Name-calling in Greek YouTube comments

Recently, research in pragmatics has turned to the analysis of online impoliteness in light of the growing importance of computer-mediated communication and the prevalence of online aggression in such contexts. However, although name-calling and other impoliteness strategies have been examined in various languages, similar research in Greek is still scarce. Therefore, this paper focuses on the functions of name-calling in the comments' section of a Greek YouTube political video. Using Culpeper's framework for analysing impoliteness and Ljung's schema for the themes of name-calling (slightly modified to address this specific dataset), I examine the themes and the internal structure of name-calling constructions found in this context along with their creative aspect. Findings suggest that the themes of name-calling vary according to the (un)specificity of the addressee. It is also evident that the political orientation of the poster critically influences the name-calling choices. Regarding the internal structure of name-calling constructions, these share certain features with English name-calling, while also having idiosyncratic traits, the most important of which being the presence of the particle ‘re’. The study also confirms that, in online contexts, name-calling can easily be combined with other positive and negative impoliteness strategies and can be highly creative and original.