... swearing in English, for example, it does not begin to provide an explanation for anything that we see within the corpus. Description in tandem with explanation is a powerful combination in linguistics. ... produce an over-arching theory, they are forcing a separation between what may be intertwined Swearing in English 4 2 ‘So you recorded swearing’ Bad language in present-day English 48 Bad ... while once again the intention to some degree is to insult, Swearing in English 26there is also an imperative involved, typically with a demand being made that the target go away. In a Gen utterance,...