Wiezerbicka discussed how the word ‘bloody’ is used in everyday Australian conversations and how it reveals Australian attitudes and beliefs. She argued that it is “the great Australian adjective”. Hong (2008) focused on how the word ‘bloody’ is perceived in different cultures, drawing from interviews that she conducted with Australians and British. Hong also focused on the Tourism Australia advertisement to show that although ‘bloody’ is common in Australia, the advertisement was controversial in Australia because of the use of the word ‘bloody’. This reinforces Wiezerbicka’s point that although the word ‘bloody’ is used frequently in Australian speech, it does not mean that the word is acceptable to everyone. I thought that it was interesting when Wiezerbicka compared the use of bloody in Australian parliament to the British parliament. In Australian parliament, it is generally acceptable to use the word ‘bloody’ except when it is a personal attack, however, in British parliament, ministers have to apologise to the council.
Hong’s study revealed that people generally felt two ways about the ad: some people argue that the statement plays on the stereotypical characteristics of Australia and others argue that it should represent more politeness in representing Australia. Hong interviewed 4 Australians and British to compare whether it was impolite to say “bloody hell” in different cultures. Australians generally felt that it was acceptable to say ‘bloody’ although one did say that it may be rude or offensive to Christians. The British speaker thought that the term ‘bloody’ was rude and impolite. Therefore, this shows how the term ‘bloody’ could be seen as a cultural symbol as it is an acceptable term to use in Australian speech but not in England.
Hong, M 2008, ‘“Where the bloody hell are you?”: Bloody hell and (im)politeness in Australian English’, Griffith Working Papers in Pragmatics and Intercultural Communication , vol.1, no.1, http://www.griffith.edu.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0020/72902/Issue1-minha-hong-bloody-hell-and-impoliteness-in-Ause.pdf
