Slur

About

A "slur" is an insulting or disparaging remark or slight, a derogatory term.

Examples:

• "nigger": a particularly egregious racial slur against black (and sometimes other nonwhite) people
• "kike", "hebe", "yid": ethnic slurs against Jewish people
• "faggot": a slur against gay men
• "trannie": a slur against transgender people

The above terms may trigger fear and/or anger reactions in their targets, due to historical and current usage contexts.

In order to be inherently a slur, a word or phrase must be inextricably and unnecessarily intertwined with negative connotations that the target cannot escape.

Words like "fascist" or "Nazi", for example, are negative because of the beliefs and actions to which they refer (i.e. they are descriptive), and they refer to choices the target has made which they may unmake (you do not have to hold or advocate fascism; if you stop doing so, then you are no longer a fascist). They fail both the "unnecessarily" test (they are purely descriptive) and the "inextricably" test (you can stop being a fascist or Nazi any time you like), and are therefore not slurs.

A slur will generally refer to a non-harmful group which the target does not have the option of leaving (passing the "inextricably" test): you can't decide to stop being Black, ethnically Jewish, gay, or transgender, nor is there any good reason to condemn such people (passing the "unnecessarily" test).

Some words which have been used as slurs have been reclaimed by their targets and are often used in positive ways within their respective communities. This does not necessarily mean that the word is no longer a slur when used by outsiders, although a particularly successful re-appropriation may end up eroding the stigma from general usage of the word.

Sources

dictionary.com, "slur":

• definition 3 (verb): "to cast aspersions on; calumniate; disparage; depreciate"
  • The candidate was viciously slurred by his opponent.
• definition 8 (noun): "a disparaging remark or a slight":
  • quick to take offense at a slur
  • an ethnic slur against people of Irish descent

Merriam Webster, "slur":

• definition (noun) 1a: "an insulting or disparaging remark or innuendo : aspersion"
• definition (noun) 1b: "a shaming or degrading effect : stain, stigma"
• definition (verb) 1: "to cast aspersions on : disparage"
  • slurred his reputation