List of political epithets

Many political epithets are obtained by joining an otherwise neutral description of a political movement or group with a pejorative term questioning the groups's sanity or motives, or associating the group with hated political movements or leaders of the past.

Arguments about the use of these epithets often follow a pattern in which proponents of the epithets insist that the term is intended to be construed so narrowly as to be inoffensive while opponents insist that the term as heard by a typical listener will be construed more broadly. Examples of such arguments are visible in the sections below, but a general pattern may include, for proponents:

• The claim that a term (e.g., feminazi) is not intended to apply to all members of the group (feminists), but only those who exhibit some of the attributes suggested by the pejorative part of the term ("Nazis").
• The claim that the pejorative part of the term is intended to be construed narrowly (e.g., Nazi as short-hand for anybody who shows contempt for individual rights or the democratic process) rather than with its full connotations (e.g., Nazi as in Nazi Party).

For opponents, the countervailing claim is that whatever the stated intent of the users of the term, combining a term identifying a group with a pejorative necessarily creates an association between the group and the pejorative, leading many listeners to assume that all members of the group have all of the attributes suggested by the pejorative. This claim is arguably based on a naive associationistic view of human cognition that underestimates a typical listener's reasoning abilities. However, opponents of many pejorative epithets will argue that such naïve associationism is the basis of many standard techniques in public relations, and that the use of an epithet by persons trained in public relations techniques is reasonbly interpreted as an attempt to create such an association while maintaining deniability: a subtle example of the fallacy of equivocation.

Regardless of the intent of the author, the possibility that political epithets will be construed more broadly than expected creates the danger of alienating a large part of one's audience. Thus, except in cases where the epithet is being used as a shibboleth to closely identify the author with a particular political movement, a wise writer or speaker will generally adopt more neutral terminology. Conversely, in classical rhetoric, the principle of charity demands that when making an argument one assumes the most generous interpretation of one's opponent's statements, so that one's own argument is not derailed by simply claiming that the opponent's statements were misconstrued. This principle suggests that the most principled response to another's use of epithets is to ignore them, accepting at face value the user's claim to a narrow interpretation while again adopting more neutral terminology in one's own arguments.

A list of political epithets and pejorative political slogans with a brief description of each:

Abortion on Demand

U.S.: Used by opponents of legalized abortion to refer to those supporting the legalization of abortion for any or no reason. It should be noted that such people constitute a minority, even among the "pro-choice" movement.

Aid and comfort to the enemy

U.S.: This is used as an insult to anyone especially during war time. For example, many conservatives say that the movie maker Michael Moore by making his film Fahrenheit 9/11 was giving aid and comfort to the enemy of America in the early 2000s. Many liberals claim that George W. Bush's grandfather, Prescott Bush, was giving aid, at least, to Nazi Germany through his sitting on the board of a certain bank.

Derives from the United States Constitution, which uses the phrase as one of the conditions of treason.

Apparatchik

From (Soviet) Russian terminology, meaning simply a member of the political organisational apparatus of Soviet Russia, it now has a meaning in English which implies bureaucratic over-zealousness and/or slavish (to the point of mindlessness) devotion to a cause.

A recent example from the Washington Times: "Mr. McCain said commission Vice Chairman Ellen Weintraub is an "apparatchik" of the Democratic Party [...]"

Activist judges

U.S.: Used by right wing radio personalities, especially Rush Limbaugh, to refer to liberal judges, who they claim ignore the strict literal interpretation of the laws in favor of personal opinion, and in these conservatives' eyes, "make the law," a job reserved for the legislative branch of U.S. government.

Bible thumper

A negative term describing a fundamentalist or evangelical Christian who is considered to be overly zealous in haranguing or censuring others. Metaphorically used to describe Christians who seem as if they're hitting the outside of the Bible when defending their faith, rather than looking inside the book.

Birkenjock

U.S.: unknown. similar to manarchist? A liberal stereotypical clothing item is the Birkenstock brand of shoe, while jocks are typically conservative, suggesting some sort of hypocritical political viewpoint on the part of the person being insulted by this term.

