# Democrat vs. Democratic **URL:** \ **Category:** Politics & Elections\ **Created:** [October 29, 2023, 3:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/democrat-vs-democratic/992270 "2023-10-29T15:57:22Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2023, 3:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/democrat-vs-democratic/992270/1 "2023-10-29T15:57:22Z")
Rather than risk a hijack of the MTG thread, or to resurrect an old thread, I’m making a new one. > [@Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene MUST GO](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/congresswoman-marjorie-taylor-greene-must-go/931895/1580): > > The notion that it’s a slur in the U.S. is certainly odd. There’s a good argument that “Democrat” is a better adjective to indicate party affiliation rather than adherence to philosophical principles. Only ‘Democrat’ isn’t an adjective. ‘Democratic’ is. [Democrat Party (epithet) - Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Democrat_Party_(epithet)#:~:text=According%20to%20Oxford%20Dictionaries%2C%20the,democratic%20with%20democracy%20and%20egalitarianism%22). ---
**Author:** ![Procrustus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/procrustus/32/2994_2.png) [@Procrustus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Procrustus)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2023, 3:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/democrat-vs-democratic/992270/2 "2023-10-29T15:59:35Z")
When people say “Democrat Party” they’re attempting to be rude. So I take it as rude. But in the scheme of things, it’s not the worst. I started a pit thread on it a few years back. As I recall, we had a troll like poster who did it all time and I just snapped. I’m older and calmer now. ---
**Author:** ![Odesio](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/odesio/32/20003_2.png) [@Odesio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Odesio)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2023, 4:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/democrat-vs-democratic/992270/3 "2023-10-29T16:01:02Z")
It’s relatively minor, I find it slightly annoying because it’s like dealing with a child whose just trying to get a rise out of you. The democrats should just ignore it and move on. ---
**Author:** ![bobot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bobot/32/21622_2.png) [@bobot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bobot)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2023, 4:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/democrat-vs-democratic/992270/4 "2023-10-29T16:01:11Z")
It’s a small, petty thing which has caught on like a wildfire with Republicans. It’s like intentionally misprounouncing someone’s name. Joe Biden is a democrat, he belongs to the Democratic party. It’s really simple. ---
**Author:** ![kenobi\_65](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kenobi_65/32/13178_2.png) [@kenobi\_65](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kenobi_65)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2023, 4:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/democrat-vs-democratic/992270/5 "2023-10-29T16:01:20Z")
> [@Procrustus](#): > > As I recall, we had a troll like poster who did it all time and I just snapped. I can recall at least one now-banned Doper who, pretty clearly, used the term “Democrat Party” because he knew it would piss people off. ---
**Author:** ![Riemann](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/riemann/32/3133_2.png) [@Riemann](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Riemann)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2023, 4:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/democrat-vs-democratic/992270/6 "2023-10-29T16:09:04Z")
> [@Johnny\_L.A](#): > > Only ‘Democrat’ isn’t an adjective. ‘Democratic’ is. The grammatical rule that would apply in “democratic principles” need not be followed when referencing the proper noun Democrat. And arguably it is _better_ for the adjectival form to be Democrat in order to be clear that you’re talking about party affiliation rather than philosophical principles. As I pointed out, that’s what the rest of the world generally does in the case of Liberal Democrat or Social Democrat politicians. We should certainly refer to people according to their preference, so if U.S. Democrats prefer “Democratic” that’s what we should use. I’m just pointing out that gramatically it’s not so clear cut as you seem to think, and to non-U.S. people it may seem a bit odd that it is seen as offensive. ---
**Author:** ![Riemann](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/riemann/32/3133_2.png) [@Riemann](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Riemann)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2023, 4:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/democrat-vs-democratic/992270/7 "2023-10-29T16:23:31Z")
> [@Johnny\_L.A](#): > > Only ‘Democrat’ isn’t an adjective. ‘Democratic’ is. From the Wikipedia article that you link: > In 2012, the British magazine _[The Economist](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Economist)_ stated: > > > The real reason ‘Democrat Party’ is wrong is not because it’s ungrammatical, but because it’s incorrect in another way—the party is simply not named the Democrat Party, but the Democratic Party. Calling it anything else is discourteous. ---
**Author:** ![madmonk28](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/madmonk28/32/20811_2.png) [@madmonk28](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/madmonk28)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2023, 4:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/democrat-vs-democratic/992270/8 "2023-10-29T16:49:55Z")
> [@Procrustus](#): > > When people say “Democrat Party” they’re attempting to be rude. Exactly, they are being intentionally hostile. ---
