I think it depends on the word. The n-word is always going to be offensive because it never had another meaning.
But somehow I don't think you were talking about the n-word.
So let's go with the one that's 'evolving' right now.
Gay.
Gay used to mean 'happy'. Then it meant homosexual. Now it means BOTH homosexual AND stupid. It's not that the language evolved. It's that people saw 'gay' (meaning homosexual) as a negative and started using it to mean 'stupid', unmanly, and generally bad.
"Gay" is still used as an insult. Recently on a TV show I like, a character said, "I look like a gay lobsterman." Why would he put the 'gay' in there if gay wasn't seen as negative?
Gay is in common usage right now to mean BOTH gay and stupid/unmanly/bad. Since it started out as a positive word, I'd like to revert back to it being positive, which is why if I see someone using 'gay' to mean bad, I'll call them out on it.
However, you might not have meant gay. If you didn't, I apologize. Perhaps you'd like to give me some other specific examples, please?
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Date: 2011-01-31 01:57 am (UTC)But somehow I don't think you were talking about the n-word.
So let's go with the one that's 'evolving' right now.
Gay.
Gay used to mean 'happy'. Then it meant homosexual. Now it means BOTH homosexual AND stupid. It's not that the language evolved. It's that people saw 'gay' (meaning homosexual) as a negative and started using it to mean 'stupid', unmanly, and generally bad.
"Gay" is still used as an insult. Recently on a TV show I like, a character said, "I look like a gay lobsterman." Why would he put the 'gay' in there if gay wasn't seen as negative?
Gay is in common usage right now to mean BOTH gay and stupid/unmanly/bad. Since it started out as a positive word, I'd like to revert back to it being positive, which is why if I see someone using 'gay' to mean bad, I'll call them out on it.
However, you might not have meant gay. If you didn't, I apologize. Perhaps you'd like to give me some other specific examples, please?