Do any of them know what the word “liberal” actually means?

  • archomrade [he/him]@midwest.social
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    6 months ago

    It’s extremely frustrating hearing this repeated so often here.

    It’s fine if this is the colloquial definition you’re used to hearing and using, but this is certainly not the way it’s used outside of American politics and pretending like it’s the only use comes off as both ill-informed and condescending.

    When used derisively from the left, rest assured it is not referring to either of your adopted generalizations but a very specific ideology.

    • thedirtyknapkin@lemmy.world
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      6 months ago

      ok, so among English speaking countries, how is it more often used? we’ve got multiple people in this thread aggressively telling him he’s wrong, but no other definitions.

      • archomrade [he/him]@midwest.social
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        6 months ago

        Like I said, it’s fine assuming your own definition if that’s the one most familiar to you, but that doesn’t mean you have to stubbornly double down on semantics when confronted with a competing definition. When used derisively from the left it is almost certainly being used in the original sense of the word as per John Locke

      • jaspersgroove@lemm.ee
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        6 months ago

        The definition I see most often used here on Lemmy is: Liberal - literally anybody who doesn’t have Xi Jinping’s and/or Vladimir Putin’s cock(s) alllllllll the way down their throat

    • CileTheSane@lemmy.ca
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      6 months ago

      pretending like it’s the only use comes off as both ill-informed and condescending.

      That works both ways. Pretending the European usage of the word is the only use comes off just as ill-informed and condescending.

      • archomrade [he/him]@midwest.social
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        6 months ago

        The people who are using liberal derisively are playing off the american liberal self-identity. They’re acknowledging both definitions in the jab.