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88leo t1_j09pjgw wrote

Reply to comment by LasciviousApemantus in Adam Sandler wins the Mark Twain Prize for American Humor by ZylonBane

Its only an insult and completely derogatory now because it was the commonly used adjective at that time. At that time it was just the word used.

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LasciviousApemantus t1_j0b1plg wrote

Yeah theres a lot of stuff that falls into the "euphemistic cycle" where words develop a negative association and are replaced by euphemisms that in turn develop a negative association and are replaced by further euphemisms through a linguistic process called pejoration.

Its Karen's Maxim: All words are doomed to become offensive given enough exposure to time, resentment and sheer boredom.

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88leo t1_j0f78uh wrote

He said N*** Jim to make sure people knew he was referring to a black man, not to be insulting in a sarcastic way, and when you look at it that way he actually may have moved the meaning of the word from a commonly used neutral word to a negative.

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