After the repression of Taiwanese in the Japanese occupation era, "Taiwanese with higher levels of education could not speak Taiwanese. Taiwanese was mainly used by farmers and laborers. It is more expressive and earthier, but also carries an image of being inelegant," says Chiang Wen-yu, an associate professor in the Department of Foreign Languages and Literature at National Taiwan University.
台語經過日據時期的母語壓抑，當時「教育程度較高的台籍菁英不說台語，台語用得比較多的是農民、勞動等階層，台語表達較爽快、粗俗，台語沒有水準的印象或因此而來」，台大外文系副教授江文瑜說。