Bleeding-heart liberal

U.S.: Used by conservatives to refer to liberals, in particular people liberal on social issues such as the death penalty or the drug war. Conservatives see these people as "soft on crime," thus enabling crime and causing harm to society, through wilfully ignorant naivete and/or gullibility.

Bolshevik, Bolshevism

U.S.: Derogatory term applied by extreme conservatives to anyone who was interested in even the slightest bit of leftism, such as the formation of labor unions.

Nazi Germany: Used against enemies of fascism, for example in Nazi propaganda posters.

See also Bolshevik.

Bourgeois

Insult used by communists against capitalists. Sometimes also used by other leftists to insult the upper class or right-wingers. The term bourgeois implies decadence and a certain amount of self centred hypocrisy. The term comes from the French bourgeois, meaning a well-to-do person who was not a member of the aristocracy. Bourgeois came to mean the well-to-do middle class, often owning property.

Brass

U.S.: Similar to "suit," but used within the military. Refers to the great deal of brass ornaments placed on uniforms of higher ranking military officials and administrators. Also "Washington Brass" to refer to the fact that many military administrators work in the Washington, D.C. area, particularly at the Pentagon.

Bushwhacker

U.S: civil war era: Term used by certain folks, mostly Anti-slavery, to denote the various groups of pro-slavery or simply opportunist bandits and militants who raided and killed people in the Arkansas, Missouri, and other areas in the Bleeding Kansas period.

Capitalist Roader

People's Republic of China: Used against Deng Xiaoping by radicals in the Chinese communist party (the Gang of Four in order to purge him 3 times; he was later rehabilitated into the party thrice and led China in the 1980s and 1990s).

Capitalist Pig

Used by communists to insult capitalists - probably by the supposed connection between pigs and greed.

Carpetbagger

See main article: Carpetbagger.

Post-Civil War U.S.: Politicians who move to a new jurisdiction in order to meet a residency requirement for holding public office. Originated from the fact that such short-notice travelers packed their belongings in a large bag made out of carpet-like material.

U.K.: Supporters of the conversion of mutual building societies into banks purely for reasons of personal financial gain.

Champagne socialist

See main article: Champagne socialist.

U.K.: Someone who claims to be a socialist while retaining the trappings of a wealthy lifestyle. It implies that the person is less than sincere in their beliefs. Similar terms in other countries include limousine liberal (US), chardonnay socialist (Australia), and gauche caviar.

Chauvinist Pig

U.S.: Used by feminists to describe a man who hates women and is not afraid to show it in his behavior and speech. Also Pig, Male Chauvinist, and Male Chauvinist Pig.

Cheap labor conservative

A term devised by the left-wing website Conceptual Guerilla (http://www.conceptualguerilla.com) as a counter to the right-wing epithet "big government liberal".

Commie

See Pinko.

Communist

U.S.: This term in and of itself became a slur during the Cold War.

Corporate Goon

Member of a corporation, typically doing some unpleasant or unehtical work in order to keep their own job or simply because they have a certain devotion to the corporation. Also Corporate Dweeb. See also Suit.

Counterrevolutionary

Used in communist countries, especially China during the Cultural Revolution, to refer to people whom others felt were betraying the communist revolution. Also used in the Soviet Union. Notice, however, that the term is not necessarely an insult in and of itself (see main article: Counterrevolutionary).

Dhimmicrat

Extremist Islamophobic hawks (for example those on the warblog Little Green Footballs) have branded Democratic opponents of the 2003 Iraq War as traitors in the War on Terrorism and thus referred to them as dhimmicrats (from dhimmi). In a similar vein, they have referred to the Spanish Socialist PM José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero as "the prime minister of Al-Andalus".

Dirty Hippy

U.S.: Used by conservatives to refer to certain liberals. Comes from the mode of dress of many hippies during the 1960s, including unshaved beards, long hair, and no bras.

Dummycrat, Demorat

Used by Republicans to refer to certain Democrats. Less extreme than "Dhimmicrat"

Environmentalist wacko, Econazi and Ecoterrorists

Environmentalist wacko and Econazi and Ecoterrorists are phrases that right-wing talk show host Rush Limbaugh uses to describe what he considers to be extremely radical environmentalists; he does not use them to describe people who merely care about the environment.

