# Teabagger **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [October 5, 2015, 6:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/teabagger/733628 "2015-10-05T18:18:19Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Doyle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/doyle/32/439_2.png) [@Doyle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Doyle)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2015, 6:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/teabagger/733628/1 "2015-10-05T18:18:19Z")
Is calling someone or group a teabagger(s) tantamount to calling them gay, queer, homo, etc.? ---
**Author:** ![XT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/xt/32/456_2.png) [@XT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/XT)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2015, 6:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/teabagger/733628/2 "2015-10-05T18:19:54Z")
> [@Doyle](#): > > Is calling someone or group a teabagger(s) tantamount to calling them gay, queer, homo, etc.? I’m pretty sure that heterosexuals can tea bag too. 😛 ---
**Author:** ![Ravenman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ravenman/32/2929_2.png) [@Ravenman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ravenman)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2015, 6:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/teabagger/733628/3 "2015-10-05T18:21:58Z")
It is obviously a term of derision or an outright insult, made somewhat clever by the apparent history of some Tea Party supporters calling themselves teabaggers when the movement first began. But no, I don’t think it is an accusation of homosexuality. Certainly there are straight women who support the Tea Party who have been called that name, for example. ---
**Author:** ![Revtim](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/revtim/32/1042_2.png) [@Revtim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Revtim)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2015, 6:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/teabagger/733628/4 "2015-10-05T18:24:30Z")
No, it’s used to refer to Tea Party members, who first called themselves “teabaggers” apparently without Googling the term first… ---
**Author:** ![Doyle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/doyle/32/439_2.png) [@Doyle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Doyle)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2015, 6:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/teabagger/733628/5 "2015-10-05T18:25:17Z")
I have to admit it is funny, but if the shoe were on the other foot, I could see some crazy hysterics. ---
**Author:** ![Doyle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/doyle/32/439_2.png) [@Doyle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Doyle)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2015, 6:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/teabagger/733628/6 "2015-10-05T18:26:20Z")
> [@Revtim](#): > > No, it’s used to refer to Tea Party members, who first called themselves “teabaggers” apparently without Googling the term first… Cite? ---
**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 5, 2015, 6:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/teabagger/733628/7 "2015-10-05T18:33:40Z")
> [@Doyle](#): > > Cite? [Here you go.](http://www.allthingsdemocrat.com/2014/02/tea-party-first-to-use-teabag-and-teabaggers-in-politics/) ---
**Author:** ![Ravenman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ravenman/32/2929_2.png) [@Ravenman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ravenman)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2015, 6:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/teabagger/733628/8 "2015-10-05T18:34:35Z")
> [@Doyle](#): > > Cite? This isn’t the earliest use of the term, but it is pretty funny, and it is from a right-wing website… [http://www.breitbart.com/big-government/2010/04/14/im-proud-to-be-a-tea-bagger/](http://www.breitbart.com/big-government/2010/04/14/im-proud-to-be-a-tea-bagger/) ---
**Author:** ![Revtim](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/revtim/32/1042_2.png) [@Revtim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Revtim)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2015, 6:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/teabagger/733628/9 "2015-10-05T18:39:23Z")
> [@Doyle](#): > > Cite? I saw it years ago on a Rachel Maddow segment, when the movement first started and they were still calling themselves “teabaggers”. You can imagine how gleeful she was reporting their unfortunate name choice! It wouldn’t surprise me if she said that was the happiest day of her life. ---
**Author:** ![BobLibDem](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/boblibdem/32/3149_2.png) [@BobLibDem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BobLibDem)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2015, 6:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/teabagger/733628/10 "2015-10-05T18:40:58Z")
I use it as a derisive term without any notion that these people are any more likely to be gay than any other group. Teabaggers, Teahadists, Teanuts, whatever. ---
**Author:** ![Doyle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/doyle/32/439_2.png) [@Doyle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Doyle)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2015, 6:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/teabagger/733628/11 "2015-10-05T18:50:02Z")
> [@Revtim](#): > > I saw it years ago on a Rachel Maddow segment, when the movement first started and they were still calling themselves “teabaggers”. You can imagine how gleeful she was reporting their unfortunate name choice! > > It wouldn’t surprise me if she said that was the happiest day of her life. That is funny. ---
