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Banter, a form of social communication, is used to facilitate social bonding in friendships and romantic relationships. However, associations between homosocial banter and "lad culture" and potential links to sexual violence and lower wellbeing have highlighted a problematic side to such interactions, especially among males during emerging adulthood. Despite male banter often involving homophobic comments and homosocial behaviour, banter experiences of gay men have to date largely been ignored in the literature. The aim of this study was to explore how gay men in a university setting understand and perceive banter. The data were devised from semi-structured interviews (n = 6, 20–22 years; male). An Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis (IPA) explored the participants' experiences of banter in their everyday interactions, including within their same-sex friendships and romantic relationships. Themes highlighted how language and behaviours typical of homosocial banter often created a sense of unease when engaging with heterosexual friends, but banter use and perception could be influenced by context and social relationship. Complexities of navigating the ambiguity of banter are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article explores the role of humor, specifically banter, in addressing gendered organizational tensions within the UK Fire and Rescue Service during a period of modernizing change. Such tensions reflect who holds authority and who is deemed to belong, and we explore how banter is used to both contest and confirm authority associated with the formal rank system and the informal, masculinist ideal‐typical worker in this context. We discuss banter's various roles as a cohering mode of humorous workplace communication, one that can reduce tension and consolidate authority and belonging, as well as its boundary setting, testing, and crossing capacities. In terms of the latter, we ask whether banter can genuinely trouble masculinist organizational norms. We conclude that specific humorous episodes that go "beyond banter" create particular ambivalence, but their impact is significantly limited by widespread discursive acceptance of banter as a central and permissible communication mode in the Service's culture. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The potential ambiguity and aggression related to banter-type humorous interactions may lead to misinterpretations and escalations such as perceived bullying, especially in the online context. A way to minimise such risks during online banter is the use of digital visual cues such as emojis, emoticons, GIFs, personal photos, videos, etc. This review summarised and synthesised the literature to understand how adolescents and emerging adults perceive and interpret the role of digital visual cues in online banter/humour and how they actually use these cues in banter-type online interactions. From the 12,372 papers identified, 17 papers were included, and the relevant narrative data were analysed using Reflexive Thematic Analysis (Clarke & Braun, 2021). Four themes were generated, including, (1) Digital cues are an essential part of digital banter, (2) Digital cues are ambiguous, (3) Harmful online banter containing digital cues, and (4) Personal and contextual effects. Implications and future directions are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article investigates the multiple interpretations and uses of banter as an inclusive and exclusionary practice amongst competitive youth swimmers in the Southeast of England. As a metacommunicative act, banter is a form of linguistic play that focuses on the ways in which the words are delivered, and the social relationships involved between those engaged in banter. Through an immersive "apprenticeship" within a competitive swimming club from 2018 to 2022, I was party to particular forms of English "humorous" communication and invitations to join in banter with coaches and swimmers. As competitive swimming can be a monotonous activity, with long periods between competitions and nigh endless repetition of training drills, coaches encouraged swimmers' engagement in banter as an inclusive strategy for squad cohesiveness and to stave off boredom throughout the swimming season. Playful teasing was used to invite engagement in banter from one or more people, helping to foster social bonds, develop joking relationships, and create a relaxed atmosphere within training spaces. Mockery and teasing used to initiate banter were also mobilized as exclusionary social positioning strategies to test the limits of social interaction and define oneself against others. This article asserts that despite the nearly-totalitarian position of the coach within high-performance swimming humorous or joking banter does not simply function as a morale-booting activity or as a substitute for active resistance against monotonous training requirements. By paying attention to the intersubjective processes within joking relationships, here through banter, we can see how youth actively navigate sociality and assert their agency within institutional training environments. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Life-story interviews with 39 Jewish supporters of a football club whose quasi-Jewish identity is the catalyst for antisemitic abuse were used to explain the under-researched everyday experiences among members of the Anglo-Jewish community. All interviewees said their experiences of antisemitism within English men's football supporter culture were much worse than in wider society. All interviewees believed references to Hitler and the Holocaust exceeded any threshold of acceptability and that the death of 6 million people should never be associated with football. While denigration of Jewish rituals and practices was offensive and problematic for some, Jewish stereotypes tended to be downplayed, dismissed, or tolerated by most interviewees as part of the "banter" endemic in English supporter culture to lessen or disrupt the impact of the hate speech they endure. These responses indicate complex processes of anger, acceptance and rationalisation as recipients attempt to make sense of and deal with everyday antisemitism. