more on -er

[RonButters at AOL.COM]

A few more thoughts:

1. Someone else observed that it is the application to nouns rather than
verbs that is unusual: truther, tea-bagger, etc. Others are synecdochical:
tree-hugger. Perhaps it is just the fact that noun-attachment is a sort-of
grammatical innovation that suggests that the usage is a sarcastic abbreviation,
hence pejorative? Note that the availability of respectful alternatives may
be a factor: CHRISTER sounds like a nasty way of saying CHRISTIAN.

2. Even so, -er suffixation on nouns does not strike me as always
perjorative: historically there is NEW-DEALER, and the suffix applies non-(it seems
to me)-pejoratively and promiuscuously to organizational abbreviations such
as AARP-er and even ACLU-er.

3. It seems to work best with one- and two-syllable (nonacronymic) words
that do not end in [r], but not three- or more: *HELL'S ANGELSER, no:
BIKE-CLUBBER maybe.

4. Context is important: BIKER might more likely be seen as pejorative if
it refers to a motorcycle-club member than bicycle enthusiast.

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