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Derogatory term (referring to a mentally ill person or a person with brain damage and dementia caused by heavy metal poisoning) popularized especially due to the fictional character of the same name [53] Maniac [6] Mental, mentally deficient, mental case or mentally ill [6] [15] [16] [22] Midget [16] Mong, Mongol, Mongoloid, or Mongolism
When a term begins as pejorative and eventually is adopted in a non-pejorative sense, this is called melioration or amelioration. One example is the shift in meaning of the word nice from meaning a person was foolish to meaning that a person is pleasant. [6] When performed deliberately, it is described as reclamation or reappropriation. [7]
The term mentally retarded was used to replace terms like idiot, moron, and imbecile because retarded was not then a derogatory term. By the 1960s, however, the term had taken on a partially derogatory meaning. The noun retard is particularly seen as pejorative; a BBC survey in 2003 ranked it as the most offensive disability-related word. [88]
In typical usage, retard is a pejorative term either for someone with an actual mental disability, or for someone who is considered stupid, slow to understand, or ineffective in some way as a comparison to stereotypical traits perceived in those with mental disabilities. [1]
The pejorative use of the word terrorist is a salient example, as definitions of the word terrorist may vary across cultures and even among individuals in the same culture. Typically, the word "terrorist" refers to one who uses violence and fear as a means to pursue political, religious or ideological aims.
Microaggression is a term used for commonplace verbal, behavioral or environmental slights, whether intentional or unintentional, that communicate hostile, derogatory, or negative attitudes toward those of different races, cultures, beliefs, or genders. [1]
This, however, does not apply to all such words as some were used in a derogatory fashion from the very beginning. [ 1 ] In terms of linguistic theory , reappropriation can be seen as a specific case of a type of a semantic change , namely, of amelioration – a process through which a word's meaning becomes more positive over time.
Savage is a derogatory term to describe a person or people the speaker regards as primitive and uncivilized. It has predominantly been used to refer to indigenous , tribal , and nomadic peoples. Sometimes a legal, military, and ethnic term, it has shifted in meaning since its first usages in the 16th century.