THE STUDY OF ENGLISH TABOO WORD

Abstract

The purpose of this study is twofold: 1) to collect and classify taboo words from the
subtitle of the American movie ‘Deadpool’ and 2) to investigate strategies for translating the
taboo words from English into Thai. The sample was chosen, using purposive sampling. This
study used both qualitative and quantitative approaches and adopted Pinker’s (2008) typology
and translation strategies of taboo words proposed by Davoodi (2009). The study found a total
of 154 taboo words and the results showed that the subtitle translator used 5 types of swearing
functions: abusive (27.92%), cathartic (24.02%), emphatic (23.38), descriptive (14.94%), and
idiomatic swearing (9.74%). The study also revealed 4 strategies for translating taboo words:
taboo for taboo ( 51. 94% ) , censorship ( 22. 07% ) , substitution ( 14. 94% ) , and applying
euphemism (11.05%).