Negative language used in political arguments

[RandomChocolate8]

Okay, firstly, not trying to start a bunfight, but I'm a bit of a language nerd and do think this is genuinely interesting.

There's been a lot of accusations from both left and right about the other side being nasty. (and both sides definitely have their share of assholes) however..

I was thinking about the type of negative descriptions used to describe leftwingers or rightwingers.

There do seem to be a lot more negative descriptions and generic insults for leftwingers than for right.

e.g.:
libtard
remoaner
champagne socialist
luvvie
feminazi

The thing is I can't think of the leftwing equivalents. Insults leveled by the left when getting into a bunfight tend to be more generic (e.g. ignorant), not ones that are rightwing-specific.

The only ones I can think of offhand that the left use are snowflake which started on Twitter mostly by American right, but now seems to be used by both sides.

I've also seen Nazi used but only on Twitter and then only at actual self-proclaimed white supremacists.

Even something fairly innocuous like 'leftie' doesn't really have an equivalent. 'Rightie' anyone?
And the opposite of a 'remoaner' is a Brexiter, which I don't think is negative.

So I guess my questions are: has anyone else noticed this? Why such a big difference in number of terms?
And what are the leftwing equivalents? Are there any?

Hmm, that is a point although I do think it does then tend to be a specific response to a specific comment (not at all justifying btw) but a shout of racist to a specific comment perceived as racist (whether correct or not) is still talking about a specific issue and discussion.
Using a collective negative term for an individual automatically shuts down anything they say as invalid.
I understand what you mean by personal but debate has to be on what individuals have actually said - and going back and forth with an argument - rather than lumping everyone who disagrees into a homogenous group that is automatically wrong.

Oh I am. On Twitter too, where it gets even more uncivilised. The nastiness does come from both sides tbh.
Think I should probably have posted this in the grammar section as it's the difference in types of insults that I find so interesting.

why brexit was so quiet, and why torys are now so quiet.

This I do disagree with though.
Keeping quiet because you don't want to get into an argument happens on both side.
My landlord is a big Brexiter but I've always changed the subject. Not going to risk getting into an argument with the man who owns my house, especially because he's so very disdainful of 'remoaners'
A lot of people hold their tongues to keep the peace on both sides.

It is interesting - the difference in types of insult. 'Ignorant' is an existing word with a clear definition.

I know if someone calls me 'ignorant' that they think I am not very well informed and at a stretch, by inference, poorly educated. 'Libtard' is a neologism, coined just as an insult, and using a very insulting word for its second syllable. If someone calls me a 'libtard' I know they think I am stupid because I hold what they believe to be liberal views.

'Brexiteer' is a neologism suggesting an affiliation but with no particular negative associations (unless we link it to 'privateer' with its piracy associations which I think is a bit of. a long shot) whereas 'Remoaner' is clearly critical of the belief held and the way it's being expressed.

I have been amazed at the number of people who join political debates on mumsnet and then get offended when asked to explain/provide evidence/justify their beliefs.

I had never seen this before and it is difficult to understand. Steering clear of political threads if you don't like political discussion seems reasonable, getting agitated because you plopped your views on a thread and have been asked to elaborate further seems utterly bizarre.

Yet widespread. And I dare say some of the frustration from all parts of the political spectrum about this, sometimes leads to the insults.

I think the Left are so aggressive and nasty because they feel life is unfair and anyone who votes differently wants to keep that unfairness.
The truth however, is that life is unfair and unfortunately a government cannot make it fair, however much they try.

Tbh, I thought of doing that GardenGeek
Analysing how people use language is actually part of my day job and I thought the results might be interesting.
I'd need a good few fairly large threads to get a decent-sized sample and do it properly though.
Ultimately I'd need a bit more time . If I do ever get round to it, I'll post the results here!