Unveiling The Implied Meaning of Registers in Football Commentaries On X

Abstract

This study aims to unveil the implied meanings in football fans’ comments on the X platform by analyzing the use of register and conversational implicatures. Employing a descriptive qualitative method, this research collected data from the comment sections of football-related posts on X between 2024 and 2025. The analysis involved identifying the register words and identifying the types of conversational implicature used in the comment. The findings revealed that football fans utilize a specialized register (e.g., “gaffer”, “GOAT”, “REDS”) in communicating. The key finding of this research is the significance of particularized conversational implicature over the generalized ones, indicating that communication in the football community is context-dependent. Fans convey indirect meaning of praise, criticism, and hope by relying on shared knowledge. This creates a distinction between “insiders” and “outsiders” of the community. This study concludes that the specialized language is crucial for social bonding and identity presentation.