# Democrat vs Democratic **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [November 13, 2010, 5:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/democrat-vs-democratic/560535 "2010-11-13T05:02:32Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 12\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Lubricious\_Integument](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/82dd89/32.png) [@Lubricious\_Integument](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lubricious_Integument)\ **Post date:** [November 13, 2010, 5:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/democrat-vs-democratic/560535/1 "2010-11-13T05:02:32Z")
A recent pit thread addresses the use of “Democratic party” vs “Democrat party”. The former is what the Democratic party calls itself, but for reasons unbeknownst to me the latter is regarded by many democrats as offensive. Do you find this offensive? I don’t. In fact I’m puzzled by the volume of complaints. ---
**Author:** ![postcards](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/8e8cbc/32.png) [@postcards](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/postcards)\ **Post date:** [November 13, 2010, 5:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/democrat-vs-democratic/560535/2 "2010-11-13T05:20:10Z")
Offensive? No. Awkward to say? Definitely. ---
**Author:** ![Electric\_Warrior](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/ee7513/32.png) [@Electric\_Warrior](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Electric_Warrior)\ **Post date:** [November 13, 2010, 6:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/democrat-vs-democratic/560535/3 "2010-11-13T06:02:04Z")
I can’t fathom even beginning to care about this. ---
**Author:** ![crowmanyclouds](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/crowmanyclouds/32/19884_2.png) [@crowmanyclouds](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/crowmanyclouds)\ **Post date:** [November 13, 2010, 6:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/democrat-vs-democratic/560535/4 "2010-11-13T06:37:48Z")
Knowing the [history](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Democrat_Party_%28phrase%29) of [del][ic](http://www.newyorker.com/archive/2006/08/07/060807ta_talk_hertzberg)[/del] its use, yes. CMC fnord! ---
**Author:** ![Polycarp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/82dd89/32.png) [@Polycarp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Polycarp)\ **Post date:** [November 13, 2010, 7:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/democrat-vs-democratic/560535/5 "2010-11-13T07:19:44Z")
> [@crowmanyclouds](#): > > Knowing the [history](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Democrat_Party_%28phrase%29) of [del][ic](http://www.newyorker.com/archive/2006/08/07/060807ta_talk_hertzberg)[/del] its use, yes. > > CMC fnord! Nice link! So it isn’t the G.O.P. itself, just a bunch of Publicans? ---
**Author:** ![Napier](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/ce73a5/32.png) [@Napier](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Napier)\ **Post date:** [November 13, 2010, 12:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/democrat-vs-democratic/560535/6 "2010-11-13T12:53:52Z")
Beats me. Why don’t we go to [democrats.org](http://democrats.org) and ask them? ---
**Author:** ![Peremensoe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ce7236/32.png) [@Peremensoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peremensoe)\ **Post date:** [November 13, 2010, 1:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/democrat-vs-democratic/560535/7 "2010-11-13T13:52:53Z")
Regardless of capitalization, “democrat” sounds like a noun, “democratic” the adjective. So _[democrats.org](http://democrats.org)_ seems fine. “Democrat Party” sounds like a less than fluent speaker. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Hamster\_King](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/8edcca/32.png) [@The\_Hamster\_King](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Hamster_King)\ **Post date:** [November 13, 2010, 8:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/democrat-vs-democratic/560535/8 "2010-11-13T20:28:46Z")
> [@Lubricious\_Integument](#): > > Do you find this offensive? I don’t. In fact I’m puzzled by the volume of complaints. Say your name is Robert. But you have a friend who insists on calling you “Bobby” even though it’s not you’re real name. Wouldn’t you say that he’s being a dick, even though there’s nothing inherently offensive about the name “Bobby”? People get to choose what they’re called. Picking a nickname for someone and using it even if they don’t like it is obnoxious. It’s a stupid little dominance game. “I get to decide what you’re called … I have power over you … ha ha!” As such, people who play it deserve to be called on it and slapped down. ---
**Author:** ![Napier](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/ce73a5/32.png) [@Napier](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Napier)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2010, 5:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/democrat-vs-democratic/560535/9 "2010-11-14T05:18:51Z")
> [@The\_Hamster\_King](#): > > […] Picking a nickname for someone and using it even if they don’t like it is obnoxious. It’s a stupid little dominance game. […] This is it exactly. Thanks. I’ve never heard anybody explain it before. This is exactly why it’s obnoxious. ---
**Author:** ![njtt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/ecd19e/32.png) [@njtt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/njtt)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2010, 6:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/democrat-vs-democratic/560535/10 "2010-11-14T18:21:31Z")
A similar thing went on in Britain in the 1970s, when James Callaghan was Prime Minister. As Callaghan (and his supporters, media professionals, etc.) pronounced his own name, the **g** was silent. Spokespeople and supporters of the opposition Conservative Party took to clearly pronouncing the **g**. It is a way of showing disrespect and, as **The Hamster King** said, a dominance game, a form of taunting. In politics, under some circumstances, it may even win a few a few votes for the taunter, if they succeed in making the tauntee look weak or (if they protest) petty, but I expect it is done mainly because the taunter enjoys it. ---
**Author:** ![gonzomax](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e8c25b/32.png) [@gonzomax](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gonzomax)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2010, 6:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/democrat-vs-democratic/560535/11 "2010-11-14T18:29:06Z")
> [@The\_Hamster\_King](#): > > Say your name is Robert. But you have a friend who insists on calling you “Bobby” even though it’s not you’re real name. Wouldn’t you say that he’s being a dick, even though there’s nothing inherently offensive about the name “Bobby”? > > People get to choose what they’re called. Picking a nickname for someone and using it even if they don’t like it is obnoxious. It’s a stupid little dominance game. “I get to decide what you’re called … I have power over you … ha ha!” As such, people who play it deserve to be called on it and slapped down. It depends why? If he is doing it to annoy you, it is unacceptable. If he has no derogatory purposes ,it is harmless. The Repubs are not trying to communicate but to inflame. ---
**Author:** ![twickster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ec9cab/32.png) [@twickster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/twickster)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2010, 6:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/democrat-vs-democratic/560535/12 "2010-11-14T18:54:02Z")
Since you’re looking for opinions, I’ll move this over to IMHO. **twickster** , MPSIMS moderator