Name-calling is a form of argument in which insulting or demeaning labels are directed at an individual or group. This phenomenon is studied by a variety of academic disciplines such as anthropology, child psychology, and political science. It is also studied in rhetoric and a variety of other disciplines.

In politics and public opinion

Politicians sometimes resort to name-calling during political campaigns or public events with the intentions of gaining advantage over, or defending themselves from, an opponent or critic. Often such name-calling takes the form of labelling an opponent as an unreliable and untrustworthy source, such as use of the term " flip-flopper".

Common misconceptions

Gratuitous

verbal abuse Verbal abuse (also known as verbal aggression, verbal attack, verbal violence, verbal assault, psychic aggression, or psychic violence) is a type of Psychological abuse, psychological/mental abuse that involves the use of Oral language, oral or w ...

or "name-calling" is not on its own an example of the abusive ''argumentum ad hominem''

logical fallacy In logic and philosophy, a formal fallacy is a pattern of reasoning rendered invalid by a flaw in its logical structure. Propositional logic, for example, is concerned with the meanings of sentences and the relationships between them. It focuses ...

. The fallacy occurs only if personal attacks are employed to devalue a speaker's argument by attacking the speaker; personal insults in the middle of an otherwise sound argument are not fallacious ''ad hominem'' attacks.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Name-Calling Harassment and bullying Names Pejorative terms