Zum Beleidigungspotential der von Tiernamen abgeleiteten Personenbezeichnungen im Deutschen

Abstract

The animal world is one of the human immediate sources of inspiration when it comes to creating language units. Selected animals have become identified with particular traits and types of behavior which are subsequently applied to human beings. One of the areas in which this is especially visible is a group of personal insults created on the basis of animal names. This article attempts to create a list of German animal traits which are attributed to people and consequently constitute a source of personal insults.

Keywords

• personal insults
• animal traits
• offensive expressions