Abstract：Abstract: Online offence is a pragmatic phenomenon which frequently causes interpersonal impoliteness. Based on the data collected from Baidu Tieba, this study first clarifies the concept of online offence, relevant literature shows that theories of face-threatening and identity construction can not better explain interpersonal impoliteness and other negative interpersonal effects caused by online offence. Then this study explores affiliation and confrontation among the participants. It is found that online offence threatens their sociality rights, as a result some negative interpersonal pragmatic effects are caused. Therefore, from the perspective of interpersonal pragmatics, interpersonal impoliteness is motivated by rapport-challenge orientation in online offence.
Key words: online offence; interpersonal impoliteness; negative effect; sociality rights
