Fwd: in-group language

[Joel S. Berson]

A correspondent asks:

>I have a question from a friend, and I can't remember the term, but
>I seem to recall that it comes up with humor/insults. I wonder if
>you might know:
>
>
>
>>
>>Dear Linguist peeps, I need your help. I am searching my brain for
>>a technical term for the sociolinguistic phenomenon that causes
>>members of the same group (be it racial, ethnic, gender-based or
>>another speech community) to use certain terms without causing
>>offense whereas the same term used by an outsider to the group
>>would potentially be negatively received. Do you'll know what I am
>>talking about?
>>

Since my correspondent's correspondent was looking for Linguist
peeps, I've passed the question on here.

Joel

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