According to Limbaugh, some "environmentalist wackos" and "econazis"reject all forms of higher technology (electrical, mechanical, medicine, etc) and want the United States to abolish the automobile, stop using oil and gas, and revert to an agrarian society. Members of Earth First or the Earth Liberation Front would in his view exemplify "environmentalist wackos", since they are known for carrying out criminal attacks on organizations they deem destructive to the environment, such as setting fire to buildings or breaking into labs to release animals used for scientific research. These people would also sometimes be called ecoterrorists - many would object to such usage because it seems to equate acts of minor vandalism with major terrorist acts.

He extends the use of the term to describe a much broader segment of the environmentalist movement; thus, other environmentalist policies and principles he attributes to "environmentalist wackos" include: ignoring economic consequences of environmental laws; ignoring or avoiding any cost/benefit analysis regarding environmental policies; placing an equal or higher value on animal life than on human life; suggestions that animals are "just as intelligent" as humans; relying on lawsuits and laws to solve environmental problems, rather than relying on the marketplace. Thus, quite a few environmentalists would probably qualify as "wackos" in his view. He also often accuses "environmentalist wackos" of using environmentalism as an excuse for the government to gain more property and more control over the lives of citizens.

Limbaugh presents news stories with opinions which are unfavorable to theories and beliefs that those he characterizes as "environmentalist wackos" presumably hold. Similar views about the wider environmentalist movement are widely held by many people with conservative political views. Extremist environmentalist organizations like Earth First! and the Earth Liberation Front are generally repudiated by people of nearly all political persuasions.

Fascist

1930s: Used to describe people who were thought to support Hitler, Mussolini, and other Fascists. Late 20th century: Used by leftists to refer to conservatives, arguing that many conservative policies and philosophies resemble those of the fascists. Also used to refer to members of the Ku Klux Klan.

Fellow Traveler

U.S.: Term used to describe those who spent time with communists, during the McCarthy era. The artist Norman Rockwell made fun of this idea with a painting of two children walking in the country, entitled 'fellow travelers'. It is probably no coincidence that 'fellow traveler' is a translation of the Russian Sputnik (Спутник) - the name given to the Earth's first artificial satellite by its developers in the communist USSR.

Feminazi

Feminazi is a term coined by conservative radio host Rush Limbaugh to refer to feminists. To Limbaugh, a feminazi was originally a woman to whom "the most important thing in life is seeing to it that as many abortions as possible are performed". This definition could include advocates of some forms of population control.

Others now use the term more loosely to describe almost any active and militant feminist. The term is also sometimes used to describe politically correct movements, such as those who draw attention to supposedly sexist language in daily life.

Gay Agenda

U.S.: Phrase used by conservatives to insult anything having to do with Gays. Some conservatives feel that any gay issue leads to a 'slippery slope' which will result, finally, in the wholesale adoption of a 'gay agenda', which they believe includes pedophilia, rape, the abolition of Christianity, etc etc.

Godless Communist

U.S.: Used by right-wingers to insult communists, referring to the fact that most communists were atheists.

Governor Moonbeam

Used to refer to Jerry Brown, one-time Governor of California and current mayor of Oakland, California. The term 'moonbeam' makes fun of a slightly ethereal, or new ageish, or hippyish quality of his ideas.

Half-naked Fakir

Phrase used by Winston Churchill and other British imperialists to refer to Mahatma Gandhi.

Hippy

U.S.: used to insult liberals, especially after the 1960s. Unlike 'dirty hippy', just 'hippy' is used typically to insult someone for their social views rather than their appearance or grooming habits. Also 'damn hippy'.

Hitler

U.S., late 1990s/2000s: Used by virtually all sides of all debates to describe their enemy. Conservatives claimed that anti-war people were similar to those who appeased Hitler in the 1930s. Liberals claimed that conservative philosophy and actions were similar to those of Hitler. Free Software people claimed that Bill Gates' philosophy was similar to Hitler's. Conservatives say that political correctness is Hitlerish (see also "Feminazi").

The only group that has not invoked Hitler's name to insult their opponents are probably the Neo-Nazis themselves.

