Hate in the language of politics. Verbal aggression in the statements of members of the Sejm of the Republic of Poland in 2023

This article examines verbal aggression in the lower house of Polish Parliament (Sejm) in of the 9th term. Based on shorthand notes of Sejm’s sessions no. 70, 71 and 72 that took place in January and February 2023, a list of the most common manners of depreciating political opponents and their actions has been compiled. The research material under analysis shows that Sejm members often use various types of violations of the principles of language ethics and verbal etiquette, for example the opposition “We” and “They” and other generalizations, labelling, a strategy of verse and jokes, strategic use of metaphorical semantic explanations, as well as a wealth of metaphors and comparisons.