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As with most professional institutions, English Premier League football clubs offer insightful, unique opportunities to more fully comprehend the cultural significance of banter and abuse within workplace environments. This article offers a new, critical perspective that provides a better understanding of the distinctive, intricate social discourses surrounding banter in the daily lives of professional footballers by answering the research question: What is the cultural significance of banter within the competitive work environments of English Premier League players? Data were collected from 10 male participants (aged 18–30) by means of qualitative semi-structured vignette interviews. Each participant was interviewed on three separate occasions (30 interviews). The data and subsequent analysis illustrate how banter is an accepted and legitimised discourse within professional football, but promotes considerable anxiety, stress and unhappiness in work environments. This study provides an original insight into the attitudes professional football players hold towards banter. Contributing to the existing research that has examined forms of abuse within sport, this article aims to better inform the management and development of athlete well-being and player care. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Recent research has focused on students' experience of banter in the general university setting. However, these experiences may differ when specifically focusing on university students' interactions in sports clubs and societies. The present study explored undergraduate students' understanding and experiences of banter in sports clubs and societies through five focus groups (n = 24; 18–23 years, 5 male, 19 female) at one UK university using semi-structured interviews and vignettes. Thematic analysis identified three key themes: "It's all part of the culture", banter to excuse inappropriate behaviour, and a question of boundaries. Discussions highlighted banter was accepted and expected, but there was a sense of 'banter fatigue'. There was awareness that banter could be used to mask harmful behaviour such as hazing and inappropriate sexual behaviour. Students also highlighted that boundaries were important when using banter, discussing how repetition can have a negative impact on the target of the banter. The study contributes to the limited literature exploring the use and perceptions of banter by students in extracurricular activities at university. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Culturally, there is a growing acceptance of homosexuality in football. However, Magrath suggests that there is a discursive gap between football fans' inclusive attitudes toward gay people and their practice of using homosexually themed language. Thus, while society imagines that gay people should be able to access football stadia without the fear of discrimination, they remain oblivious to the impact that malevolent homophobic slurs can have and remain somewhat reticent in contesting it. Conversely, the legal authorities within the United Kingdom are robustly pursuing a subjective policy that identifies perceived homophobic behavior as a "hate crime." In this article, I build on the discourse of two competing themes within this field: emerging positive attitudes toward gay people contrasted with negative linguistic behavior--with a focus on how the use of "banter" language in football is partly responsible for the chronic disconnect between these two trends. To interpret football "banter" (regarded as good-humored, playful, or teasing parlance within the United Kingdom), I present attitudinal research of 232 Wolverhampton Wanderers Football Club (WWFC) supporters, together with semi-structured interviews with representatives from the Brighton & Hove Albion LGBT+ football community ("Seagull Pride") and the Sussex Police force. This research calls for the English Premier League and Football Association to review the policy of mandatory, inoperative banning orders, and extend "restorative justice" programs to educate out homophobic language from its members' venues. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The taboo exploitation examined in this essay is swearing. Swearing intersects in complex ways with the giving and taking of pleasure and concomitantly coping with pain or, conversely, craving to inflict pain. Swearing is normally restricted to colloquial styles because it is commonly perceived to breach the rules of courtesy by offending against standards of good taste and good manners. The breaking of this taboo is an emotional release. Swearing has a special place in our neural anatomy, perhaps accounting for: (a) its effectiveness displaying pleasure and managing pain or the hypoalgesia and other physiological effects in laboratory studies; (b) for the tendency of any disparaging denotation or connotation to dominate the interpretation of the immediate context. I recognize five frequently synchronous functions for swearing from the utterer's as well as the audience point of view: (i) The expletive function, often marking attitude to what is said. (ii) Abuse, insult, banter. (iii) Spicing up the message. (iv) Expression of social solidarity. (v) The discourse function. There is an additional from an audience point of view: (vi) Characterizing an individual's behavior. For every function, the degree of pleasure and/or pain and the kind of taboo exploitation is assessed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Bantering can serve as an important strategy for relationship management. Guided by Multiple Goals Theory (MGT), politeness, and relational power, this study examines banter as a playful means to signal the desire for a possible relationship and/or to reinforce a sense of self. Specifically, this study examines responses to banter during initial interactions after an affiliative tease. A total of 623 participants read two hypothetical interactions involving a banter and/or a non-banter response. Respondents then completed measures about their affiliative responses, facework intentions, perceived similarity, power, and communication