See also Godwin's Law.

Holocaust Denier

U.S.: Used to insult someone when you want it to look like they don't care about a tragedy. Similar to the use of Hitler. Derives from an actual movement of Holocaust Deniers, people who write extensive books and do research trying to prove that the Holocaust did not happen, or that its scale has been terribly exaggerated, in their mind caused by a Jewish Conspiracy.

Holohoax, Holoco$t

Used by Holocaust deniers and revisionists to refer to the belief that the Holocaust has been exaggerated or fabricated.

International Jewish Conspiracy, International Jewry

An idea particularly favored by Hitler, Henry Ford, Charles Lindbergh, and other anti-Semites, that said that there was an international conspiracy of Jews to enslave the rest of mankind. A favorite piece of 'evidence' of this conspiracy was the book The Protocols of the Elders of Zion, allegedly written by Jews, but is now believed to be written by the Okhranka.

Islamofascism, Islamonazism

The terms Islamofascism and Islamonazism are used by advocates of the view that aspects of Islam are fascist or similar to behaviour or thought typical of Nazis and are often used to compare Muslim countries to Nazi Germany. These terms were popularized by writers like Andrew Sullivan during the 2003 debate over whether secular, Baathist Iraq was in collusion with fundamentalist terror group Al Qaeda. Radio host Michael Savage claims to have coined the term. During World War II, some Arab nationalists did collaborate with the Nazis (such as Amin al-Husayni); but so did some Zionist Jews [1] (http://www.counterpunch.org/brenner1223.html).

Some use the term "Islamofascism" specifically to refer to the Muslim Brotherhood and similar movements in Sunni Islam inspired by the writings of Sayyid Qutb, while others use it to refer to all highly politicized strains of Islam, including Shi'a radicalism as practised in Iran. A more common and less loaded term for these politicized strains of Islam, which seek to replace secular governments in Muslim countries with Sharia law, is Islamist.

An Antifascist dissident in Berlin discusses: Is there such a thing as Islamofascism? (http://www.dki.antifa.net/inipa/inipa.php?p=islamofascism)

See also: Islamophobia

Jews that run Hollywood

U.S.: Many conservatives and racists claim that the Jews run the American film industry. This is the term they use to describe it.

Jewspaper

Refers to the belief that Jews control many newspapers.

Jew York

Refers to the belief that Jews control New York City.

Job with a name tag on your shirt

Insult used to describe a variety of jobs which are typically low paying and where workers are treated with little respect by their employers as well as the public, such as gas station attendant, mechanic, plumber, janitor, store clerk, and others. Strangely enough many positions of some respect also have their name on their shirts, such as police officers, park service employees, military people, astronauts and others. Also known as a 'Joe Job', especially referring to jobs held by High School students. The implication is it is a type of job held during one's adolescence and that one should 'grow out of' such jobs.

Judeofascism, Zionazism, Zionist entity

Judeofascism and Zionazism are terms used by advocates of the view that aspects of Judaism, Zionism or Israeli government policy are fascist or similar to behavior thought typical of Nazis.

Sometimes the target of these terms is a philosophy that only Jews should have political rights in Israel, or that Israel should be governed by the principles of Jewish law rather than Western democratic principles.

Much more commonly, the terms are used by opponents of Israel's treatment of the Palestinians. Terms like Judeofascism are intended to compare the Israeli control of the West Bank, Gaza Strip and Golan Heights to the Nazi German occupations of various European countries.

Anti-Zionists often refer to the state of Israel as the Zionist entity in order to delegitimize it.

Kill Whitey

U.S.: Phrase used, especially in the 1960s, by a few folks to display their lack of affection for the American social system, and its white power holders, in particular.

Know-nothing party

U.S.: 1850s political party that was opposed to the Free Soilers, the Whigs, the Democrats, and the Republicans. Took its name from the phrases people used to insult its members.

Legislating from the Bench

See Activist Judges

Liberal Media

U.S.: Idea promulgated by right wing talk show folks that the media has a liberal bias. They claim the highest proof of this is that a supermajority of journalists are Democrats. The major liberal newspaper is supposedly the New York Times, which Rush Limbaugh claims to have quit reading.

