On an oblique and somewhat vaguely related note...
When describing things like race, gender, religion, etc., there seem to be three broad/rough categories of words. But I can only think of a descriptor for one of them, have no descriptor for the middle set, and the positive set seems ill served by calling those words PC.
To wit:
Pejorative set: (in the case of a Jewish person) kike
Middle set: these are words/phrases that seem neutral, but are used by people who are missing the mark, but not through lack of trying - e.g. referring to a non-white person as 'coloured', or a person of African descent as a 'negro'.
PC set: African-American, Chinese-Canadian, etc.
My primary curiosity surrounds the middle set of words. The ones used by people, not in any deliberate pejorative or derogatory fashion, but words which, nonetheless, can be extremely offensive in the right (or wrong) context, or when taken to be offensive by someone who is of a mind to be offended.
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dancing_serpent
Re: Yes...
Date: 2013-09-25 03:48 pm (UTC)When describing things like race, gender, religion, etc., there seem to be three broad/rough categories of words. But I can only think of a descriptor for one of them, have no descriptor for the middle set, and the positive set seems ill served by calling those words PC.
To wit:
Pejorative set: (in the case of a Jewish person) kike
Middle set: these are words/phrases that seem neutral, but are used by people who are missing the mark, but not through lack of trying - e.g. referring to a non-white person as 'coloured', or a person of African descent as a 'negro'.
PC set: African-American, Chinese-Canadian, etc.
My primary curiosity surrounds the middle set of words. The ones used by people, not in any deliberate pejorative or derogatory fashion, but words which, nonetheless, can be extremely offensive in the right (or wrong) context, or when taken to be offensive by someone who is of a mind to be offended.
Thoughts?