DYSPHEMISMS IN BRITISH PRINT MEDIA – INEVITABLE NEGATIVE ALTERNATIVE OR TREND?

Abstract

Dysphemisms, expressions motivated by hatred, contempt, fear, or envy, appear when a neutrally or positively keyed expression is deliberately replaced with another with negative associations. The use of dysphemisms in mass media largely creates an image of society and social life. This language, being short, sharp and clear, adapted to and suitable for readership with diverse social status and sensibility, should not include dysphemisms for their negative character, although we infrequently come across them. We have presumed dysphemisms to be used in every kind of newspaper, at a different level and frequency. The research is based on identification, classification and analysis of dysphemisms used in British newspapers (The broadsheet papers - The Daily Telegraph, The Guardian and The Times, and the tabloids - The Sun, The Mirror and The Daily Mail). In order to show their frequency in everyday discourse, the examples found in the media have been cross-checked against the native language corpora – British National Corpus (BNC) and Corpus of Contemporary American English (COCA). The results show that all processed newspapers and magazines contain dysphemisms, depending on the type and format. Low quality tabloids and sensationalist press use them more frequently (with a higher level of offence) than the informative press with better quality content.