Long hair

U.S.: Used to insult liberals, especially in the 1960s. Many people felt that men growing long hair was somehow offensive, especially after many anti-vietnam-war protestors tended to have long hair. But perhaps it was more than that, including themes of gender bending, for women traditionally had long hair in US society, or cleanliness, or perhaps even a racial element, since some American Indian tribes males had long hair. Two examples in pop culture are the Poison cover song "Your momma dont dance and your daddy dont rock and roll", and the song "signs" covered by Tesla.

Loony Left

A name sometimes used for what is considered to be the far left.

Manarchist

U.S.: Term used by some feminists to refer to male members of the left wing who hold fast to several conservative viewpoints on women, and their worth and role in society, tending to the misogynist. See also birkenjock.

McCarthyite

U.S.: Those who allegedly follow the tactics of Senator Joe McCarthy, who ruined many careers during the Red Scare in the 1950s. McCarthyism

Muckraker

U.S.: Journalists who spend too much time digging up nasty details, usually of people or organizations that weild much power. Derives from the early 1900s journalism from folks like Ida Tarbell and others, who felt the social cost of Industrial Revolution needed to be met by a Progressive Movement of politics and culture. Also Yellow Journalism

Neocrazy, Neo-crazy, Neo-crazies

U.S.: Members of the neoconservative movement.

Neofeudalism

"Neofeudalism" is used in the United States to criticize policies of right-wing politicians, especially from the United States Republican Party. It compares their allegedly pro-plutocracy views to feudalism.

NIMBY, BANANA

NIMBY - acronym for Not In My Back Yard, used by critics of those who fight (almost) every development that is considered negative (commonly landfills, incinerators, prisons, nuclear reactors and such) whenever it is near that person's home without considering that such things need to be built somewhere. BANANA - Build Absolutely Nothing Anywhere Near Anybody, a more extreme version of NIMBY, used to criticize those who allegedly believe in zero development, regardless of consequences.

Old Europe

U.S. early 2000s: Phrase used by the US Defense Secretary to insult countries that would not ally with him in the 2003 war in Iraq, especially Germany and France.

Orthodox Taliban

Serbia and Montenegro (and, possibly, other Orthodox countries): Those who want to introduce to everyday life religious practices supposedly in similar way as Taliban did, for example, religious education to schools or ban of abortion.

See also Taliban wing of the Republican Party

Pig

Used by many to insult cops, especially during the 1960s.

Pinko

A person sympathetic to the Communist Party and Russia during the Cold War but not an outright Communist. Often used by people on the extreme right to describe anyone who doesn't share their views. Probably very similar in meaning but more insulting than "Fellow Traveller". Widely used in the USA and other countries. Used most famously in 1950 by Richard Nixon against Helen Gahagan Douglas: "She's pink down to her underwear". (At the time, women's undergarments, if colored, were usually pink.)

The identification of Communism with "Socialist" red (and with red being the primary color of the flag of the Soviet Union) led to such Cold War phrases as "the Red Menace" and "Red China".

Hence "Pinko," pink being a light red.

Racist

U.S.: Used to indicate that the insultee's judgements of people are based on racial stereotypes rather than observation, logic, reason, or reality. Typically used by leftists, especially against white supremacists, and segregationists. Also used to describe media and art that liberals feel promotes a racist philosophy, or insults ethnic groups who may see the media or art. Sometimes used by members of certain ethnic groups to insult liberals, especially limousine liberals. Also used by conservatives to insult liberals, who consider liberals to be condescending and elitist towards other races, and hence, racist.

It was not always considered bad to be a racist in the U.S. Some might argue that movements such as that of Martin Luther King Jr. and his supporters are what made it seem bad to be a racist in U.S. society, since in the late 1900s both 'wings' strove to claim they were not racist, whereas before, neither 'wing' cared whether they appeared 'racist' or not.

Reactionary

Typically used by communist countries and left wingers to refer to right wingers. However, this is not always an insult and has been used by many right-wingers to identify themselves. See main article: Reactionary.

Red

U.S.: Cold War. Used to describe communists or people believed to be communist within or without United States, as with Red Dean Acheson, or Red China.

