American International Journal of Contemporary Research Vol. 2 No. 2; February 2012 17 Taboo Words in Expressive Language: Do Sex and Primary Language Matter? Maura Pilotti Jennifer Almand Salif Mahamane Melanie Martinez School of Arts and Sciences New Mexico Highlands University United States of America Abstract In the present study, we examined whether sex differences exist in the number and categories of taboo word expressions used by college students when the intended recipient is defined by sexual affiliation and the medium is either one’s primary or secondary language. English-Spanish bilingual participants reported the taboo words that they or their friends use to refer to men and women. Across both sexes, taboo words referring to deviance of a social, psychological or physical nature were most frequent, followed by taboo words involving sexual references. Spanish references to deviance were more likely to be attributed to men than to women, whereas English taboo words were evenly ascribed to both sexes. Neither differences in age of acquisition nor subjective knowledge accounted for the more numerous Spanish deviations attributed to men. Keywords: Taboo words, bilingualism, sex differences The term taboo words refers to „offensive emotional language‟ (Jay, 2009; Pinker 2007) for which a „ban or inhibition resulting from social custom or aversion‟ exists (The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language, 2000). Most research on taboo words in expressive language has claimed the persistence of such differences in the face of socio-cultural change (Jay, 1980; Jay, 2009; McEnery, 2006; Mehl & Pennebacker, 2003; Simkins & Rinck, 1982; Thelwall, 2008). For instance, even though women have reported experiencing and expressing emotions more intensely and frequently than men (Feldman Barrett, Robin, Pietromonaco, & Eyssell, 1998), men have been found to know more taboo words (Foote & Woodward, 1973; Kutner & Brogan, 1974), be more likely to swear in public (Mehl & Pennebaker, 2003), and use „stronger‟ terms (Jay, 2009) than women. They have also been reported to recall more taboo words than neutral words (Grosser & Walsh, 1966). If the defining property of taboo words is that they epitomize „offensive emotional language‟ (Jay, 2009), reports of sex differences are truly informative only when reference is made to the pragmatic context upon which the male or female speaker relies to justify the use of such words (Jay & Janschewitz, 2007; 2008; Locker & Watts, 2005; Mabry, 1974; Selnow, 1985; Wells, 1989). Support for the notion that the speaker‟s pragmatic context is relevant to emotional expression comes from finding that sex differences in self-reported intensity of emotional experience are more likely to emerge from interactions that involve the opposite sex than the same sex (Feldan Barrett et al., 1998). Further support comes from finding that females use formal terms (i.e., clinical descriptions) to discuss sexual matters in same-sex interactions more than males who prefer more colloquial (slang) terms, whereas both sexes favor formal terms in mixed-sex interactions (Simkins & Rinck, 1982). Type of social interaction, however, is not the only defining property of the speaker‟s pragmatic context that deserves consideration. Choices of expressive language, including taboo words, are dependent, among other factors, on the characteristics of the intended recipient (see Fine & Johnson, 1984; Risch, 1987). Even though the intended recipient is critical in defining the speaker‟s pragmatic context of taboo word expression, evidence of sex differences has emerged mostly from studies investigating the production of taboo words without any specific reference to the sex of the intended recipient (see Jay, 1980; Selnow, 1985). As a result, above and beyond the fact that some taboo words appear to be specific to (or more appropriate for) either male or female targets (Jay 2009), it is unclear whether there are differences in the number of taboo words that women and men use to refer to others either of same sex or of a different sex.