Deadpool & Wolverine: Investigating Patterns and Translation Strategies of the “F-Word” as English Swearwords in Thai Subtitles

Abstract

Background and Aims: Swearwords are impolite words used for informal communication. However, swearwords often appear in entertainment media such as movies. Currently, there are an increasing number of English-language movies that feature f-words as swearwords in the dialogue. Nevertheless, interpreting the meanings of the f-words into Thai subtitles requires various translation strategies suitable for each situation, since the meanings of the f-words often vary depending on the context. In 2024, Deadpool & Wolverine was identified as a movie with the most f-words in its dialogue among the franchise of the three Deadpool movies. The objectives of this research were: 1. To study the f-words in the movie Deadpool & Wolverine to categorize and analyze the frequency and differences of the patterns of f-words in context appearing in the English dialogue. 2. To analyze the f-word translated into Thai subtitles of the movie Deadpool & Wolverine to indicate the types of translation strategies.

Methodology: This research employed mixed methodology, including quantitative statistics with qualitative analysis, to describe the results demonstrating the frequency of f-word occurrences, and to analyze the translation strategies of f-words from the Thai subtitles in the movie Deadpool & Wolverine. The criteria of analysis were applied to the translation strategy criteria by comparing the characteristics of each strategy from the theory of translation strategies by Newmark (1988) and the translation strategies of taboo words by Davoodi (2009). The criteria were examined by an English-Thai translation expert from the Language Institute of a public university.

Results: The results revealed that there were 129 f-words, categorized into 9 patterns, that appeared in the English dialogues of the movie Deadpool & Wolverine as follows: fuck (51.94%), fucking (21.71%), fuckin’ (12.40%), motherfucker (6.20%), fucks (2.33%), fucked (2.33%), fucker (1.55%), fucky (0.77%), and fuckface (0.77%). Additionally, there were 6 translation strategies were used as follows: cultural equivalent (39.53%), reduction or omission (36.43%), euphemism (11.63%), taboo for taboo (9.30%), expansion (2.33%), and literal translation (0.78%). The cultural equivalent strategy is the most suitable strategy for translating the word Fuck! as an f-word interjection.  

Conclusion: The implications of the study provide one of the alternatives for developing instruction and translation curriculum, especially in the digital media from English to Thai. Translators can also use suitable strategies to improve the viewers’ moods as well as further investigate the swearwords in Thai contexts.