**Author:** ![Sylvanz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/fbc32d/32.png) [@Sylvanz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sylvanz)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2023, 4:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/democrat-vs-democratic/992270/9 "2023-10-29T16:56:31Z")
I agree that that is the main reason it is a slur. However, the way you posted a piece of that link makes it look like the article is saying that Democrat as an adjective is completely correct. For anyone who did not read the link I quoted more for context. > Among authors of dictionaries and usage guides who state that the use of _Democrat_ as an adjective is ungrammatical are Roy H. Copperud,[[9]](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Democrat_Party_(epithet)#cite_note-FOOTNOTECopperud1980101%E2%80%932-9) [Bergen Evans](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bergen_Evans),[[14]](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Democrat_Party_(epithet)#cite_note-FOOTNOTECopperud1980101-14) and William and Mary Morris. In particular, the latter have written: “It is the idiotic creation of some of the least responsible members of the Republican Party.”[[15]](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Democrat_Party_(epithet)#cite_note-morris1975-15) > > In 2005, Ruth Walker, who has been the long-time language columnist for _The Christian Science Monitor_,[[16]](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Democrat_Party_(epithet)#cite_note-16) while stating that _Democratic_ is the correct term in most instances, placed the adjectival use of _Democrat_ within a broader trend: > > > We’re losing our inflections—the special endings we use to distinguish between adjectives and nouns, for instance. There’s a tendency to modify a noun with another noun rather than an adjective. Some may speak of ‘the Ukraine election’ rather than ‘the Ukrainian election’ or ‘the election in Ukraine’, for instance. It’s ‘the Iraq war’ rather than ‘the Iraqi war’, to give another example.[[17]]([Democrat Party (epithet) - Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Democrat_Party_(epithet)#cite_note-Wal) ---
**Author:** ![The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/the_other_waldo_pepper/32/12370_2.png) [@The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Other_Waldo_Pepper)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2023, 5:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/democrat-vs-democratic/992270/10 "2023-10-29T17:04:29Z")
> [@Riemann](#): > > We should certainly refer to people according to their preference, so if U.S. Democrats prefer “Democratic” that’s what we should use. Should I remember that the next time I see someone refer to, say, Trumplicans? ---
**Author:** ![Cervaise](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cervaise/32/16693_2.png) [@Cervaise](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cervaise)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2023, 5:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/democrat-vs-democratic/992270/11 "2023-10-29T17:06:26Z")
This is the “I’m not touching you! Am I bugging you? But I’m not touching you!” of politics. It has the same intent and comes from the same level of maturity. ---
**Author:** ![Atamasama](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/atamasama/32/12961_2.png) [@Atamasama](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Atamasama)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2023, 5:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/democrat-vs-democratic/992270/12 "2023-10-29T17:07:37Z")
I’m happy to see a thread on this, so I’ll copy my comment from the other thread over here. > [@Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene MUST GO](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/congresswoman-marjorie-taylor-greene-must-go/931895/1575): > > It’s hard to call someone “democratic” in one breath and “socialist” in the next. Just as some people on this board insist on using the term “reactionary” instead of “conservative”; it’s the same logic. They don’t think the word is being used properly. > > It’s really not much more than that. > > Well, that and maybe a bit of honest confusion. Republicans belong to the Republican Party. The word “Republican” serves as both a noun and adjective. Those not trying to use it as a pejorative might assume Democrats are from the Democrat Party because they’d follow the same semantic rules. ---
**Author:** ![Riemann](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/riemann/32/3133_2.png) [@Riemann](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Riemann)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2023, 5:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/democrat-vs-democratic/992270/13 "2023-10-29T17:09:28Z")
> [@Sylvanz](#): > > However, the way you posted a piece of that link makes it look like the article is saying that Democrat as an adjective is completely correct. The first paragraph you quoted there is hardly a _grammatical_ commentary when it discusses the usage as the idiotic creation of Republicans. And everything else you have quoted supports what I said, that it is grammatically consistent with other proper noun usage. It may be rude, but it’s not ungrammatical. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_Bravo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_bravo/32/493_2.png) [@Johnny\_Bravo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_Bravo)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2023, 5:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/democrat-vs-democratic/992270/14 "2023-10-29T17:11:22Z")
