• SoleInvictus@lemmy.world
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    1 year ago

    They’re referring to communists. Originally the term was a slur for communists who approve of one-party communist regimes that are associated with Marxism–Leninism.

    Since the Reddit diaspora, I’ve seen it applied to communists, socialists, anyone who has expressed any criticism of capitalism, and users that others dislike. I think it’s turning into how Americans use “communist” as a pejorative: they don’t know what the word actually means, it’s now just a word for things they don’t like.

    • CatWhoMustNotBeNamed@geddit.social
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      1 year ago

      The communist pejorative has been dead for… Decades and decades. Like 4, at least. By the 80’s it had lost its charm, and young adults would roll their eyes when gramps used it.

      There are plenty of other similar, (now-meaningless) pejoratives tossed about all the time. It’s old and tiresome to hear/see.

      I’ve searched before, do you know why “tankie”? I can’t get a good etymology on it, like how it would reference single-party communist states?

      Edit: hmm, Guess I missed the Wikipedia entry on it, though I could swear I’d read it before. Thanks Habiscus!

        • CatWhoMustNotBeNamed@geddit.social
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          1 year ago

          From the US. Communist was tired 40 years ago. I saw it first hand, by the 70’s kids were already getting tired of it, by the 80’s the next generation just said “sure gramps”.

          Yea, you still hear it a little today, but nothing like it used to be.