• Black_Gulaman@lemmy.dbzer0.com
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    5 months ago

    If my name ever becomes a commonly used insult, what then?

    Any word can become an insult. It’s time to take some words back. We have to actively correct misused words. It may make a difference.

    • dQw4w9WgXcQ@lemm.ee
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      5 months ago

      I don’t get the obsession with reintroducing negatively charged words into the common language. Isn’t english a rich enough language that there’s an abundance of substitutes for words?

      • Black_Gulaman@lemmy.dbzer0.com
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        5 months ago

        You may invent words as long as you like, but those words can definitely become corrupted as well. It will be an endless cycle.

        The only way to stop that is to put our feet down and correct the misuse.

        • dQw4w9WgXcQ@lemm.ee
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          5 months ago

          Look at something written 500 years ago. 100 years ago. 50 years ago. Language changes all the time, and there is no stopping that. Yep, language is an endless cycle of switching out common words and adapting to social rules. I’d highly reccommend to follow that flow instead of trying to bring back the “good old days” when n-words and r-words were common and accepted.

    • mugthol@lemmy.blahaj.zone
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      5 months ago

      Well queer used to be an insult but the LBGTQ+ community reclaimed it. First though, some time needs to pass and afterwards the community that was targeted needs to decide to want to use the word.

    • Etterra@lemmy.world
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      5 months ago

      Good luck with that. Let us all know when you’ve solved a problem intrinsic to human nature so we can let you cure greed next.