> [@The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](#): > > Should I remember that the next time I see someone refer to, say, Trumplicans? What does that have to do with anything whatsoever? Somebody who says “Trumplican” is clearly being derogatory. Somebody who says “Democrat Party” may or may not be. So it’s good practice, if you’re not intending to actively offend, to use the intended term rather than a pejorative. ---
**Author:** ![Riemann](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/riemann/32/3133_2.png) [@Riemann](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Riemann)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2023, 5:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/democrat-vs-democratic/992270/15 "2023-10-29T17:12:08Z")
> [@The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](#): > > Should I remember that the next time I see someone refer to, say, Trumplicans? There was an unstated assumption of a situation where we _want_ to be polite. This only serves to reinforce the claim that origin of the term was intentional disrespect. [ninjaed by @Johnny_Bravo] ---
**Author:** ![kenobi\_65](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kenobi_65/32/13178_2.png) [@kenobi\_65](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kenobi_65)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2023, 5:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/democrat-vs-democratic/992270/16 "2023-10-29T17:15:51Z")
> [@Johnny\_Bravo](#): > > Somebody who says “Trumplican” is clearly being derogatory. Somebody who says “Democrat Party” may or may not be. Given that “Democrat Party” is apparently grammatically correct (if stylistically incorrect), if the term was used by someone from outside of the U.S., or truly unfamiliar with the correct terminology, I agree, it wouldn’t necessarily be intended to be derogatory. But, in general U.S. political discourse, I suspect that its usage is almost always intended to be trollery (or maybe just pedantry). ---
**Author:** ![Whack-a-Mole](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/whack-a-mole/32/141_2.png) [@Whack-a-Mole](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Whack-a-Mole)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2023, 5:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/democrat-vs-democratic/992270/17 "2023-10-29T17:16:40Z")
> [@Riemann](#): > > We should certainly refer to people according to their preference, so if U.S. Democrats prefer “Democratic” that’s what we should use. I’m just pointing out that gramatically it’s not so clear cut as you seem to think, and to non-U.S. people it may seem a bit odd that it is seen as offensive. But, it seems it is not grammatically correct. > **Q:** **Is it the “Democratic” Party or the “Democrat” Party?** > > **A:** **The proper term is “Democratic Party.”** > > \< snip \> > > The [party](http://www.democrats.org/a/party/history.html) traces its roots to 1792 and the anti-federalist faction led by Thomas Jefferson. The Jeffersonians [called](http://www.britannica.com/eb/article-9029899/Democratic-Party#233981.toc) themselves “Republicans” at first, and later “Democratic-Republican.” The party splintered in the late 1820s, and the faction led by Andrew Jackson in his successful presidential campaign of 1828 became the modern Democratic Party. It formally adopted the name “Democratic Party” at its convention in 1844. - [SOURCE](https://www.factcheck.org/2007/12/the-democratic-or-democrat-party/) Also see: > **[Since When Did It Become the Democrat Party?](https://www.npr.org/sections/publiceditor/2010/03/26/114585414/since-when-did-it-become-the-democrat-party)** > > Republicans occassionally like to irritate Democrats by calling them members of the Democrat Party when the official name is the Democratic Party. NPR's policy is to call a party what it calls itself. But the policy isn't always followed by NPR st... ---
**Author:** ![Riemann](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/riemann/32/3133_2.png) [@Riemann](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Riemann)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2023, 5:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/democrat-vs-democratic/992270/18 "2023-10-29T17:22:23Z")
> [@Whack-a-Mole](#): > > But, it seems it is not grammatically correct. I don’t see what any of that has to do with correct grammar. Nobody can dispute that the correct formal name of the party is the Democratic Party, that is objectively true. Nevertheless, if the members are called Democrats, it would not be a _grammatical_ error to talk about a Democrat politician or a Democrat senator. As a local U.S. _cultural_ matter, it may be seen as a slur or disrespectful. ---
**Author:** ![Whack-a-Mole](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/whack-a-mole/32/141_2.png) [@Whack-a-Mole](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Whack-a-Mole)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2023, 5:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/democrat-vs-democratic/992270/19 "2023-10-29T17:27:33Z")
Dick Durbin is a Democrat from Illinois. Dick Durbin is a Democratic senator from Illinois. Dick Durbin is a member of the Democratic Party in the US. ---
**Author:** ![Riemann](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/riemann/32/3133_2.png) [@Riemann](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Riemann)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2023, 5:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/democrat-vs-democratic/992270/20 "2023-10-29T17:31:43Z")
> [@Whack-a-Mole](#): > > Dick Durbin is a Democrat from Illinois. > > Dick Durbin is a Democratic senator from Illinois. > > Dick Durbin is a member of the Democratic Party in the US… When trying to distinguish the question of _grammatical_ correctness this is unhelpful. Social Democratic Party Social Democrat Social Democrat MP Please read the thread for other examples of usage with proper nouns. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/democrat-vs-democratic/992270.md?page=2)