Epithets, Ethnic and Racial

Use in Cultures and Political Groups

Epithets can refer to social groups and describe their characteristics from the point of view of the user. In ancient Greece, “barbarian” was a descriptive term reserved for anyone who was not Greek with the connotation that a barbarian did not know how to act properly—they were not properly enculturated in Greek culture. In contemporary America, to say someone is a barbarian is considered an insult for it infers the referent has not developed into a civilized person, or is someone who cannot control their violent emotions or ascribed background. As a result, epithet has come to be connotatively associated with expressions used to convey hostility and contempt and used invectively, dismissively, or abusively. An example of this process is the use of the words communist, fascist, or socialist for a person who does not agree with the speaker's political views, invoking an ad hominum logical fallacy meant to undermine the butt's intellectual arguments and marginalize the referent so he or she will not be listened to. The ultimate goal of a negative epithet is to eliminate the referent from the social group and negate his or her influence. Two of the most commonly used demeaning words, bitch or bastard, are often combined with obscenities or an ethnic designation.

When ethnicity, nationality, or race is centered in an epithet it is almost always derogatory. Sometimes the ethnic term is combined with a general insult—dirty, pig, dog—used as a modifier. Others are based on specific racialized adjectives (“nigger,” for any group with dark skin when light skin is assumed to be superior; or “Redskin,” used by U.S. sports teams to refer to a Native American) Other derogatory terms refer to specific times, places, and heritages: “bog,” a person of lower-class Irish ancestry; “gook” or “gook-eyed,” a term used by U.S. military in Asia during World War II; the Korean and Vietnam Wars refer to the Asian heritage enemies. For Native Americans, terms that have been used include “buck,” “warrior,” “chief,” “squaw,” or “papoose.” Mexican illegal immigrants who crossed the Rio Grande to find work in the United States were called “wetbacks.” Sometimes names have been broadened to refer to types of people regardless of ethnic or national heritage, such as “gringo,” “hun,” “thug,” or “vandal.” Such epithets and names have become disparaging stereotypes, although they were first used as neutral terms.

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