If you could ban a word from general usage, which one would it be, and why?

This fun question popped up in my WordPress dashboard the other day. My reply is below the fold:

Neoliberal

Because this empty epithet is not only meaningless; it is usually hurled by people, especially academics, who just want to make their lame ad hominem arguments sound sophisticated.

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About F. E. Guerra-Pujol

When I’m not blogging, I am a business law professor at the University of Central Florida.
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2 Responses to If you could ban a word from general usage, which one would it be, and why?

  1. Craig's avatar Craig says:

    “Woke” — not that I defend the concept but because it was essentially turned into a slur, thanks mostly to DeSantis.

  2. As a free speech absolutist, I believe that no words should be banned.

    I think Neoliberal is one of those those words that is only an insult based on the context of usage.

    I think most cases when someone is called “neoliberal” some see it as a milder synonym for “globalist”. Implying you are selling out to corporate interests.

    I think the distinct depends whether you are attributing the title to a person or a set of policies. Typically when Reagan’s trade policy was described in textbooks (putting aside liberal bias) is being used more in the canonical sense of the original meaning of the word.

    Much how context matters on how the “N-word” is used ( it can be an insult or a quasi-term of endearment depending on the speaker and their intentions), the same applies to the term “Neoliberal” Obviously, as far as slurs go, “Neoliberal” could never hold a candle to the “N-word” (considering the N-word is considered one of the most vile words in the English language).

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