Red Agitator

U.S.: early-to-mid 1900s. Especially used to refer to people who were trying to form labor unions or to help Black people get their civil rights. Typically applied to instigators of the activity, such as organizers, union representatives, leaders, and so forth. See Bolshevik

Republicrat

See main article: Republicrat.

In the U.S., used by Greens, independents, libertarians, socialists, and others to indicate they believe that the Democratic and Republican parties are very similar to each other.

Rightist

China: used by the communist party to refer to right wingers. Especially during Mao's Anti-rightist campaign.

Rightist Opportunist

China, communist era

Ronnie Raygun

U.S.: Used to insult president Ronald Reagan by those who felt he was obsessed with high-tech weaponry and making a public show of military force. It could be seen as a combination of his support of many weapons programs and his Reagan Doctrine for defeating the Soviet Union in the Cold War. His weapons programs included the MX Missile, the Strategic Defense Initiative, the B-1 Bomber, and others, while his Doctrine was to outspend the Soviets on weaponry, and invade or give weapons and money to many third world rebel movements that were fighting against communist governments.

Rootless Cosmopolitan

Soviet Union: The Stalinists used this phrase to describe certain Jews during 1948-1953.

Running dog of the imperialists

People's Republic of China: Enemies seen as doing work against China for the benefit of, or on the orders of, capitalist countries.

Scalawag

US civil war era term

Suit

U.S.: People in power typically wear suits in the U.S. Typically refers to a member of a corporation but can refer to any administrative type position in any large organization, such as a school, or a government agency.

Sympathizer

This term can be preceded by quite a few words. Popular ones include 'nazi-sympathizer' , 'communist-sympathizer' , and 'terrorist-sympathizer'. You can use this for basically anything, if you feel that someone does not conform to your particular side of an issue with sufficient vigor. It is similar to the 'Hitler' idea, but you dont have to go so far as to call someone a Nazi, just someone whose mind wasnt made up about the nazis. This also combines with the idea that ideas are extremely important... perhaps dipping into the realms of meaning and language, existentialism and the philosophy of mind.

Taliban wing of the Republican Party

Used in the United States by detractors of the religious right, to associate the social policies favored by parts of the United States Republican Party with the radically repressive social policies of the Taliban. The term was less widely used after the September 11, 2001 Terrorist Attacks, when comparisons to the Taliban, with which the United States was soon at war, became more inflammatory.

See also Orthodox Taliban

Tax and Spend Liberal

U.S.: Use by conservatives to say that someone doesn't care about the efficiency of government and only wants to tax people to death.

The Man

U.S.: Term used by certain liberals to indicate their opinion that there was a single overarching system that was responsible for a great deal of evil in the world and in their lives. Somewhat mixed with the feminist notion of a patriarchy. Also used to describe police officers and other law enforcement personnel.

Tory and Whig

Originally the Whigs were proponents of, and Tories the opponents of, moves to exclude the future King James II from succession to the throne of England; Richard was a Roman Catholic and was eventually ousted when he tried to reintroduce his religion to England. Tory is derived from the Irish word, "toraidhe", which translates as 'pursuer' and means an outlaw or rebel, specifically a Roman Catholic who preyed on the Protestant Settlers. The name stuck to the conservative side of British politics even beyond the formation of the British Conservative Party in 1830. Today, the term is used widely to refer to that party or its members, and also in Canada to refer to members of the various Conservative parties. In neither case is the name pejorative.

Tory was also used in USA to describe the loyalists during the American Revolution.

The term Whig was originally used to mean a Scottish Presbyterian, particularly a Covenanter in rebellion against the Crown. The origin of the word is obscure but it may refer to a group of seventeenth century Scottish rebels whose attack on Edinburgh is called the Whiggamore Raid. Alternatively "whigmaleerie" is an old Scottish word meaning a silly idea.

Traitor

Someone who betrays their country.

U.S.: Before the 2003 Iraq War, conservative radio host Sean Hannity claimed that anti-war protestors were traitors.

Tree hugger

Used in the United States and elsewhere to describe environmentally minded activists. It originated from people who tried to prevent logging by putting themsleves in danger such as chaining themselves to threatened trees.