**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:** [October 5, 2015, 6:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/teabagger/733628/12 "2015-10-05T18:51:49Z")
> [@Doyle](#): > > Is calling someone or group a teabagger(s) tantamount to calling them gay, queer, homo, etc.? Speaking as one of them gay queers, I’ve never understood “teabagger” to have a homophobic meaning to it. **Procrustus** ’s link has a conservative claiming that the term is “based on a sex act that gay men apparently made popular,” but as far as I’m aware there’s no factual basis to this claim. The name derives from players of the game _Halo_ using the crouch animation while standing over dead opponents to make it look like they’re rubbing their junk in the other guy’s face. In that context, it’s neither a sex act, nor a slur - the “teabagger” is the better player, and being able to tea bag lots of other players is a bragging right, not an insult. ---
**Author:** ![marshmallow](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/df705f/32.png) [@marshmallow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/marshmallow)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2015, 6:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/teabagger/733628/13 "2015-10-05T18:52:09Z")
It’s a funny word, but it seems odd to call your opponents a teabagger since it implies they’ve won or they’re celebrating their victory. If they’re the teabagger, that sorta implies you’re the teabagee. > [@Doyle](#): > > Is calling someone or group a teabagger(s) tantamount to calling them gay, queer, homo, etc.? The first connotation that comes to my mind is teabagging your defeated opponent in a first person shooter. The next one is frat boys teabagging as a form of hazing, on a sleeping dude’s forehead, then taking a picture. I’m not sure why frat boys find it so hilarious to pretend to be gay. Or maybe it’s “pretend.” As for straight people doing it, in real life, well…good luck, I guess. ---
**Author:** ![Doyle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/doyle/32/439_2.png) [@Doyle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Doyle)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2015, 6:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/teabagger/733628/14 "2015-10-05T18:55:21Z")
> [@BobLibDem](#): > > I use it as a derisive term without any notion that these people are any more likely to be gay than any other group. Teabaggers, Teahadists, Teanuts, whatever. There’s a big difference between calling someone a teabagger and a teanut, whether you mean or not. The implication is still there. Remember, this is coming from the same guy who refuses to use the word _retard_ as a pejorative term. ---
**Author:** ![andros](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e480ec/32.png) [@andros](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/andros)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2015, 7:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/teabagger/733628/15 "2015-10-05T19:00:40Z")
> [@Doyle](#): > > The implication is still there. What implication? Homosexuality? Femininity? You haven’t provided any evidence that such an implication exists. ---
**Author:** ![Bone](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bone/32/407_2.png) [@Bone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bone)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2015, 7:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/teabagger/733628/16 "2015-10-05T19:03:44Z")
I thought it was from [Halo:CE](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Halo:_Combat_Evolved). People called everyone teabaggers in that game. dammit, ninja’d by Miller. ---
**Author:** ![John\_Mace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_mace/32/185_2.png) [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2015, 7:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/teabagger/733628/17 "2015-10-05T19:18:02Z")
The only purpose it serves is to bring political discourse down to a Beavis and Butthead level. ---
**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:** [October 5, 2015, 7:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/teabagger/733628/18 "2015-10-05T19:21:48Z")
> [@John\_Mace](#): > > The only purpose it serves is to bring political discourse down to a Beavis and Butthead level. Or in some cases, up to. ---
**Author:** ![John\_Mace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_mace/32/185_2.png) [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2015, 7:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/teabagger/733628/19 "2015-10-05T19:24:34Z")
> [@Czarcasm](#): > > Or in some cases, up to. Good point! ---
**Author:** ![Doyle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/doyle/32/439_2.png) [@Doyle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Doyle)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2015, 7:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/teabagger/733628/20 "2015-10-05T19:33:21Z")
> [@andros](#): > > What implication? Homosexuality? Femininity? You haven’t provided any evidence that such an implication exists. Don’t act coy. Just read the second definition. [https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/teabagger](https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/teabagger) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/teabagger/733628.md?page=2)