A Sociolinguistic Study of Swear Words Used by Carroll Shelby to His Superiors and Subordinate in Ford v Ferrari.
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.9744/katakita.14.1.119-125Keywords:
film analysis, Ford v Ferrari, social dimensions, social factors, sociolinguistics, swear wordsAbstract
This study analyzes how Carroll Shelby uses swear words in Ford v Ferrari, focusing on his interactions with his subordinate and his superiors. Using Pinker’s (2007) types of swear words and Holmes’s (2013) sociolinguistic approach, this study aims to identify the types and frequency of swear words, as well as the social factors and dimensions involved in both interactions. A descriptive qualitative method is applied by analyzing selected scenes from the movie. The findings show that Shelby uses three types of swear words, namely idiomatic, emphatic, and abusive, in interactions with both groups. The results further show that the overall frequency of swear words toward subordinates and superiors is not significantly different. Emphatic swearing is the most dominant type in both interactions, while abusive swearing is used more toward the subordinate. Overall, similarities in swearing patterns are more prominent than differences, showing that swearing is shaped by context and pressure.
References
Batty, D. (2024). Swearing is becoming more widely acceptable, linguistics experts claim. The Guardian. https://www.theguardian.com/media/2024/jan/06/swearing-is-becoming-more-widely-acceptable-linguistics-experts-claim
Bram, B., & Putra, P. K. (2019). Swear words used by Jordan Belfort in The Wolf of Wall Street movie. SKASE Journal of Theoretical Linguistics, 16(2), 135-145.
Creswell, J. W., & Creswell, J. D. (2018). Research design: Qualitative, quantitative, and mixed methods approaches (5th ed.). SAGE Publications.
Fägersten, K. B. (2012). Who’s swearing now? The social aspects of conversational swearing. Cambridge Scholars Publisher.
Hayes, A. (2025). White-collar: Definition, types of jobs, and other "collar" types. Investopedia.
https://www.investopedia.com/terms/w/whitecollar.asp
Henning, T. M. (2025). Talkin trash and makin sense: The value of abusive ad hominem arguments in African American argumentation. Topoi, 44(4), 707–718. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11245-025-10229-w
Holmes, J. (2013). An introduction to sociolinguistics (4th ed.). Routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9781315833057
Pinker, S. (2007). The stuff of thought: Language as a window into human nature. Penguin Books.
Prayogo, K. J. A. (2025). A Sociolinguistic Study of the Functions of Swear-Words Used by Motivator Gary Vaynerchuk In The Video Titled The World Is Abundant, Stop Holding Yourself Back | London Keynote 2021. Kata Kita: Journal of Language, Literature, and Teaching, 13(1), 16–24. https://katakita.petra.ac.id/index.php/sastra-inggris/article/view/14529
Wienclaw, R. A. (2021). Communications in the workplace. EBSCO Research Starters. https://www.ebsco.com/research-starters/business-and-management/communications-workplace
Downloads
Published
Issue
Section
License
Authors who publish with this journal agree to the following terms:- Authors retain copyright and grant the journal right of first publication with the work simultaneously licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution License that allows others to share the work with an acknowledgement of the work's authorship and initial publication in this journal.
- Authors are able to enter into separate, additional contractual arrangements for the non-exclusive distribution of the journal's published version of the work (e.g., post it to an institutional repository or publish it in a book), with an acknowledgement of its initial publication in this journal.
- Authors are permitted and encouraged to post their work online (e.g., in institutional repositories or on their website) prior to and during the submission process, as it can lead to productive exchanges, as well as earlier and greater citation of published work (See The Effect of Open Access).












