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Position:Home>Philosophy> What's in an insult?Question:Seems to me that what there is in an insult depends entirely on who expresses it and who its directed towards. Some of the more usual insults mean nothing but the frustration the person verbalizing is expressing. They almost never really say anything valid about the person and act more as emotional triggers to anger/arouse a response from another person. Some insults are more projections of the person''s own insecurities. It seems pretty consistent that the purpose of a lot of insults is to persuade the other person into believing they are at a degraded level, one that may not or does not deserve to experience happiness/love For example "You are an ugly loser" aims at degrading the aesthetic value and success of a person in an attempt to convince the person that no one will find them attractive and they will never succeed in their goals If we had no sense of our own identity even these "small" insults could be very detrimental towards our mood/personality Luckily most people have enough positive experiences about themselves that they can brush off petty insults Best Answer - Chosen by Asker: Seems to me that what there is in an insult depends entirely on who expresses it and who its directed towards. Some of the more usual insults mean nothing but the frustration the person verbalizing is expressing. They almost never really say anything valid about the person and act more as emotional triggers to anger/arouse a response from another person. Some insults are more projections of the person''s own insecurities. It seems pretty consistent that the purpose of a lot of insults is to persuade the other person into believing they are at a degraded level, one that may not or does not deserve to experience happiness/love For example "You are an ugly loser" aims at degrading the aesthetic value and success of a person in an attempt to convince the person that no one will find them attractive and they will never succeed in their goals If we had no sense of our own identity even these "small" insults could be very detrimental towards our mood/personality Luckily most people have enough positive experiences about themselves that they can brush off petty insults Get a Life loser, your ugly! ^^insult. Any words or gestures use to offend someone. Saying something derogatory and personal about a person - like the first answer! "Can't act. Slightly bald. Can dance a little." - Anonymous screen test about Fred Astaire This is just the truth. "I know you are nobody's fool but maybe someone will adopt you". This is an insult. See? ah knows of no reason thet this hyar varmint sh'd be jailed an' bett up fo' abuse. It's called dadburnin' wif faint praise an' is mighty effeckive. an insult i something you say to someone like your mums so fat she put on a yellow raincoat and people mistook her for a taxi that is an insult because you are deliberately trying to hurt their feelings or others around them Go, prick thy face, and over-red thy fear, Thou lily-liver'd boy! An insult is an expression, statement or behavior that is considered offensive, rude or degrading. Insults may be intentional or accidental. An example of the latter is a well-intended simple explanation, which in fact is superfluous, but is given due to underestimating intelligence or knowledge of the other. Behavioral insults Insults are not limited to words. Behavioral expectations create boundaries that, when crossed, can be the substance of insults. A guest who wears casual clothing to a formal event might offend the host of a party. At times the casual wearing of military garb has been seen or intended as an insult to the uniform. The deliberate adoption of some affectation, mannerism, or clothing may be used as a deliberate insult. Misuse of flags, especially burning a national flag, can be used as an insult (but can also be a political statement). Verbal insults Profanity is frequently used as part of insults to strengthen their emotional impact. Some body parts, although useful, may be of low esteem; the word may then be used as insult. For example, the word asshole (or ********) is used to imply disapproval for the behavior or morals of another, but tends to imply the behavior resulted from a character flaw. The examination of insulting language reveals the tensions between social classes and ethnic groups in modern society, where expectations are sometimes viewed as insulting by some and failure to comply with those expectations being seen as insulting by others. Higher level insults (or: The art of verbal abuse) Disguised insult E.g. as an apology after a previous insult: "I'm sorry Sir, I didn't think you could be insulted." This implies that you're thinking that no matter how bad a thing anyone could say to him, surely it would not be an insult to him. Thus this apology constitutes in effect an insult. Perceptions of insults Sociologists suggest insults are often an indicator of flawed reasoning about the character or motivation of others. Though insults are common, and often used in jest, a fundamental axiom of sociology recognizes that derogatory forms of speech make erroneous attributions about the motivation of a person. Scholars classify the erroneous assumptions as the fundamental attribution error. Cultural perceptions Perceptions of insulting language often vary, and often depend on the context and persons involved as much as the actual words. For example, in 21st century America, African American descendants of former slaves hold mixed views of the term "******", sometimes using it as a rugged form of mutual affection in popular culture, but resenting the term when used in pejorative sense, especially when spoken by members of other ethnic groups. Other African-Americans take offense at any use of the term even between friends, holding that even though it is shared affectionately perhaps as a sign of strength, it acts as a term of mutual degradation, and inevitably serves to degrade African-Americans in general. Another example would be reference (even in a joke) to stereotypical aspects of a person, for example jokingly linking a person's Jewishness with a joke about money, a person's Pole nationality with their intelligence, or making a joke about how feminine or "gay" someone is with a French joke. read some insult: http://www.insults.net/ http://www.sonic.net/maledicta/ http://www.nosweatshakespeare.com/resour... http://www.insultmonger.com/insults/inde... An insult . RULE ONE - is that they can usually words. Words picked as such and arranged in ways that can be innocuous, and hardly derogatory but when applied to a person and the situation may be perceived to put him or her down as being not good enough even when he or she is the best there is. RULE TWO- It is a judgment passed down by someone IN POWER who is perceived to have the reputation and credibility for the public . Examples: judge, clergy, politicians holding public seen and perceived "expert" positions. This is important. There is assignment of "expertise" and "authority" that the public can put faith upon. To keep the status quo, and therefore not lose nor share power, the less talented candidate is praised and pronounced to be better than the actual best. RULE THREE- The one in charge of passing judgment is really witless and therefore promotes and gives credit instead to similar stupid people of his kind.. Lol insult is someting which hinders ur self esteem,hurts ur ego and pains in ur heart............ 1. the receiver must acknowledge that the language and culture is offensive 2. It must be communicated properly 3. The receiver must accept it as degrading him/her. 4. It must elicit a negative response. 5. The provider of the insult must be reinforced by the receiver's response. It depends how the person takes it!! I may take it as a complement when someone is trying to be insulting!! ALSO..... Its someone trying to hurt another, by saying unkind remarks about the person!! I think all insults have in common one of two things - either they trivialize or deny genuine accomplishments or or valuable characteristics or else they portray as having dirty or hateful characteristics. An offensive expression contradicting the great status of the embodied subjectivity. It is subject to aggression. |