# Conservatives: Is "teabagger" an insult? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [August 13, 2011, 8:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/conservatives-is-teabagger-an-insult/592604 "2011-08-13T20:01:42Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Gary\_Robson](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gary_robson/32/3448_2.png) [@Gary\_Robson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gary_Robson)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2011, 8:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/conservatives-is-teabagger-an-insult/592604/1 "2011-08-13T20:01:42Z")
**I want to hear from conservatives. Liberals, please don’t respond. And PLEASE don’t make this a political debate. This is a LANGUAGE question.** ---
**Author:** ![miss\_elizabeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/838e76/32.png) [@miss\_elizabeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/miss_elizabeth)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2011, 8:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/conservatives-is-teabagger-an-insult/592604/2 "2011-08-13T20:18:46Z")
I wish there was a place for liberals to vote without affecting the poll, so I could easily see the results. As a moderator, could you perhaps add one? ---
**Author:** ![Claire\_Beauchamp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ec9cab/32.png) [@Claire\_Beauchamp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Claire_Beauchamp)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2011, 8:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/conservatives-is-teabagger-an-insult/592604/3 "2011-08-13T20:28:38Z")
I did not vote, being a left-of-center girl. However, the wording of the choices leads me to think that you believe “teabagger” is a derisive term liberals have inflicted upon a certain class of conservatives. Instead, I believe teabagger was a term those folks first coined for themselves. Upon the realization that the term was also used for a sexual act, “Tea Party” became more common usage. ---
**Author:** ![Miller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/miller/32/481_2.png) [@Miller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miller)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2011, 8:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/conservatives-is-teabagger-an-insult/592604/4 "2011-08-13T20:30:37Z")
> [@miss\_elizabeth](#): > > I wish there was a place for liberals to vote without affecting the poll, so I could easily see the results. As a moderator, could you perhaps add one? There should be a button to the lower right of the poll that lets you view results without voting. ---
**Author:** ![Implicit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/6a8cbe/32.png) [@Implicit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Implicit)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2011, 8:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/conservatives-is-teabagger-an-insult/592604/5 "2011-08-13T20:30:59Z")
[Here](http://theweek.com/article/index/202620/the-evolution-of-the-word-tea-bagger) is a timeline for the evolution of the word “teabagger”. Early Tea Party members purchased “Proud to be a teabagger” buttons and were encouraged to “tea bag the fools in D.C.” during rallies. I won’t comment further since I’m not a conservative. ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2011, 8:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/conservatives-is-teabagger-an-insult/592604/6 "2011-08-13T20:38:51Z")
> [@Implicit](#): > > [Here](http://theweek.com/article/index/202620/the-evolution-of-the-word-tea-bagger) is a timeline for the evolution of the word “teabagger”. Early Tea Party members purchased “Proud to be a teabagger” buttons and were encouraged to “tea bag the fools in D.C.” during rallies. I won’t comment further since I’m not a conservative. As the OP has asked, let’s let the conservatives occupy this turf for awhile. ---
**Author:** ![Gary\_Robson](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gary_robson/32/3448_2.png) [@Gary\_Robson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gary_Robson)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2011, 9:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/conservatives-is-teabagger-an-insult/592604/7 "2011-08-13T21:03:23Z")
> [@Implicit](#): > > [Here](http://theweek.com/article/index/202620/the-evolution-of-the-word-tea-bagger) is a timeline for the evolution of the word “teabagger”. Early Tea Party members purchased “Proud to be a teabagger” buttons and were encouraged to “tea bag the fools in D.C.” during rallies. I won’t comment further since I’m not a conservative. Thank you for the link, but I’m really not looking for information about the origins of the term. I want to know how people feel about it NOW. ---
**Author:** ![Baker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/bb73d2/32.png) [@Baker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baker)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2011, 10:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/conservatives-is-teabagger-an-insult/592604/8 "2011-08-13T22:09:35Z")
> [@Czarcasm](#): > > As the OP has asked, let’s let the conservatives occupy this turf for awhile. An honest question. I’ve been in threads where the OP has requested that only those of a certain persuasion respond, yet others come in and say it isn’t right to have a “private” thread, and I’ haven’t seen mods respond, as has happened here. So why now? And before you ask, I have no cite, as I never thought to bookmark such threads. ---
**Author:** ![Munch](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/munch/32/5281_2.png) [@Munch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Munch)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2011, 10:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/conservatives-is-teabagger-an-insult/592604/9 "2011-08-13T22:35:55Z")
Baker, I take it you’re not a regular reader in ATMB… ---
**Author:** ![pricciar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/f4b2a3/32.png) [@pricciar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pricciar)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2011, 10:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/conservatives-is-teabagger-an-insult/592604/10 "2011-08-13T22:54:07Z")
Thanks for linking to that article, **Implicit**. I hadn’t realized that the moniker didn’t originate from Tea Party detractors. Interesting. ---
