# Words I didn't realize were pejorative until later in life **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [July 22, 2024, 1:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-i-didnt-realize-were-pejorative-until-later-in-life/1004604 "2024-07-22T13:00:33Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2024, 3:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-i-didnt-realize-were-pejorative-until-later-in-life/1004604/21 "2024-07-22T15:32:00Z")
> [@Briny\_Deep](#): > > “Pud,” yeah I’ve heard the term meaning dick, but surely it’s also a shortened form of the very standard affectionate term “pudding” (or puddin’)? ‘Pud’ as a slang term for penis surely derives from ‘pudding’ anyway - since ‘pudding’ originally meant ‘sausage’. ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2024, 3:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-i-didnt-realize-were-pejorative-until-later-in-life/1004604/22 "2024-07-22T15:35:23Z")
> [@Wendell\_Wagner](#): > > “Gypsy” is another name for the ethnic group that prefers to be called Romani or Rom. “Gypsy” is also used to mean something like free-spirited. It’s hard to tell when someone’s trying to offend someone else because it’s hard to know what definition of a term they are using. I think “gypsy” became synonymous “thief” among non-travelers long ago. I’m sure that the honest folk among them got tired of being lumped in with the bad apples and made a concerted effort to make themselves known by a less pejorative term. Like many, I grew up hearing that people had been “gypped” out of money, or even “Jewed” out of it. Kids tend to parrot what they hear from adults, so an effort has to be made to grow out of it. I probably didn’t become aware that gyp is derogatory until decades later. ---
**Author:** ![Eyebrows\_0f\_Doom](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eyebrows_0f_doom/32/3119_2.png) [@Eyebrows\_0f\_Doom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eyebrows_0f_Doom)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2024, 3:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-i-didnt-realize-were-pejorative-until-later-in-life/1004604/23 "2024-07-22T15:42:10Z")
> [@Pardel-Lux](#): > > I learned on this board not so long ago that the terms _Oriental_ and _Asian_ are better avoided. I found the explanation unconvincing, but language is seldom logical. Oriental (at least in the US), yes, but who said that Asian was offensive? It’s certainly not seen “as a word to be avoided” in the US, it’s a commonly used descriptor. ---
**Author:** ![Dung\_Beetle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dung_beetle/32/7945_2.png) [@Dung\_Beetle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dung_Beetle)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2024, 3:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-i-didnt-realize-were-pejorative-until-later-in-life/1004604/24 "2024-07-22T15:44:47Z")
My husband and I went on a trip to Australia about ten years ago and were shocked to see a TV commercial for a candy store called Golliwogs, with a picture of the thing. I’m still amazed they were getting away with that. ---
**Author:** ![Pardel-Lux](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pardel-lux/32/20182_2.png) [@Pardel-Lux](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pardel-Lux)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2024, 3:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-i-didnt-realize-were-pejorative-until-later-in-life/1004604/25 "2024-07-22T15:45:47Z")
I checked and you are right: I was told to use Asian instead of Oriental [here](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across/851674/8707). So Asian is OK. ---
**Author:** ![gkster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gkster/32/14107_2.png) [@gkster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gkster)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2024, 3:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-i-didnt-realize-were-pejorative-until-later-in-life/1004604/26 "2024-07-22T15:52:53Z")
Nitpick, interesting thread, but the word is pejorative, not perjorative. It has only 1 r. [Pejorative Definition & Meaning - Merriam-Webster](https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/pejorative) ---
**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:** [July 22, 2024, 3:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-i-didnt-realize-were-pejorative-until-later-in-life/1004604/27 "2024-07-22T15:56:00Z")
> [@Briny\_Deep](#): > > “Pud,” yeah I’ve heard the term meaning dick, but surely it’s also a shortened form of the very standard affectionate term “pudding” (or puddin’)? If ‘Pud’ is used as a nickname, I would not assume it meant ‘penis’ (even though I think naughty things). I would immediately think of the shortening of ‘pudding’. I’ve heard British people call pudding (i.e., dessert) ‘pud’. ---