satisfaction. Results indicated banter was a significant influencer on affiliative responses and less facework management. Perceived similarity mediated the relationship of perceived power and communication outcomes in the context of banter. Results provided support for Multiple Goals Theory for initial interactions. Future research on banter as a communication strategy is discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: The use of humor in psychotherapy is widely considered to improve therapy outcomes and typically depends on context, patient sensitivity, and the therapist's humor style. Different types of humor may impact treatment type, therapeutic alliance, and therapy outcome; however, evidence from psychotherapy sessions on the role of banter has been sparse to date. Therefore, the study aims to examine banter in a secondary analysis of psychotherapy sessions. Method: The sample consisted of 68 depressed outpatients treated with one of three treatment types: psychoanalytic therapy (PA), psychodynamic therapy (PD), and cognitive‐behavioral therapy (CBT). Banter and therapeutic alliance were rated for therapy sessions taken from the middle phase of treatment, outcome was assessed at the end of treatment. Results: The main findings were (1) clinical examples of banter in psychotherapy were found in 62 from 68 sessions, (2) significantly more bantering in the main bantering category of facilitation for CBT sessions as compared to other treatment types, (3) facilitative banter as a significant predictor for the positive introject, (4) a significant correlation between bantering and bond between therapist and client. Furthermore, based on these results, psychometric properties of the Klagenfurt Bantering Instrument (KBI) are reported. Conclusion: From a bantering perspective, this study emphasizes the need to consider session context, client response, and sarcastic markers when categorizing negative banter using the KBI. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Joking and humour are central to the daily lives and lived experiences of professional elite athletes (Hickey, 2016; Roderick, 2006). Traditionally within sport, such discourses have been accepted as back and forth joking between teammates, athletes, and coaches, and should not be taken seriously by either the recipient or antagonist (Magrath, 2016). Although joking relations are widely assumed to be harmless (Plester, 2016), their characteristics and constant presence in the lives of professional and elite athletes share unmistakable similarities to forms of abuse (Jacobs et al., 2017; Mountjoy et al., 2016). Professional sport is an environment in which abuse is often present and condoned. More recently, the different forms of abuse that athletes are, and have been, exposed to have become more widely known (McMahon & McGannon, 2019). Examining professional football specifically, abusive practices are traditionally accepted and positioned as part of the cultural norms within footballing work environments (Kelly & Waddington, 2006). As part of their lived experiences in these environments, professional players both participate in and are the recipients of such abuse. Data were collected from 10 male participants (aged 18–30) by means of qualitative semi-structured vignette interviews. Each participant was interviewed on three separate occasions (30 interviews). The data and subsequent analysis illustrate how banter is an accepted and legitimised discourse within professional football, but promotes considerable anxiety, stress and unhappiness in work environments. Utilising a theoretical framework that combines elements of Goffman’s (1959) Dramaturgy with notions of Possible Selves (Markus & Nurius, 1986), this investigation illustrates the impact of such abuse on English Premier League players. It illustrates how joking and humour, is better understood as a form of psychological emotional abuse, that it is normalised as workplace putdown humour and carries with it many elements that players find marginalising, deliberate and threatening to their identities and sense of professional security. This research offers a new critical perspective that provides a better understanding of the distinctive and intricate social discourses in the daily lives of professional footballers. Its findings offer insights that will prove helpful to officials, team managers and other relevant stakeholders involved in player care and athlete well-being. References Goffman, E. (1959). The presentation of the self in everyday life. Anchor Books. Hickey, C. (2016). Performing of the Pitch: An investigation of identity management strategies of professional footballers as part of their career transitions from the Premier League [Doctoral Thesis]. Durham University. Jacobs, F., Smits, F., & Knoppers, A. (2017). ‘You don’t realize what you see!’ The institutional context of emotional abuse in elite youth sport. Sport in Society, 20(1), 126–143. https://doi.org/10.1080/17430437.2015.1124567 Kelly, S., & Waddington, I. (2006). Abuse, intimidation, and violence as aspects of managerial control in professional soccer in Britain and Ireland. International Review for the Sociology of Sport, 41(2), 147–164. https://doi.org/10.1177/1012690206075417 Markus, H., & Nurius, P. (1986). Possible selves. American Psychologist, 41(9), 954–969. https://doi.org/10.1037/0003-066X.41.9.954 Magrath, R. (2016). Inclusive masculinities in contemporary football: Men in the beautiful game. Routledge. McMahon, J., & McGannon, K. R. (2019). Acting out what is inside of us: Self-management strategies of an abused ex-athlete. Sport Management Review, 23(1), 23–38. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.smr.2019.03.008 Mountjoy, M., Brackenridge, C., Arrington, M., Blauwet, C., Carska-Sheppard, A., Fasting, K., Kirby, S., Leahy, T., Marks, S., Martin, K., & Starr, K. (2016). International Olympic committee consensus statement: Harassment and abuse (non-accidental violence) in sport. British Journal of Sports Medicine, 50(17), 1019–1029. https://doi.org/10.1136/bjsports-2016-096121 Plester, B. (2016). The complexity of workplace humour. Springer. Roderick, M. (2006). The work of professional football – A labour of love? Routledge.

