- Aug 17, 2009
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Yeah, good parallel. There was a time when it was insulting to question a person's parentage (no doubt still exists in some cultures). But all my kids are illegitimate and I don't think the fact has ever come up in their lives.Bastard is a slur and I guess a low key swear word. A key difference is that our society hasn't especially evolved to suppress or marginalise bastards as a group.
But we have done that with women, different races, sexual preferences.
campaigner, ******, ********er are moving in the other direction, at least in situations where there are third party controls over language such as the workplace and the footy field. It's no longer just a matter of "you really shouldn't use rude words" but rather "these words have origins and connotations that are derogatory to groups in our community".