**Author:** ![Mama\_Zappa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/71e660/32.png) [@Mama\_Zappa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mama_Zappa)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2024, 4:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-i-didnt-realize-were-pejorative-until-later-in-life/1004604/28 "2024-07-22T16:04:54Z")
> [@chela](#): > > I’ve heard of pud, in my area it meant penis or really we used it to call someone a dick I’ve heard of “pud” (rhymes with “dud”) in reference to male genitalia (a limerick I once read refers to “pulling your pud”). “Pud” as someone mentioned upthread would seem to be short for “Puddin” (pudding). Rhymes with “good”. Very different word! “That sucks”. Back when “sucks” became a popular word meaning “awful”, I’m pretty sure it derived from oral sex. Nowadays, it’s pretty mainstream, to the point where I heard child characters using it on Full House. People are shocked to hear of the source. And supposedly “scumbag” refers to a condom - specifically, a used one. Eewwwwwww… I learned that quite late in life. ---
**Author:** ![Shoeless](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/shoeless/32/7099_2.png) [@Shoeless](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shoeless)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2024, 4:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-i-didnt-realize-were-pejorative-until-later-in-life/1004604/29 "2024-07-22T16:09:03Z")
When I was in college I remember the term “pud” used to describe courses where you could get an easy A grade. ---
**Author:** ![Slithy\_Tove](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slithy_tove/32/18248_2.png) [@Slithy\_Tove](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Slithy_Tove)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2024, 4:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-i-didnt-realize-were-pejorative-until-later-in-life/1004604/30 "2024-07-22T16:25:40Z")
I’ve been told that the board rule’s slogan “don’t be a jerk” doesn’t use a pejorative. But I keep coming back to this: “jerk” = male masturbation, shameful because it’s the resort of the loser who can’t attract a woman. This contributes to a social climate where men commit abuses on women just to prove that they can indeed get sex, one way or another (despite that the actual physical pleasure would have been greater via DYI). But perhaps I take the argument too far, and “don’t be a turd” will never gain traction. ---
**Author:** ![markn\_1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f9ae1b/32.png) [@markn\_1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/markn_1)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2024, 4:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-i-didnt-realize-were-pejorative-until-later-in-life/1004604/31 "2024-07-22T16:46:59Z")
The OED says that “gollywog” is “offensive” and that its etymology is “uncertain”: > Originally in children’s books written by Bertha Upton and illustrated by Florence Upton (compare quot. [1895 at sense 1](https://www.oed.com/dictionary/golliwog_n?tab=meaning_and_use#2842582)). Perhaps a blend of [golly _n.2_ & _int._](https://www.oed.com/dictionary/golly_n2?tab=meaning_and_use#2842998) and [pollywog _n._](https://www.oed.com/dictionary/pollywog_n?tab=meaning_and_use#29516307), although if so the selection of these elements would seem more or less arbitrary. For “bint”, it agrees that it comes from Arabic but doesn’t note any racist connotations: > from Arabic bint daughter, girl, feminine corresponding to 'ibn son. ---
**Author:** ![LurkMeister](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/3da27b/32.png) [@LurkMeister](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LurkMeister)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2024, 5:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-i-didnt-realize-were-pejorative-until-later-in-life/1004604/32 "2024-07-22T17:00:29Z")
> [@Mama\_Zappa](#): > > “That sucks”. Back when “sucks” became a popular word meaning “awful”, I’m pretty sure it derived from oral sex. Nowadays, it’s pretty mainstream, to the point where I heard child characters using it on Full House. People are shocked to hear of the source. When something was awful, ineffective, or in some other way could be done without, I used to say, “That sucks. And not only that, it blows.” So two oral sex references for the price of one. ---
**Author:** ![Pleonast](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pleonast/32/1183_2.png) [@Pleonast](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pleonast)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2024, 5:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-i-didnt-realize-were-pejorative-until-later-in-life/1004604/33 "2024-07-22T17:05:52Z")
> [@Mama\_Zappa](#): > > Nowadays, it’s pretty mainstream, to the point where I heard child characters using it on Full House. Where “nowadays” means “thirty years ago”. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2024, 5:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-i-didnt-realize-were-pejorative-until-later-in-life/1004604/34 "2024-07-22T17:06:00Z")