The taboo exploitation examined in this essay is swearing. Swearing intersects in complex ways with the giving and taking of pleasure and concomitantly coping with pain or, conversely, craving to inflict pain. Swearing is normally restricted to colloquial styles because it is commonly perceived to breach the rules of courtesy by offending against standards of good taste and good manners. The breaking of this taboo is an emotional release. Swearing has a special place in our neural anatomy, perhaps accounting for: (a) its effectiveness displaying pleasure and managing pain or the hypoalgesia and other physiological effects in laboratory studies; (b) for the tendency of any disparaging denotation or connotation to dominate the interpretation of the immediate context. I recognize five frequently synchronous functions for swearing from the utterer’s as well as the audience point of view: (i) The expletive function, often marking attitude to what is said. (ii) Abuse, insult, banter. (iii) Spicing up the message. (iv) Expression of social solidarity. (v) The discourse function. There is an additional from an audience point of view: (vi) Characterizing an individual’s behavior. For every function, the degree of pleasure and/or pain and the kind of taboo exploitation is assessed.

The (re)production and persistence of inequalities in male-dominated organizations is an ongoing issue. This paper aims to further examine how banter in male-dominated industrial organizations can be understood as meaningful in relation to the gendered processes of organizations. The male-dominated mining industry in Sweden—more specifically the shop floor of this setting—serves as the empirical context and twenty interviews with both men and women miners were conducted. The findings suggest that the informal interactions underground function as an informal power system carrying important meaning in relation to gendered processes of the organization. Banter has a dual function as both an including and excluding practice and with its inherent ambiguity, it has the potential to both maintain and challenge existing gendered relations underground. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Media interest in the relationship between Keanu Reeves and Sandra Bullock has been consistent since their first collaboration in 1994. Despite only appearing in two films together, and while their characters vary from Speed (1994) to The Lake House (2006), their romantic on-screen pairings have resulted in media desire for a mirrored off-screen relationship. In 2018 and 2019, both actors revealed on Ellen that they had crushes on one another, feeding this media interest. The presentation of a public friendship raises questions about its authenticity, especially if it is used to promote works. We argue that while the Reeves/Bullock relationship is commoditised, it nonetheless relies on markers of authenticity to enable it to succeed as a form of promotion. This paper proposes an extension of Dyer's markers of authenticity as a means to interrogate the authenticity of celebrity pairings. It additionally articulates the presentation of a close dynamic as 'buddy banter', often expressed through suggestive and flirtatious interactions, which is utilised by celebrity pairings to communicate a sense of fun and levity. The perceived genuineness of the buddy banter contributes to the successful celebrity dynamic and ultimately to the utility of the dynamic as a form of promotion. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This research was conducted to elucidate how banter, a form of alternative politeness, is used on the Kick Andy Talkshow. The study employs pragmatic theory, specifically Leech's theory of general strategy of politeness and alternative politeness (2014). A qualitative methodology was employed in this research. The data for this study came from videos that were found on the official Kick Andy YouTube channel. Data was collected through non-participatory observation. Additionally, the data were analyzed using the general strategies of politeness. The results of data analysis are presented using a narrative approach and descriptive sentences. According to the findings of this study's analysis, the banter was accomplished by violating the politeness maximsneg and pos. The maxims violated in neg-politeness (Neg-politeness) are modesty, opinion-renitence, and tact. Additionally, there are violations of the pos-politeness maxims, such as the sympathy, approbation, and agreement maxims. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study was an assessment of personalised equivocation in political interviews, namely, politicians’ responses to questions which, in lieu of an explicit reply, are directed personally at the interviewer. Twenty-six interviews with recent UK party leaders were analysed in terms of questions, replies, and personalisation. The majority of personalised responses contained elements of criticism, although over a quarter were more amicable. For the eight featured politicians, the use of such responses was adjudged to be more about individual communicative style than their position on the political spectrum. Only one politician did not respond in this manner, indicating a more widespread use of personalisation than was previously suggested. Furthermore, an evaluation of interviewer follow-ups showed its effectiveness as a diversionary tactic in the face of troublesome questions. In terms of the proportion of questions which receive a full reply, a general reply rate analysis highlighted how recent political leaders have changed little from their predecessors.

