For the longest time, “liberal” seemed like it basically just meant “Democrat” the same way “conservative” has/had been used to mean “Republican.” Now, it seems like it means “bad Democrat” and is even worse than being MAGA the way many seem to use it. Where did its use as an insult within the [relative] political left come from, and what does it specifically accuse/identify someone of/as?
I’ll go more general, any label can be a insult. In spoken language you can hear it in the tone, the pitch, and the slurring of the word. Spoken with hate.
The normal rhetorical method is to use a extreme caricature of the opponents ideas and misapply the label, use it in derisive context… and overtime it becomes a commonly understood insult.
example: Those damn pescatarians! They are so focused on the sea they cannot see where they stumble on the land! Bloody navieish pescatarians.
Sounds like just about the kind of argument a filthy literate like yourself would make.
Call me literate one more time, to my face, and see what happens!
This comment and response elevated this discussion. I’m still laughing.