> [@Peter\_Morris](#): > > But the thing is, most people aren’t etymologists. If you use the word _pollywog_, or _niggard_, some percentage of people will misunderstand, and you look like a jerk. In the US, at least, I doubt if you’d have problem with _pollywog_. Most people in the US have never heard of a _gollywog_. ---
**Author:** ![thorny\_locust](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thorny_locust/32/431_2.png) [@thorny\_locust](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thorny_locust)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2024, 5:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-i-didnt-realize-were-pejorative-until-later-in-life/1004604/35 "2024-07-22T17:25:50Z")
> [@Pardel-Lux](#): > > I checked and you are right: I was told to use Asian instead of Oriental [here](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across/851674/8707). So Asian is OK. I’m relieved that I still have a term to use for the type of eggplant. Quite a few years ago, when I sold wholesale through a growers’ cooperative, the coop manager called me up one day and asked me what the variety name was of the eggplant we’d been selling as Oriental eggplant. I said “Orient Express” (the seed’s still on the market under that name.) The manager said "well that won’t help . . . " She’d been informed by some of the customers (probably in NYCity) that “oriental” is offensive; which nobody in the coop (based upstate) had known. We switched to calling it Asian eggplant. ---
**Author:** ![Eyebrows\_0f\_Doom](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eyebrows_0f_doom/32/3119_2.png) [@Eyebrows\_0f\_Doom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eyebrows_0f_Doom)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2024, 5:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-i-didnt-realize-were-pejorative-until-later-in-life/1004604/36 "2024-07-22T17:26:28Z")
> [@Slithy\_Tove](#): > > I’ve been told that the board rule’s slogan “don’t be a jerk” doesn’t use a pejorative. But I keep coming back to this: “jerk” = male masturbation, shameful because it’s the resort of the loser who can’t attract a woman. This contributes to a social climate where men commit abuses on women just to prove that they can indeed get sex, one way or another (despite that the actual physical pleasure would have been greater via DYI). But perhaps I take the argument too far, and “don’t be a turd” will never gain traction. … uh what ---
**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:** [July 22, 2024, 5:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-i-didnt-realize-were-pejorative-until-later-in-life/1004604/37 "2024-07-22T17:34:54Z")
> [@thorny\_locust](#): > > eggplant Which is also a word with a pejorative use! ---
**Author:** ![thorny\_locust](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thorny_locust/32/431_2.png) [@thorny\_locust](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thorny_locust)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2024, 5:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-i-didnt-realize-were-pejorative-until-later-in-life/1004604/38 "2024-07-22T17:36:15Z")
It is? Please educate me, I’ve never heard of it. Egghead, yes (though it’s not pejorative about anything other than intellect.) But not eggplant. ---
**Author:** ![DPRK](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/4491bb/32.png) [@DPRK](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DPRK)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2024, 5:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-i-didnt-realize-were-pejorative-until-later-in-life/1004604/39 "2024-07-22T17:40:17Z")
Words can certainly, over time, change from inoffensive to offensive and possibly back again, e.g., “slut”. eggplants are not that offensive (???) but many people call them aubergines. Vaguely talking about the “Orient” may be offensive (see [Orientalism](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Orientalism)) but (IMHO) that does not have to do with vegetables, but you would be in a better position to know. ---
**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:** [July 22, 2024, 5:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-i-didnt-realize-were-pejorative-until-later-in-life/1004604/40 "2024-07-22T17:40:50Z")
> **[Urban Dictionary: Mulignan](https://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=Mulignan)** > > It's an ethnic slur for a black person, seemingly common for Italian-Americans. As User says, it comes from the Southern Italian mulignana, meaning eggplant, though most sources listed it as Sicilian. Not my preferred cite but the NYT’s article was paywalled. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-i-didnt-realize-were-pejorative-until-later-in-life/1004604.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-i-didnt-realize-were-pejorative-until-later-in-life/1004604.md?page=3)