Talk:Pejorative
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[edit] Why do we need this page?
Wikipedia is not a dictionary. Mswake 14:15 Nov 4, 2002 (UTC)
- Why do we need any page? :-) But seriously, the page on pejorative has plenty of information which wouldn't be found in a dictionary. Since any number of offensive words in the Wikipedia may be considered pejorative, it's worth labelling them as such, and this page provides some explanation about the term (which may not be in everyone's vocabulary). You're right that Wikipedia is not a dictionary, but this page serves several useful purposes. Rootbeer 07:03 Dec 16, 2002 (UTC)
[edit] Removed - funny, but non encyclopedic?
The Simpsons provided an illustration of the meaning of pejorative, when a group chants a protest against Homer Simpson:
- "Two, four, six, eight,
- Homer's crime was very great!"
The protest group realises that this falsely implies the crime was a good thing, and subsequently adds:
- "Great, meaning 'large' or 'immense';
- We used it in the pejorative sense!"
-Stevertigo 18:51, 5 May 2004 (UTC)
-- I don't know, it may not be too high-brow but it does illustrate the meaning of perjorative very well. I'd vote to keep it in. 210.10.167.170 13:12, 21 December 2005 (UTC)
-
- I realize I'm a couple years late for this discussion, but I think we should keep it! It is a good example; and it is a real source. I don't understand why it would not be encyclopedic. It is definitely notable. The joke part of it, where they accidentally say that his "crime was very great," makes this example much better than most because by using the word pejorative in order to correct the joke, this example makes it particularly easy for the reader to remember what pejorative means even years after they have read the example. -- VegKilla (talk) 22:45, 17 January 2008 (UTC)
[edit] Spade, eh?
I'm not sure if it's intentional, but when the article mentions "calling a spade a spade", it reminded me that someone once told me 'spade' was a pejorative term for a black person! Though I fear this will start us off on the euphemism treadmill again.
[edit] A Question
Some individuals (e.g. User:FWBOarticle) appear (from discourse) to believe that words may be inherently pejorative. I genuinely wonder if there are any philosophical discussions regarding such ideas? (20040302 00:48, 21 Dec 2004 (UTC))
[edit] "Pejorative" vs "Disparaging"
From the article:
- Although pejorative means the same thing as disparaging, the latter term may be applied to a look or gesture as well as to words and phrases.
But the article linked to (as should be obvious from its title) does not discuss its application to a look or gesture. Brianjd 10:19, 2004 Dec 27 (UTC)
[edit] Bites more then it chews
This ariticle starts the huge subject of taking away the power of pejorative words, but doesn't really explain any of the process or the rationale. I think Dr. Judith Butler says some crazy stuff on it, though I might be mixed up. It would be awesome if someone (maybe me, later,) gave more support.
Also, the article could use something on the use of pejoritives by groups against each other (I linked here from terrorist, for example).
[edit] Taken from ?
(Anon.)
- The small print at the foot of the above link identifies the text as taken from Wikipedia. --Wetman 07:51, 22 November 2005 (UTC)
[edit] The word HAM
The origins of the word HAM (radio) are ambiguous at best if not completely obscure. I know of no references that it was originally used in a pejorative manner. Does anyone have a source on this? Anonym1ty 16:25, 16 December 2005 (UTC)
[edit] Idiot - wrong use
It's my understanding that "idiot" was a non-pejorative, neutral term that has come to be pejorative. I couldn't find too much during research to back this up but it seems it was created as a descriptor for early IQ test results by David Wechsler:
They are used in this journal:
IQ Classifications in Psychiatric Use
Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fourth Edition (DSM-IV) American Psychiatric Association, 1994
(Quote) Mental deficiency used to be divided into the following sub-classifications, but these labels began to be abused by the public and are now largely obsolete: Borderline Deficiency (IQ 70-80), Moron (IQ 50-69), Imbecile (IQ 20-49 and Idiot (below 20). Mental deficiency is now generally called mental retardation.
Link: http://www.webenet.com/iqclassifications.htm
This makes this passage:
"Conversely, a neutral (non-pejorative) term may grow to become pejorative: the term retard, to refer to a person whose mental capacity is permanently held back from development, was originally used as a euphemism, as had been moron before, itself a euphemism for idiot."
