Document Type
Article
Publication Date
January 2019
Source
Critica
Volume
51
Issue
153
First Page
3
Last Page
30
URL with Digital Object Identifier
10.22201/iifs.18704905e.2019.00
Abstract
There is a particular kind of use of slurs in which the negative emotions typically associated with them (hatred, anger) are not present in the occurrence. Even so, these uses still resonate as incorrect or inadequate. This kind of “detached use” is not only an interesting, rarely mentioned phenomenon per se; it also offers some support to a novel approach to slurs based on the sociolinguistic notion of “register”. This paper examines some types of detached uses, extracts some of their essential features and assesses the way the register-based approach to slurs can account for them.
Notes
Uncorrected proofs