Slurs and register: A case study in meaning pluralism

Abstract

Most theories of slurs fall into two families: Those which understand slurring terms to involve special descriptive/informational content (however conveyed), and those which understand them to encode special emotive/expressive content. Both offer essential insights, but part of what sets slurs apart is use-theoretic content. Slurring words belong at the intersection of categories in a sociolinguistic register taxonomy, one that usually includes [+slang, +vulgar] and always includes [-polite, +derogatory]. What distinguishes “Chinese” from “chink,” for example, is neither a peculiar sort of descriptive nor emotional content, but the fact that “chink” is lexically marked as belonging to different registers. Moreover, such facts contribute to slurring being ethically unacceptable.