The Speech Act "Fictive Invective"

Drawing mostly on attestations in German literary novels, a study of the use of verbal insults & invective in this language to express respect, esteem, praise, & affection rather than verbal aggression is conducted. It is noted that the interlocutors must be in a very special relationship so that the pejorative epithets are received by the addressee in the spirit they were intended by the sender, ie, as terms of endearment, playfulness, & teasing between intimate friends who share each other's values, have common life experiences, & know "each other's minds." Often, such abusive words are preceded by an affectionate adjective to make clear to the addressee that no hostility is intended. A brief semantic analysis is carried out to demonstrate the double meaning of some pejorative epithets which can be used either as insults or terms of endearment. 10 References. Z. Dubiel