Words That Wound: Exploring Online Offensive Language

Words That Wound: Exploring Online Offensive Language

Anglia Ruskin University CambridgeCambridge, Cambridgeshire
Saturday, Mar 21, 2026 from 6 pm to 7 pm GMT
Overview

Social media is full of creativity and fun, but it’s also a space for everyday insults. Explore how offensive language works online

The good side of social media is well known: creativity, fun and self-expression. But in our talk, based on our new book "Words That Wound: Exploring Online Offensive Language", we focus on the other side: the everyday insults that people often come across online. We explore this through different levels of language analysis to better understand how offence works in digital spaces.

About our speakers

Dr Vahid Parvaresh is Associate Professor of Linguistics at ARU. His research focuses on language aggression, hate speech and impoliteness.

Dr Tahmineh Tayebi is a Senior Lecturer in Forensic Linguistics at Aston University, UK. Her research interests lie at the intersection of pragmatics, (im)politeness theory, corpus linguistics and forensic linguistics.


Suitable for age 16+.


Event presented as part of the Cambridge Festival.

[VS 15.12.25]

Social media is full of creativity and fun, but it’s also a space for everyday insults. Explore how offensive language works online

The good side of social media is well known: creativity, fun and self-expression. But in our talk, based on our new book "Words That Wound: Exploring Online Offensive Language", we focus on the other side: the everyday insults that people often come across online. We explore this through different levels of language analysis to better understand how offence works in digital spaces.

About our speakers

Dr Vahid Parvaresh is Associate Professor of Linguistics at ARU. His research focuses on language aggression, hate speech and impoliteness.

Dr Tahmineh Tayebi is a Senior Lecturer in Forensic Linguistics at Aston University, UK. Her research interests lie at the intersection of pragmatics, (im)politeness theory, corpus linguistics and forensic linguistics.


Suitable for age 16+.


Event presented as part of the Cambridge Festival.

[VS 15.12.25]

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Highlights

  • 1 hour
  • In-person

Location

Anglia Ruskin University Cambridge

East Road

Cambridge CB1 1PT

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