This study explores professional footballers’ perceptions of where banter crosses the conceptual line into bullying. The study’s focus is of importance, given the impact that abusive behaviors have been found to have on the welfare and safeguarding of English professional footballers. A phenomenological approach was adopted, which focused on the essence of the participants’ perceptions and experiences. Guided by Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis (IPA), individual semi-structured interviews (MDuration = 44.10 min, SD = 10.81) were conducted with 18 male professional footballers (Mage = 19.83 years, SD = 2.96) from three Premier League and Championship football clubs. The findings from this study revealed several key superordinate themes in relation to the dividing line between bullying and banter. These themes included “perception,” “intentionality,” “detecting the line,” and “having a bit of banter.” The findings demonstrate how perceptions of bullying and banter are nuanced by individual differences among the players and the culture of the professional football context. Specifically, it was found that the professional football context can legitimize forms of humor blurring the lines between bullying and banter, challenging the typically positive view of the concept of banter in this environment. From an applied perspective, these findings highlight the need for coaches, players, and football clubs more broadly to address cultural expectations around banter in their environment, while educating individuals around their own perceptions of bullying and banter.

This study explores professional footballers' perceptions of where banter crosses the conceptual line into bullying. The study's focus is of importance, given the impact that abusive behaviors have been found to have on the welfare and safeguarding of English professional footballers. A phenomenological approach was adopted, which focused on the essence of the participants' perceptions and experiences. Guided by Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis (IPA), individual semi-structured interviews (M Duration = 44.10 min, SD = 10.81) were conducted with 18 male professional footballers (M age = 19.83 years, SD = 2.96) from three Premier League and Championship football clubs. The findings from this study revealed several key superordinate themes in relation to the dividing line between bullying and banter. These themes included "perception," "intentionality," "detecting the line," and "having a bit of banter." The findings demonstrate how perceptions of bullying and banter are nuanced by individual differences among the players and the culture of the professional football context. Specifically, it was found that the professional football context can legitimize forms of humor blurring the lines between bullying and banter, challenging the typically positive view of the concept of banter in this environment. From an applied perspective, these findings highlight the need for coaches, players, and football clubs more broadly to address cultural expectations around banter in their environment, while educating individuals around their own perceptions of bullying and banter. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

There has been a large body of literature and commentary on the use of humour in therapy. The goal of this paper was to systematically review the literature to find out whether one type of humour, banter, is reported as being used in psychotherapy. Aims included investigating the measures taken, banter's relevance to psychotherapy and the extent to which the existing literature addressed the outcome of therapy. Additionally, a deductive content analysis was carried out to extract banter‐related examples reported in clinical practice. Results showed that few studies explicitly referred to banter, and no study investigated banter as the main independent variable in the context of therapy. Results also revealed that there was only one paper that related banter to the outcome of therapy. Several conceptual nuances of banter‐related humour were highlighted, and theory‐driven constructs regarding the use of banter in therapy were identified. Context and attunement to a client's banter palate were highlighted as particularly important factors concerning the reception of banter in the therapeutic relationship. Finally, initial results indicate that one kind of psychodynamic‐oriented psychotherapy, the mentalisation‐based treatment, seems to be very well suited for the use of banter when challenging clients. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

«Echar(se) pullas» is a type of linguistic exchange, which is attested especially in the 16th century, in which two or more individuals address each other with discourtesy. In this work, its definition is reviewed from a pragmatic perspective: the pullas are analysed as ritualized forms of banter or mock impoliteness, something documented in many other languages of the world. I argue that impolite speech acts in this interchange have lost the value they would have in a context that was not playful, in which someone would really want to threaten the interlocutor’s image. The speakers improvise on different topics, but they avoid making any personal reference that could truly hurt the listener. When the speakers tell each other something impolite and clearly false, they strengthen the bonds that join each other, creating the appearance that they have such a good relationship that they do not need to be polite with each other. The corpus studied is made up of the dialogues of Minsheu (1599), and also Oudin’s reworking of these dialogues (in his edition of 1675), and the reworking of Sobrino (1708), who introduces significant changes in the Minsheu banter passages, and interprets the pullas as real fights.

