Table 11. Translation strategies used in fucked as an adjective.




FUCKER 1 / noun Direct transfer 1 100% Functional

equivalent 1 100%

Table 12. Translation strategies used in fucker as a noun.




MOTHERFUCKER 28/ noun

Functional

equivalent 17 61%

Functional

equivalent 7 25%

Direct

transfer 6 21%

Direct

transfer 7 25%


Table 13. Translation strategies used in motherfucker.



51




MOTHERFUCKING 6 / adjective

Functional

equivalent 4 67%


Table 14. Translation strategies used in motherfucking as a verb.

2. The expletive shit and its compound


Term N/ Grammatical


SHIT 65 / noun


Direct

transfer 24 37%

Direct

transfer 16 25%

Functional

equivalent 11 17%

Functional

equivalent 8 12%

Softening 2 3.% Softening 1 1.5%

Table 15. Translation strategies used in shit as a noun.




SHIT 1 / verb Omission 1 100% Omission 1 100%

Table 16. Translation strategies used in shit as a verb.




BULLSHIT 1 /noun Functional

equivalent 1 100% Softening 1 100%

Table 17. Translation strategies used in bullshit.



52

3. The terms ass and asshole




ASS 39 / noun

Omission 17 43.5% Omission 28 71.8%

Direct

transfer 15 38.4%

Direct

transfer 8 20.5%

Softening 3 7.7% Softening 2 5%

Functional

equivalent 4 10%

Functional

equivalent 1 2.5%

Table 18. Translation strategies used in ass as a noun.




ASSHOLE 3 / noun

Functional

equivalent 2 66.7%

Functional

equivalent 1 33.3%

Omission 1 33.3% Omission 1 66.7%

Table 19. Translation strategies used in asshole.

4. Damn, its variants and compounds




DAMN 2 / adverb

Functional

equivalent 1 50%

Functional

equivalent 1 50%

Direct transfer 1 50% Direct transfer 1 50%

Table 20. Translation strategies used in damn as an adverb.



53




DAMN 2 / noun


Functional

equivalent 1 50%

Functional

equivalent 1 50%

Table 21. Translation strategies used in damn as a noun.




DAMN 4/ adjective

Functional

equivalent 2 50%


Direct

transfer 1 25%

Table 22. Translation strategies used in damn as a verb.




DAMNED 2 / verb

Functional

equivalent 1 50%

Direct

transfer 1 50%

Softening 1 50% Omission 1 50%

Table 23. Translation strategies used in damned as a verb.




GODDAMN 12 / adjective

Functional

equivalent 4 33%

Functional

equivalent 2 17%


Direct transfer 3 25%

Table 23. Translation strategies used in Goddamn.



54




GODDAMN 4 / adverb

Functional

equivalent 4 100%

Functional

equivalent 3 75%

Omission 1 25%

Table 23. Translation strategies used in Goddamn as an adverb.




GODDAMMIT 4 / interjection

Direct

transfer 3 60% Direct transfer 4

80%


Functional

equivalent 1 20%

Table 25. Translation strategies used in Goddammit as an interjection.

the translation of swearwords in pulp fiction€¦ · the translation of swearwords in pulp fiction...

Documents