Slurs

Jūratė Ruzaitė, Vytautas Magnus University, Lithuania
jurate.ruzaite@vdu.lt

Anna Bączkowska, University of Gdansk, Poland
anna.baczkowska@ug.edu.pl

Slurs are a specific type of derogatory expressions that convey a negative attitude of the speaker towards the target (typically the addressee) or the targets (addressees) seen as a demographic group. The object of attack refers to such demographic aspects as: nationality, age, religion, race, sexual orientation, profession, or ability. Slurs are often understood as expressive terms that both describe and denigrate, carrying not only propositional content but also strong evaluative and affective force.

Slurs differ from slander in that slander typically involves truth-conditional claims intended to damage someone’s reputation, whereas slurs are not truth-conditional but are used to denigrate individuals based on their perceived membership in a social group (e.g. immigrants, Islamists, Nigga, slut, gays, etc.). Slurs also differ from insults, which usually target personal traits or behaviour, while slurs refer to characteristics associated with a group identity. Also, unlike general insults, slurs derive their offensive power from their historical, ideological, and social embedding within systems of discrimination and marginalisation.

Slurs can be reappropriated by the targeted communities for non-derogatory purposes, although this process is highly context-sensitive and not universally accepted. Such reclaimed uses typically involve so-called in-group usage; that is, instances where terms generally regarded as slurs are appropriated by members of the respective target group with non-derogatory, often ironic or subversive, intent (e.g. nigger/nigga as used by some African-Americans).

In digital contexts, slurs are often embedded in coded language, creative respellings, or some other novel formations, often used to evade moderation or for narcissistic purposes. In research on public discourse and opinion, slurs provide insight into how language reflects and reinforces social hierarchies and hostilities, especially in relation to hate speech, othering, and dehumanisation.

Keywords: derogatory expression, demographic group, insults, hate speech

Related Entries: Face, Hate Speech, Insults, Vulgarism, Impoliteness

References:
Croom, A. M. (2011). Slurs. Language Sciences, 33(3), 343–358. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.langsci.2010.11.005
Hess, L. (2021). Slurs and expressive commitments. Acta Analytica, 36(1), 103–120. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12136-020-00445-x
Jeshion, R. (2013). Expressivism and the offensiveness of slurs. Philosophical Perspectives, 27(1), 231–259. http://www.jstor.org/stable/26382674