SNL Bits, And Harsh Words By Definition

by Kevin Burton

   I say “Jane you ignorant slut,” and you of a certain age know exactly what I am talking about.

   It’s an old Saturday Night Live bit from the 70s, Point/Counterpoint, a sendup of the political opinion shows and a similar segment on 60 Minutes. Jane Curtin spoke in favor of a woman suing for $3 million in a common law marriage claim, Dan Akroyd, spoke against.

   The reason it was so funny is, though political combatants in that day may well have thought ill of those they disagreed with, there was at least a veneer of civility in public discourse.

   Akroyd’s line trashed that.

   I didn’t remember anything else Curtin or Akroyd said in that bit, until I called it up on You Tube just now.

   Ignorant-slut-type speech is not at all surprising these days. In fact, there is a Reddit question asking why “Jane you ignorant slut” is supposed to be so funny.

   These are nasty times and people don’t hold back. Talk radio today, is absolutely unlistenable.

   If you’re a centrist, and want to throw the book at loudmouth extremists of both varieties, why not throw the dictionary?

   Our friends at Merriam-Webster put together a list of words describing harsh speech.  How many of them fit the tone of public speech today?

1-Acerb/Acerbic: sharply or bitingly critical, sarcastic, or ironic in temper, mood, or tone

     Acerb and acerbic first appear as adjectives for sharp and biting words or remarks in the 19th century.  Acerb, however, had been around since the 17th century, describing sour foods and flavors. Acerb and acerbic ultimately come from French acerbe and Latin acerbus, both of which are adjectives meaning variously “harsh,” “sour,” “bitter,” or “unpleasant.”

2-Acid/Acidic/Acidulous: sharply clear, discerning, harsh, or pointed

   Acid designates substances that can taste sour, change the color of certain indicators (e.g., acid reddens blue litmus paper), react with some metals (as iron) to yield hydrogen gas or bases to form salts, or bring on other chemical reactions. The name is of Latin origin (from acidus, an adjective derived from acēre meaning “to be sour”) and is first applied in English during the 1600s.

   Figurative adjectival experiments with acid, along with acidulous, are first made during the 1700s. Acidic was first experimented with in science writing during the 1800s (e.g., “acidic oxides,” “acidic water”) before joining acid and acidulous as an adjective describing words that are sharp, strong, or critical in tone.

3-Acrid/Acrimonious: deeply or violently bitter

   Acrid is used to describe things unpleasingly or irritatingly sharp or strong to the senses of taste and smell. An overly salted brine might be called “acrid,” for example, or smoke from burning chemicals.

   Like acid and acerbic, acrid can be applied to the remarks of a bitter person—acrimonious might also be an applicable substitute.

   In the past, acrimonious was used to describe things bitter to the taste, but it is far more commonly used to refer to bitter words coming from the mouths of bitter people. Both acrid and acrimonious are from Latin ācer meaning “sharp, pungent, or biting.”

4-Astringent: rigidly severe : pungent or caustic 

   An astringent is a medicine for checking the discharge of mucus or serum by causing shrinkage of body tissue; it is also a liquid cosmetic for cleansing the skin and contracting the pores. As an adjective, astringent refers to astringents and things having an astringent effect, such as the astringent taste of a sour candy that makes the eater pucker their lips. 

   The word derives from Latin astringere, meaning “to bind fast or tight.” The tightening effects of an astringent has come to be associated with the rigid severity of words. 

5-Caustic: marked by incisive sarcasm

   Caustic was formed in Middle English as an adjective for chemical substances capable of destroying or eating away something, such as caustic lime. The word is based on Latin causticus, which itself derives from Greek kaustikos. Kaustikos, in turn, comes from the Greek verb kaiein, meaning “to burn.”

    In time, caustic was burned into the English language as an adjective to describe incisive sarcasm. Other describe kaiein descendants include cauter and  cauterize.

6-Corrosive: bitingly sarcastic

   Corrosive is related to corrode, which is used to express wearing away gradually by chemical action and is from Latin corrōdere, a combination of the suffix cor- (an intensifier with the meaning of “completely”) and the verb rōdere (“to gnaw, nibble, or eat away”).  The Latin root verb is also part of the etymology of rodent.

   At one time, corrode was used to literally indicate the action of gnawing away, as in “woodworms corroded the wood.” However, it is the more figurative senses from the action of gnawing or eating away that have persisted, as in “salt water corroded the iron” or “the player’s negativity is corroding the team’s morale.”

   Corrosive is from Anglo-French and Medieval Latin. In Middle English, it had the form corrosif and originally was used for things having the ability to physically corrode. Like corrode, corrosive developed metaphorical use but one mostly linked to sarcasm. 

7-Mordant: biting and caustic in thought, manner, or style

   Mordant is a chemical that fixes a dye in or on a material for which otherwise would not take. It is also a corroding substance used in etching. Adjectival application of mordant goes back to the 15th century. The word derives from the Middle French verb mordre, meaning “to bite”” and early use of the adjective was for a figurative verbal bite. 

8-Scalding: bitterly severe

   Scald is commonly known as a verb meaning “to burn with or as if with hot liquid or steam.” Café au lait (in French literally “coffee with milk”) drinkers might be aware that the milk in their beverage is “scalded” by the barista, meaning it is brought to a temperature just below the boiling point, and cooks will know tomatoes are sometimes “scalded” to make a sauce, meaning they are boiled or steamed. 

   Scald is from Anglo-French escalder and eschauder, words that derive from Late Latin excaldare, meaning “to wash in warm water.” The Latin is from the prefix ex- (“thoroughly”) and calidus (“warm”), which itself is from the verb calēre, “to be warm.” The present participle scalding is an occasional synonym of the adjective scathing.