Ameliorated words of offensive origin

[Dennis R. Preston]

>>Surely you don't mean that "queer" started out offensive. It
>>wasn't, then it was, then, as you note, it was "repossessed."


dInIs





>>...That
>>might be a nice hook, since there was a lot of meta-discussion of
>>what "putz" REALLY means and whether people should be offended.
>
>When we lived in Logansport, IN, in 1983, an indoor putting green -
>not quite a miniature golf course - opened.  The name was Mr. Putz.
>I thought it was hysterical - but I'm not sure whether anyone else in
>town knew why...
>
>What about the terms starting out offensive/insulting and then
>co-opted by the offended/insulted party?  Like "freak" in the 60s or
>"queer"?
>
>Rima

--
Dennis R. Preston
Department of Linguistics and Languages
Michigan State University
East Lansing MI 48824-1027 USA
preston at pilot.msu.edu
Office: (517)353-0740
Fax: (517)432-2736