Category talk:English ethnic slurs

Offensive by nature

and intent, sure, but they're all also slang, vulgar, and derogatory as well in every instance. What is a non-derogatory ethnic slur that counts as a slur at all? or one that counts as non-vulgar and is considered acceptable in polite company while being universally acknowledged as an ethnic slur? There's no point to laundry list all those labels for each term as well as "ethnic slur", is there?

One issue might be that we very specifically use "slang" to mean "subculture argot" and that "colloquial" might be the broader category. My own opinion would be that ethnic slurs are very intentionally noting/creating a cultural division and fit "slang" better even under our stricter use of the term.

Another is that "offensive" is actually the least universally applicable of those across all ethnic slurs, since it's based on thinking they always work. At least some like honky and cracker are not actually offensive to nearly all hearers, except for people primed to look for offense and false equivalences. Many others are only potentially offensive depending on the source and context. That said, eh, sure, we don't want separate "formerly offensive" or "possibly offensive" categories and it's always possible to take offense at deliberately derogatory terms, however farcical. — LlywelynII 21:52, 5 October 2024 (UTC)