..in need for restructure. The point is, moron and idiot are on the same standing, and technically describe different levels of intelligence. This makes the sentence incorrect in that they are each a descriptor born from the same time and cannot be used to explain each other.
210.10.167.170 13:10, 21 December 2005 (UTC)
[edit] "pejorative (frequently misspelled pejorative)" ?
"A word or phrase is a pejorative (frequently misspelled pejorative)" Confusingly, the "misspelled" word is written in exactly the same way as the correct word. How is it frequently misspelled then?
- Perjorative and pejoritive are the most common misspellings, apparently. I frequently misspelled it as pejoritive myself, because in English, the pronunciation would be the same. Runa27 18:06, 14 June 2006 (UTC)
[edit] Derogatory vs. Pejorative
I'm a bit surprised that derogatory points to pejorative. To me, derogatory is more personal and implies some kind of moral insult, where as pejorative is more broad and less direct. For example, "bastard" is a derogatory term, while "illegitimate child" is pejorative. Furthermore, I think of a derogatory term as always being intended as an insult, while pejorative may not be, or if it is, it's more subtle.
Merrian-Webster:
- Pejorative - having negative connotations; especially - tending to disparage or belittle
- Derogatory - detracting from the character or standing of something -- often used with to, of, or from
2 : expressive of a low opinion
Is this really the right redirect? They seem quite different terms. Usually it seems like pejorative words are ones that could be interpreted to be non-insulting, and it's that ambiguity that causes people to use them in certain situations. Ken 06:44, 9 April 2006 (UTC)
[edit] Is 'dyslogism' a real word?
Can anyone name a dictionary that contains the noun 'dyslogism'? This article is already hard to follow, it doesn't help when you can't look up the words used. Cbotman 08:41, 21 October 2006 (UTC)
[edit] Video on Trial
Video on Trial's verdict about Paris Hilton is NOT actual; therefore please DON'T put a picture of her. --Addict 2006 07:20, 26 November 2006 (UTC)
[edit] Political correctness
The last paragraph (about "correct terms" for those with physical disabilities) reads pretty oddly for an English audience, particularly the suggestion that "physically challenged" is the "correct" way of describing those with physical disabilities. That may be accepted practice in the States, but not in England, where political correctness hasn't taken quite such a firm hold. 82.69.28.55 19:41, 28 December 2006 (UTC)
[edit] Gay
Where does "Gay" fit into this, for example when used as "That is so Gay". - O^O 21:32, 2 March 2007 (UTC)
--
Much as if "gay" were listed, personally, I was hard set to not delete the set of pejorative words listed in the article. While I don't find them necessarily offense, I do find such a list inherently limited, if not inaccurate, and as such, think it would be more useful to solely speak in the abstract.
As well, it seems like little more than an aside to have a list of words that, to some, may or may not be pejorative, but which remain derogatory to others. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 216.80.110.106 (talk) 06:33, 4 October 2007 (UTC)
[edit] Transwiki
I would propose that this article be transwikied to wictionary. Not quite sure how to go about doing that, but it sounds like a good idea.
[edit] 2007-04-3 Automated pywikipediabot message
--CopyToWiktionaryBot 02:01, 3 April 2007 (UTC)
[edit] Saturday Night Special Example
I noticed that Saturday Night Special was listed in this article as an example of a word that was undergoing amelioration and was thus considered by some to be pejorative and not by others. I have no idea if this is a good example or not, but since I read it in this article, I decided to mention it in the Saturday Night Special article. It's a good thing I did that because it brought the example to the attention of the editors of the Saturday Night Special article, and one of them decided it was not a good example. That editor reverted my changes to the Saturday Night Special article, since they did not apply, and from the pejorative article, they removed this:
- Sometimes a term is still considered as a pejorative word by some but not by others — for example, Saturday night special.
I assume that editor removed it to get rid of the Saturday Night Special example, but since the "Sometimes a term is still considered..." part is important to the logical flow of the article, I put back the sentence and simply left out the example:
- Sometimes a term is still considered as a pejorative word by some but not by others.
Example Needed: IT WOULD BE NICE if someone could find a source for an example of something that is considered pejorative to some and not to others. Since the rest of the article has so many good examples, this sentence is noticeably lacking.