Sport has traditionally been a hostile environment for lesbian, gay and bisexual (LGB) people. More recently, however, research on a range of British sports has documented a considerable shift toward inclusivity for sexual minorities. Curiously, despite its global popularity, no research has yet measured attitudes toward homosexuality in cricket. By drawing on 12 semi-structured interviews with a club cricket team in the South East of England, we show inclusive attitudes toward homosexuality in sport and society. We also explore how forms of 'banter' among members of the club are complex and multifaceted. Accordingly, we propose that banter in grassroots cricket can be conceptualized into 'inclusionary' forms (incorporating how a close team relationship can facilitate inclusive forms of banter) and 'exclusionary' forms (incorporating jokes which transgress acceptable forms of banter). This research therefore acts as a point of departure for further investigations of the operation of banter across different levels of sport. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The researcher is outlined to have a beginning stage for an exploration plan for health financing for COVID-19, recognizing a preliminary addressing four thematic areas, namely mobilization of results, allocation and buying, monetary danger insurance (financial risk protection) equity, and maintaining and empowering advancement for UHC. Every question would require further elaboration and unpacking, with an improvement of proper exploration approaches utilizing a combination of quantitative and qualitative methods. While there is a requirement for fitting of research questions and country-specific analyses to advise local decision-making, there will likewise be incredible worth in bigger cross-country similar examination activities to address these inquiries, permitting finding out about how various frameworks, settings, qualities, and reactions to the plague have shaped health financing results and how these can be reinforced. The results show that heterogeneous effects across occupations and workers in the Western Balkan Societies show that health care occupations that have a higher share of workers working remotely were less affected by COVID-19. Those who did take full measures were more affected. On the other hand, occupations with relatively more workers working in proximity to others were more dramatic. The investigation also dove into the research related to the financial matters of COVID-19 that has been delivered in a relatively short time. The aim is to carry rationality(coherence) to the academic and strategy banter and help further examine. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Football fan participation within the context of the English Premier League (EPL) has diversified through the rise of fan channels hosted on YouTube. As a pioneer within this participatory new media landscape, AFTV (formerly Arsenal Fan TV) is the most prominent example within the genre having amassed over one million YouTube subscribers. Drawing data from the comments posted under 36 post-match reaction fan interviews, this article analyzes the uses and functions of banter or mock impoliteness. Within the UK cultural context banter is understood as language used primarily in male-to-male bonding interactions where ego maintenance is a high interactional priority. We subsequently propose four thematic classifications of banter discourse; personal banter, legacy banter, impersonal banter and banter violation. We ask whether football fan channels such as AFTV should be seen as a source of financial income for the operators, entertainment for rival supporters or as of genuine interest and value to Arsenal fans. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Although consumer researchers have explored the social, cultural and consumption-related tensions involved in being and becoming masculine, prior research has tended to focus on individual men’s experiences. This paper reviews literature in this area together with theories of gender as performed, performative and social practice. Our ethnographic study of male friendship groups in central Scotland explores the gender processes involved in improvising their masculine consumer identities within and across various social settings and interactions. In particular, through consumption-related banter, theyplayed forandplayed withtheir ideas of masculinity, thereby engaging in the practising of gender. The boundaries between ‘safe’ and ‘danger’ zones of consumption varied across social groups and contexts, highlighting the complexity and contingency of contemporary masculinities. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

This article investigates the multiple interpretations and uses of banter as an inclusive and exclusionary practice amongst competitive youth swimmers in the Southeast of England. As a metacommunicative act, banter is a form of linguistic play that focuses on the ways in which the words are delivered, and the social relationships involved between those engaged in banter. Through an immersive "apprenticeship" within a competitive swimming club from 2018 to 2022, I was party to particular forms of English "humorous" communication and invitations to join in banter with coaches and swimmers. As competitive swimming can be a monotonous activity, with long periods between competitions and nigh endless repetition of training drills, coaches encouraged swimmers' engagement in banter as an inclusive strategy for squad cohesiveness and to stave off boredom throughout the swimming season. Playful teasing was used to invite engagement in banter from one or more people, helping to foster social bonds, develop joking relationships, and create a relaxed atmosphere within training spaces. Mockery and teasing used to initiate banter were also mobilized as exclusionary social positioning strategies to test the limits of social interaction and define oneself against others. This article asserts that despite the nearly-totalitarian position of the coach within high-performance swimming humorous or joking banter does not simply function as a morale-booting activity or as a substitute for active resistance against monotonous training requirements. By paying attention to the intersubjective processes within joking relationships, here through banter, we can see how youth actively navigate sociality and assert their agency within institutional training environments., (© 2024 Walter de Gruyter GmbH, Berlin/Boston.)