**Author:** ![Gary\_Robson](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gary_robson/32/3448_2.png) [@Gary\_Robson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gary_Robson)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2011, 10:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/conservatives-is-teabagger-an-insult/592604/11 "2011-08-13T22:58:53Z")
By popular request, [here](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=620239) is the liberal version of this poll. ---
**Author:** ![Rysdad](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/7cd45c/32.png) [@Rysdad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rysdad)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2011, 11:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/conservatives-is-teabagger-an-insult/592604/12 "2011-08-13T23:24:22Z")
I clicked “other” because, when I see someone use the term as a perjorative, I know that I can ignore them; they have nothing useful to provide. ---
**Author:** ![Martin\_Hyde](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/47e85d/32.png) [@Martin\_Hyde](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Martin_Hyde)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2011, 12:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/conservatives-is-teabagger-an-insult/592604/13 "2011-08-14T00:03:07Z")
I’m a traditional conservative Republican. The Tea Party are not any of those things so I don’t personally feel insulted when someone says teabagger. As negative as my personal opinion is of the Tea Party movement, I think teabagger is essentially so juvenile that I can’t help but think less of anyone who uses the term. ---
**Author:** ![antonio107](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/7ea924/32.png) [@antonio107](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/antonio107)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2011, 12:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/conservatives-is-teabagger-an-insult/592604/14 "2011-08-14T00:20:27Z")
I’m conservative-ish, but I don’t like the Tea Party myself. However, I laugh whenever I hear the term, both because the mental imagery is kinda funny, and because of the irony of a liberal using (what I percieve as) a gay slur to describe people he or she doesn’t like. I don’t know. Am I way off base to conflate this particular oral sex act with a man as a gay slur? If someone said it to me, I percieve it as shortform for, “I don’t like what you stand for; you probably gargle another man’s junk! Loser!!” ---
**Author:** ![PandaBear77](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/edb3f5/32.png) [@PandaBear77](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PandaBear77)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2011, 5:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/conservatives-is-teabagger-an-insult/592604/15 "2011-08-14T05:57:28Z")
I recognize it’s _intended_ to be an insult but it doesn’t “offend” me. (I’d have to give a shit about what liberals think in order to be offended.) ---
**Author:** ![DorkVader](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/73ab20/32.png) [@DorkVader](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DorkVader)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2011, 8:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/conservatives-is-teabagger-an-insult/592604/16 "2011-08-14T08:22:50Z")
> [@Rysdad](#): > > I clicked “other” because, when I see someone use the term as a perjorative, I know that I can ignore them; they have nothing useful to provide. This is a fairly good way to state my reaction to it. I do wonder, from time to time, if the people using the term understand how it makes them look. ---
**Author:** ![pullin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/c57346/32.png) [@pullin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pullin)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2011, 10:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/conservatives-is-teabagger-an-insult/592604/17 "2011-08-14T10:29:56Z")
Lifelong conservative here. I regard the Tea Party the way traditional Mormons probably feel about Warren Jeffs. Insult them all you like; They are not us. So no, it’s not an insult. ---
**Author:** ![Gary\_Robson](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gary_robson/32/3448_2.png) [@Gary\_Robson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gary_Robson)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2011, 3:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/conservatives-is-teabagger-an-insult/592604/18 "2011-08-14T15:40:04Z")
> [@pullin](#): > > Lifelong conservative here. I regard the Tea Party the way traditional Mormons probably feel about Warren Jeffs. Insult them all you like; They are not us. Someone pointed this out in the other thread, too. I designed the poll poorly by not differentiating the tea party conservatives from the rest of the nation’s conservatives. That’s obviously a pretty major “oops.” ---
**Author:** ![Renee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/renee/32/287_2.png) [@Renee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Renee)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2011, 4:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/conservatives-is-teabagger-an-insult/592604/19 "2011-08-14T16:05:20Z")
> [@antonio107](#): > > I’m conservative-ish, but I don’t like the Tea Party myself. > > However, I laugh whenever I hear the term, both because the mental imagery is kinda funny, and because of the irony of a liberal using (what I percieve as) a gay slur to describe people he or she doesn’t like. > > I don’t know. Am I way off base to conflate this particular oral sex act with a man as a gay slur? If someone said it to me, I percieve it as shortform for, “I don’t like what you stand for; you probably gargle another man’s junk! Loser!!” I’ve never thought of it as having anything to do with gays, but maybe I’m wrong. ---
**Author:** ![Azeotrope](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/0ea827/32.png) [@Azeotrope](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Azeotrope)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2011, 4:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/conservatives-is-teabagger-an-insult/592604/20 "2011-08-14T16:46:24Z")
> [@pullin](#): > > Lifelong conservative here. I regard the Tea Party the way traditional Mormons probably feel about Warren Jeffs. Insult them all you like; They are not us. > > So no, it’s not an insult. Word. I call them teabaggers myself. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/conservatives-is-teabagger-an-insult/592604.md?page=2)