Talk:bigot

Tolerance

Tolerance...

This is a word which means different things to different people. Is this tolerance to differing opinions, words or actions? In light of the definition of bigot, these different things to tolerate give a very different definition of bigot. — This unsigned comment was added by 74.211.27.242 (talk).

Why does bigot link to hypocrite? — This unsigned comment was added by 211.30.209.193 (talk).

Etymology

Anatoly Liberman is sceptical of the "by God" origin and suggests "Albigot" from Albigensians. Jnestorius 16:15, 26 October 2011 (UTC)

I don't find that explanation makes much sense. Bigots are sanctimonious in their opinions, not heretical. Leasnam (talk) 17:24, 15 February 2018 (UTC)

It makes sense in that the Cathars (Albigensians) were self-righteous towards the Catholics. — This unsigned comment was added by 58.108.82.98 (talk)., 16 June 2018

Moustache

I am surprised that no one suggests the obvious possibility that this means "moustache". The word in Spanish is bigote and in Catalan (and probably Occitan) it is bigot. One can well imagine that at a certain point in time moustaches were no longer fashionable, but conservative, sanctimonious types were wont to still wear them, and thus they were stereotyped by their appearance. Correctrix (talk) 01:01, 8 November 2017 (UTC)

Quite a stretch if you ask me Leasnam (talk) 03:29, 8 November 2017 (UTC)

Definition

The original meaning was intolerance of another's beliefs. It is a modern mistake (now generally accepted it seems) to conflate it with general prejudice. For example, one can be bigoted to a person if they despise their views on abortion. But "bigot" should not be used if there is intolerance based on ethnicity or any physical characteristics. If someone is bigoted to Jewish people, it means they have contempt for their religious doctrine, not that they hate them racially. Bigot should not be used when adequate words already exist for xenophobia, racism, and sexism.

Perhaps the definition section should be changed to:

bigot (plural bigots)

1. One who is narrow-mindedly devoted to their own ideas or shared ideas within a group, and intolerant towards any person holding different beliefs, religion, or political views.

2. (colloquial) One who is intolerant towards people of dissimilar race, gender, religion, politics, culture or social identity.

Does anyone agree with this? — This unsigned comment was added by 58.108.82.98 (talk)., 16 June 2018

I combined the senses into one in diff based on Wiktionary:Tea room/2018/February#bigot; other dictionaries also seem to have only one sense. If there are books which distinguish the senses (e.g. calling opinion-intolerant people bigots and race-intolerant people only racists), then it could be useful to record the evolution in meaning either through different senses or through usage notes. Or if some reference works prescribe a distinction, that could go in usage notes. - -sche (discuss) 16:12, 16 June 2018 (UTC)