Dressing room banter, a key discourse strategy among footballers globally, is a traditional way of performing the macro identity of footballer. Given that linguistic processes operate at both global and local levels (Blommaert, 2003), we should expect that each team’s banter has a local dimension as well. This article examines how one university team employs dressing room banter both to align with the global footballer identity and to construct a local identity. Using a discursive approach to identity and an ethnographic methodology, I analyse naturally occurring examples of dressing room banter. I pay particular attention to the local manifestation of global discourse strategies and ideologies, especially masculinity, focusing on the manner in which macro norms are enacted in ways compatible with local ones. The analysis demonstrates how the participants construct multifarious identities, emergent at different structural levels. While they engage with the discourse strategy of dressing room banter, thus indexing membership at the global level, the players also negotiate a localised form of banter, one that is more supportive and less face-threatening than the normative masculinity which underpins stereotypes of footballers. To account for the players’ varying levels of alignment, I propose a tiered model following the principle of layered simultaneity (Blommaert, 2005), which conceptualises the team’s banter as a multifunctioning index of the footballer identity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study was an assessment of personalised equivocation in political interviews, namely, politicians' responses to questions which, in lieu of an explicit reply, are directed personally at the interviewer. Twenty-six interviews with recent UK party leaders were analysed in terms of questions, replies, and personalisation. The majority of personalised responses contained elements of criticism, although over a quarter were more amicable. For the eight featured politicians, the use of such responses was adjudged to be more about individual communicative style than their position on the political spectrum. Only one politician did not respond in this manner, indicating a more widespread use of personalisation than was previously suggested. Furthermore, an evaluation of interviewer follow-ups showed its effectiveness as a diversionary tactic in the face of troublesome questions. In terms of the proportion of questions which receive a full reply, a general reply rate analysis highlighted how recent political leaders have changed little from their predecessors. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article aims to determine whether euphemistic dysphemisms and dysphemistic euphemisms, two concepts defined by Allan and Burridge (1991, 2006), can convey irony and banter, which are defined, among other linguists, by Leech (1983, 2014\). He argues that irony and banter are 'second-order strategies rooted in violations of the CP [Cooperative Principle] or the PP Politeness Principle], and working in contrary directions' (Leech, 2014: 100). There are many similarities in the definitions of X-phemisms and those of irony and banter: in the cases of irony and euphemistic dysphemisms, an apparently polite utterance is not interpreted as such, whereas in the cases of banter and dysphemistic euphemisms, an apparently impolite utterance is not. I use examples from American TV shows (House, M.D., Sex and the City, How I met Your Mother, The Big Bang Theory, Grey's Anatomy) to describe the underlying mechanisms of the functioning of these four devices. The results of the study show that dysphemistic euphemisms can convey banter but that euphemistic dysphemisms cannot convey irony, though they can sometimes convey banter. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article engages with current debates on ‘lad cultures’ by questioning how we understand the term in the specific context of everyday sexism and within groups of men varying in age. Further to this, using a feminist and critical masculinity studies perspective, the article will explore how men do not necessarily comprehend their behaviour within the framework of lad culture or within the continuum of sexual violence. Through discussion of ethnographic and interview data collected over a year at a site historically associated with lad cultures, that of a Rugby Union club in Northern England, an alternative way of conceptualising masculinity and everyday sexism, ‘mischievous masculinities’, is proposed. Men in the research practiced what I term mischievous masculinities, whereby they implemented ‘banter’ to aid in both the construction and de-construction of sexist ideas within the rugby space. Performing mischievous masculinity enabled men of all ages to both engage in and simultaneously challenge everyday sexism in ways they understood to be ‘innocent’. However, the continual framing of banter as ‘just a laugh’ demonstrated that this form of sexism can be construed as problematic, due, in part, to its subtlety, in relation to more overt and violent sexist practices. A key difference between the men in my research and previous theorising of ‘lad culture’ is the recurring theme amongst older participants that ‘I should know better’, demonstrating consciousness of the sexist and problematic connotations which could be drawn from this interaction. This notion of mischievous masculinities then, in the context of a life course perspective, can be seen to challenge more established notions of an unreflexive lad culture, thus affording a more nuanced understanding of everyday sexism amongst more diverse groups of men than currently exists, as well as allowing for men’s agency in a specific site. