Apejorative word, phrase,slur, orderogatory term is aword or grammatical form expressing a negative or disrespectful connotation, a low opinion, or a lack ofrespect toward someone or something.[1] It is also used to expresscriticism,hostility, or disregard. Sometimes, a term is regarded as pejorative in some social or ethnic groups but not in others or may be originally pejorative but later adopt a non-pejorative sense (orvice versa) in some or all contexts.
The wordpejorative is derived from aLate Latin past participle stem ofpeiorare, meaning "to make worse", frompeior "worse".[2]
Inhistorical linguistics, the process of an inoffensive word becoming pejorative is a form ofsemantic drift known aspejoration. An example of pejoration is the shift in meaning of the wordsilly from meaning that a person was happy and fortunate to meaning that they are foolish and unsophisticated.[3] The process of pejoration can repeat itself around a single concept, leaping from word to word in a phenomenon known as theeuphemism treadmill, for example as in the successive pejoration of the termsbog-house,privy-house,latrine,water closet,toilet,bathroom, andrestroom (US English).[4][5]
When a term begins as pejorative and eventually is adopted in a non-pejorative sense, this is calledmelioration oramelioration. One example is the shift in meaning of the wordnice from meaning a person was foolish to meaning that a person is pleasant.[6] When performed deliberately, it is described asreclamation orreappropriation.[7] Examples of a word that has been reclaimed by portions of the community that it targets isqueer,faggot anddyke which began being re-appropriated as a positive descriptor in the early 1990s by activist groups.[8] However, due to its history and – in some regions – continued use as a pejorative, there remain LGBT individuals who are uncomfortable with having this term applied to them.[9] The use of theracial slurnigger (specifically the-a variant) byAfrican Americans is often viewed as another act of reclamation, though much like the latter in the LGBT movement, there exists a vocal subset of people with Sub-Saharan African descent that object to the use of the word under any circumstances.[10]
The Honest Jakes or Privy has graduated via Offices to the final horror of Toilet.
Linguistic reclamation, also known as linguistic resignification or reappropriation, refers to the appropriation of a pejorative epithet by its target(s).
Media related toPejoratives at Wikimedia Commons
