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Pejorative

WordsSee Random House Unabridged reference listing "princeling" as a pejorative. and phrases are '''pejorative''' if they imply disapprovalpejorative definition - Dictionary - MSN Encarta or contempt. When used as an adjective, ''pejorative'' is synonymous with '''derogatory''', '''derisive''', '''dyslogistic''', and '''contemptuous'''. When used as a noun, pejorative means "a belittling or disparaging word or expression". Pejorative expressions that are not inherently dyslogisms may also be used in a non-pejorative way, however, and determining the intent of the speaker is problematic — as with any implied meaning. Conversely, a common rhetorical ploy is to apply "pejorative" to a factual descriptor — as "toxic" might be applied to poison — and then decry it as "pejorative" to suit the agenda of those defending the substance as harmless. Not every instance of criticism is pejorative. Sometimes a term may begin as a pejorative word and eventually be adopted in a non-pejorative sense. This happened with the terms ''Big Bang'', ''Quaker,'' ''Yankee'', ''Okie'', ''Tory'' and ''Whig (disambiguation)|Whig'', ''Etymology of ham radio|Ham'' radio operator, ''Methodist'', ''Shaker'', ''Unitarianism|Unitarian'', and ''Sooner'' or ''Republican'', which were originally slang insults but came to be used as non-pejorative standard words. In historical linguistics, this phenomenon is known as ''melioration'', or ''amelioration (semantic)|amelioration''. Sometimes a term is still considered as a pejorative word by some but not by others. In other cases, some groups have attempted to "reclaim" formerly ethnic slur|offensive words applied against them, with limited success. Such terms as ''nigger (word)|nigger'', ''nigga'', ''kike'', ''redneck (stereotype)|redneck'', ''white cracker|cracker'', ''white trash'', ''redskin'', ''lesbian|dyke'', ''queer'', ''faggot (slang)|fairy'', ''faggot (slang)|faggot'', ''transsexual|tranny'', ''geek'', ''nerd'', ''retard'', mamak, ''paki'', ''chav'' , ''gook'' ''Wiktionary:cripple|cripple'' and even ''Chinese people|Chinese'' or ''Japanese people|Japanese'' (in South East Asia) are considered pejorative or stereotypical if used by a person when referring to someone who is not a member of the ethnic group in question. British English also incorporates many British regional slurs.

References

Category:Discrimination Category:Pejoratives|* Category:Bullying simple:Pejorative

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