# Is there a word for this? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [November 25, 2006, 3:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-word-for-this/381743 "2006-11-25T15:13:23Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 10\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![The\_Controvert](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/dec6dc/32.png) [@The\_Controvert](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Controvert)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2006, 3:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-word-for-this/381743/1 "2006-11-25T15:13:23Z")
Is there a word for when someone gets to use a particular slur because they are a member of targeted group, but nobody outside their group is allowed to use the slur? Or if someone is a resident of a denigrated city, they are allowed to denigrate the city, but no outsiders can say something bad? I think it could apply to families too… our family can insult each other, but nobody outside the family can say anything bad. Seems like a pretty common phenomenon, but I can’t think of any word to describe it. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Controvert](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/dec6dc/32.png) [@The\_Controvert](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Controvert)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2006, 11:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-word-for-this/381743/2 "2006-11-25T23:20:49Z")
Guess there is not. Oh well… it was worth a shot. It’s not like you can use a dictionary to find out if there’s such a word. ---
**Author:** ![Ronald\_C.Semone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/cc9497/32.png) [@Ronald\_C.Semone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ronald_C.Semone)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2006, 11:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-word-for-this/381743/3 "2006-11-25T23:46:04Z")
That gives rise to a more general question: Is there a word to describe that category of concepts each of which has no name? ---
**Author:** ![Otto](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/bbe5ce/32.png) [@Otto](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Otto)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2006, 12:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-word-for-this/381743/4 "2006-11-26T00:11:34Z")
Ingroup bigotry is the term I’ve always used. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Controvert](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/dec6dc/32.png) [@The\_Controvert](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Controvert)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2006, 4:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-word-for-this/381743/5 "2006-11-26T16:00:31Z")
Hey, that’s a pretty good phrase… did you coin it yourself? ---
**Author:** ![Otto](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/bbe5ce/32.png) [@Otto](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Otto)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2006, 5:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-word-for-this/381743/6 "2006-11-26T17:13:47Z")
Yes, although many other people also did independently and, um, first. ---
**Author:** ![Dr.Drake](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ad7895/32.png) [@Dr.Drake](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr.Drake)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2006, 5:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-word-for-this/381743/7 "2006-11-26T17:20:37Z")
You might also try on [blason populaire](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blason_Populaire). It’s a little broader than the OP, but it covers it. ---
**Author:** ![Rigamarole](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/77aa72/32.png) [@Rigamarole](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rigamarole)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2006, 5:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-word-for-this/381743/8 "2006-11-26T17:23:29Z")
I would call it (beware - slur used only to illustrate modern usage) “the nigger phenomenon”, seeing as that seems to be the first and most prominent example of what you are describing. ---
**Author:** ![Otto](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/bbe5ce/32.png) [@Otto](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Otto)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2006, 7:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-word-for-this/381743/9 "2006-11-26T19:03:48Z")
“Ingroup,” though, has some actual history of usage within the sociological realm so that would probably be a better choice. “Nigger phenomenon” doesn’t really look all that swell as the name of an academic paper. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Scrivener](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/eada6e/32.png) [@The\_Scrivener](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Scrivener)\ **Post date:** [November 27, 2006, 12:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-word-for-this/381743/10 "2006-11-27T00:35:49Z")
Regarding the recontextualizing and proprietary in-group use of ethnic slurs and such, I’ve heard that described as **appropriation**. Here’s Wiki on [“cultural appropriation”](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cultural_appropriation) – although the article doesn’t cite this particular use as an example of the phenomenon.