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Combining linguistic analysis of interactions with tools from the discipline of Science, Technology and Society (STS) I explore the material-semiotic character of practices to understand how ‘rude’ identities were achieved in Manchester’s Secondary Pupil Referral Unit (England). Using ethnographic methods, I identify three distinct subaltern practices, banter, boyin and chatting shit, and show how their entangled linguistic formats and normative assumptions were incommensurable with the interactional formats of British secondary education classroom practices. I show that when these incompatible practices overlapped people might become rude, but they might also emerge as wits, winners, gibberers, liars or gossips, and which identities came to matter was contingent on the socio-material relations in play. I conclude that one way in which harmony was maintained during precarious moments of difference in a lesson, was through skilled staff who, in being able to participate in both classroom and banter/boyin practices, were able to mediate between the two when it mattered by crafting alternative identities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper discusses research carried out in public schools on the outskirts of São Paulo in order to understand the development of youth sociability. The proposal is to describe the dimensions that the youth category acquires from the students' experiences. Students engender rhythms in conflict with the rhythm of discipline. Through the new technologies and mass culture, they have taken part in other activities and have constituted specific publics formed prior to and out of the school. Thus, if the school tries to isolate itself from the outside world with gates and bars, young people with their different rhythms, mainly that of banter, introduce in the school the most different and singular worlds. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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This article explores the conformation in discourse of a verbal exchange and its subsequent mediatised and legal ramifications. The event concerns an allegedly racist insult directed by high-profile English professional footballer John Terry towards another player, Anton Ferdinand, during a televised match in October 2011. The substance of Terry’s utterance, which included the noun phrase ‘fucking black cunt’, was found by a Chief Magistrate not to be a racist insult, although the fact that these actual words were framed within the utterance was not in dispute. The upshot of this ruling was that Terry was acquitted of a racially aggravated public order offence. A subsequent investigation by the regulatory commission of the English Football Association (FA) ruled, almost a year after the event, that Terry was guilty of racially abusing Ferdinand. Terry was banned for four matches and fined £220,000. It is our contention that this event, played out in legal rulings, social media and print and broadcast media, constitutes a complex web of linguistic structures and strategies in discourse, and as such lends itself well to analysis with a broad range of tools from pragmatics, discourse analysis and cognitive linguistics. Among other things, such an analysis can help explain the seemingly anomalous – even contradictory – position adopted in the legal ruling with regard to the speech act status of ‘fucking black cunt’; namely, that the racist content of the utterance was not contested but that the speaker was found not to have issued a racist insult. Over its course, the article addresses this broader issue by making reference to the systemic-functional interpersonal function of language, particularly to the concepts of modality, polarity and modalisation. It also draws on models of verbal irony from linguistic pragmatics, notably from the theory of irony as echoic mention. Furthermore, the article makes use of the cognitive-linguistic framework Text World Theory to examine the discourse positions occupied by key actors and adapts, from cognitive poetics, the theory of mind-modelling to explore the conceptual means through which these actors discursively negotiate the event. It is argued that the pragmatic and cognitive strategies that frame the entire incident go a long way towards mitigating the impact of so ostensibly stark an act of racial abuse. Moreover, it is suggested here that the reconciliation of Terry’s action was a result of the confluence of strategies of discourse with relations of power as embodied by the media, the law and perceptions of nationhood embraced by contemporary football culture. It is further proposed that the outcome of this episode, where the FA was put in the spotlight, and where both the conflict and its key antagonists were ‘intranational’, was strongly impelled by the institution of English football and its governing body both to reproduce and maintain social, cultural and ethnic cohesion and to avoid any sense that the event featured a discernible ‘out-group’. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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