To swear or not to swear? Considering the translation challenges of profanity between BSL and English - with Yvonne Waddell 

Online, Sat 20 Sept 2025, 10am – 1pm

Tickets: Members - £5, non-members - £25

Delivered in spoken English, BSL Interpreters Sarah Glendenning and Richard Harte.

This event will not be recorded. 

Swearing is a feature of everyday language that interpreters encounter, and no matter the domain that we regularly work in, we probably deal with this translation challenge regularly. Whether we 'should' relay the swear word brings up issues around censorship, accuracy in translation and our own ethical values.  

Swearing has a range of functions in conversation, from expressing anger, being a rapport building strategy, in humour, to the strategic use of swearing by nurses in therapeutic relationships. There are cultural differences that influence why, and when someone uses a swear word, and terms have a different level of force in different languages. For interpreters, working between BSL and English, swear words can be a tricky piece of language to appropriately relay.  Two very different languages and cultures are involved in our work and often it is more complicated than a simple word-for-sign replication. 

Session aims:

This training will consider the different choices we have when translating swear words and understanding the factors that influence our decisions. The intent behind the word/sign used, the audience it is intended for, the conversational norms or the setting we are working in, all affect how we produce our interpretation. We will consider example case studies to illustrate these factors and explore coping strategies for interpreters in different domains. Demand-Control Schema (Dean and Pollard 2013) and a Practice Profession approach is used as the framework to deal with the dilemmas raised when interpreting swear words and profanity.