When insults become compliements (and vice versa)
 

This just popped into my head....

With changing societies and language, it's interesting to look back at what things used to mean at another time. It's funny sometimes to see what they now mean comparatively.

Take insults for example. The art of making insults is centuries old. But in the 20th century, and now in the information age, things change(d) rather quickly.

Here are a couple of insults that now pass off as compliments (or simply pass off as a positive):

"Your mother wears combat boots!"
(Women serving in combat roles is now something that gets a lot of respect and cred.)

"You're a geek."
(Can generally mean "you're cute" or "you're into cool stuff.")

Can anyone think of any others?
What about compliments of the past that are now insulting?

"You're so gay!"

(Not that it should be an insult. I didn't create it, just pointing it out.)

Wait - is this because I complimented you in that other thread?

Typical male greeting rituals in social situations often consist of name-calling statements.

"You sonuvabitch!"

Etc.

I'm a nerd, freak, geek, and I love nerds, freaks, and geeks.

Oh, no, of course not. :) Actually, that compliment still hasn't settled in. I don't seem to recall a female ever referring to me by using the word cool. It still hasn't hit me yet. :thumbsup:

Actually, I don't seem to recall a male doing so either.

Never mind.

Thanks, though.

you sick cunt (aussie term)

a term of endearment in aussie slang


Sick Cunt
A term generally describing their respect for another. Most commonly used by Australians and stereotypically by Ethnic-Australians.
"Dudes a Fucking Sick Cunt! haha what a mad cunt."


Urban Dictionary: Sick Cunt

wow, that's awesome.

"Your mother was a hamster and your father smelt of elderberries!"

"That's so sick!"

And a lot of the girls I have hung out with call each other bitches, whores, cunts, etc. and it's almost a status symbol or a term of endearment. I'll admit I've referred to my girls as My Bitches or something along those lines but I typically avoid the other curses.

Funny. I was thinking of responding with the slang definition of "sick" just one minute before your reply showed up.

synonym(s): gnarly, bitchin', radical, freaky

Oh, I love you motherbitches.

The "woman-bonding" thing, however, while I've noticed this postively-derogatory name-calling regularly, it really irritates me to hear it occurring, and generally, I try to avoid such social groups that use these terms. Not that I have anything against the women who use it, but when I see it coming, I keep my mouth shut and just scuffle away quickly. It honestly grates my senses to be near this hollering of obscenities for no apparent reason other than to just do so, and call attention to themselves; I guess I just don't understand the ritual of calling my buddy, or "girlfriend" in your scenario, a bitch.

You're a bad girl.

I've picked this up from foruming with Aussies and Brits. And from dating a dude who lived in England. I've really had to watch my mouth around my friends and family here.
I think I've dealt with you only once regarding a 'moderation issue.' And I immediately liked you because you didn't come off holier than thou like a lot of other mods.

Mods on other boards, of course. :o

I've got dibs on Baraka already, lady.

wife is British so I hear cunt a lot.. and I use it myself a lot.

for me.. if I call you a bitch, we're cool. If I use some sort of combination phrase with bitch punk ass bitch for example.. we aren't cool.

I don't think I've ever heard so many white people saying "what up nigga?" to their white friends as a greeting as I have in the past couple of years.

'You're so smart,' used to be a compliment

I think the opposite thing happened to me, I thought that it was a compliment but it was actually an insult :orly:.

All I want are weekends.

Apparently, these days the word "wicked" is used to refer to something good.

Up north, it has been for a while. From Mass. to Maine. It's sort of interchangeable. "Go up root 43, take this wicked right curve before you end up in the corn field. Stop at the innersec and watch these totally wicked horses racing."

As far as compliment or insult, it can be either. It has to paired with an actual adjective. "That guy's wicked smart/stupid".

I just heard a story about words that used to be compliments that are now ethnic slurs. I wish I could remember them.

I do know that the adjective affixed to Ivan the Terrible translates in the Russian language at the time to Ivan the Remarkable. So in a sense it's similar to the use of "wicked". Ivan was terrible, but only slightly more than Peter the Great. Ivan also introduced many good things to Russian peasants and serfs, but slightly less than Peter the Great.