In
historical linguistics, the process of an inoffensive word becoming pejorative is a form of
semantic drift known as
pejoration. An example of pejoration is the shift in meaning of the word
silly from meaning that a person was happy and fortunate to meaning that they are foolish and unsophisticated. The process of pejoration can repeat itself around a single concept, leaping from word to word in a phenomenon known as the
euphemism treadmill, for example as in the successive pejoration of the terms
bog-house,
privy-house,
latrine,
water closet,
toilet,
bathroom, and
restroom (US English). When a term begins as pejorative and eventually is adopted in a non-pejorative sense, this is called
melioration or
amelioration. One example is the shift in meaning of the word
nice from meaning a person was foolish to meaning that a person is pleasant. When performed deliberately, it is described as
reclamation or
reappropriation. An example of a word that has been reclaimed by portions of the community that it targets is
queer, which began being re-appropriated as a positive descriptor in the early 1990s by activist groups. However, due to its history and – in some regions – continued use as a pejorative, there remain LGBT individuals who are uncomfortable with having this term applied to them. The use of the
racial slur nigger (specifically the
-a variant) by
African Americans is often viewed as another act of reclamation, though some people of sub-Saharan African descent object to the use of the word under any circumstances. ==See also==