Troll

See main article: Internet troll.

Internet. This term is used often by administrators, moderators, 'ops', and others with power on the internet to insult those who criticize their actions or words. It derives from the use of the word 'troll' to describe people who performed intentionally destructive postings on the internet, such as crapfloods or cyber vandalism.

Trotskyite

Used by certain Stalinist communists to insult communists who do not follow the party line. Named after Leon Trotsky, a communist who was opposed to Stalin and claimed that Stalin had betrayed the Russian Revolution. In Britain this epithet is used generally, but especially by those on the left, to refer to those parts of the far left which follow Trotsky's teachings. It is often shortened to 'Trot'.

Troublemaker

Often use by people in power to insult people who criticize those in power. Examples include labor union organizers, in which the phrase is in the spirit of 'red agitator'. However it was also used by the Chinese Communist government to refer to dissidents such as Harry Wu, who wrote a book entitled Troublemaker.

Uncle Tom

U.S.: Especially used in the 1960s by certain black militants to refer to Martin Luther King, Jr. and any similar protest movements, which had a philosophy of non-violence. Perhaps one of the most famous uses of this phrase was in Malcolm X's speech "The Ballot or the Bullet", which described Dr. King as an "Uncle Tom Handkerchief Head". The term derives from the famous novel Uncle Tom's Cabin by Harriet Beecher Stowe which had a subservient African-American character in slavery to an evil white man. The female equivalent is Aunt Jemima.

Useful Idiot

This term was coined by Vladimir Lenin to refer to those who assist some moves towards Communism while in ignorance of its full programme. Contemporary usage is predominantly by right wingers such as talk show host Michael Savage who use it to refer to liberals.

Van party or Taxi party

A political party that is supposedly so small that their entire membership could fit into a van or a taxi. Expression "van party" (kombi stranka) is used in Serbia and Montenegro, "taxi party" (partido do táxi) in Portugal.

Vast right-wing conspiracy

U.S.: Phrase used by Hillary Clinton to insult conservatives who were trying to impeach her husband. See main article: Vast right-wing conspiracy.

Woman hating

Term used by feminists to insult conservative and/or right wing statements or actions that they consider to be in their essence motivated by a hatred of women.

Wowser

A New Zealand term, almost obsolete. Originally it meant an alcohol Prohibitionist. It also came to mean a killjoy, someone whose opposition to alcohol extended to all social jollity.

WASP

WASP is an acronym for White Anglo-Saxon Protestant. It was coined in the early 1960s to describe the ruling elite of the United States, implying that they were almost exclusively drawn from a very narrow social group. There was possibly the further implication that as WASP's they had little or no sympathy for other social groups. Today it is more generally used by antiestablishment social critics who may wish to put an ethnic label on their political opponents. In practice, as of 2004 there are not many Americans, percentage-wise, of real English descent, and even fewer of them are actually practicing Protestants. The targets of the term are pretty much all white Americans as well as the successful Asian-Americans who the critics may deem as a dominant, allegedly fairly homogenous, pro-"establishment" social group. The term is used largely by liberals, especially those belonging to ethnic minorities.

WASP is also used in historical writings about the turn of the 19th-20th century United States to distinguish white Americans who have lived in the country for a long time, and hence were relatively wealthy and fluent in English from the recent immigrants from Southern and Eastern Europe.

Whitey

U.S.: Term especially used by black militants in the 1960s to refer to white people, or perhaps the american social system.

Yellow journalism

U.S.: see Muckracker. Derives from the yellow color of pages that the early 1900s newspapers used to print Muckracking journalism articles. Used as an insult by people who tend to be targets of this journalism.

Young Turk

See main article: Young Turks.

A young usurper, but more commonly in current useage refers to a younger person within a corporate environment pushing for major change.

Zionist

See Judeofascism

See also

• Godwin's Law
• Political correctness used as a pejorative in attacks on the actions and speech of left-wingers, often in a phrase such as "political correctness gone mad"
• List of ethnic slurs
• List of sexual slurs

References

[bushwacker (http://www.rulen.com/partisan/partisan.htm)]