Bigots, Chauvinists, Semantic Slippage

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21 Feb 2007 10:59 am

A reader reprimands:

I may be wrong, but my understanding of 'bigotry' was an out-and-out hatred of a group of people. I don't sense this in Romney's quote. I sense ridiculousness, studipidity, and a certain amount of religious chauvinism, but not bigotry. I worry about semantic leak. Strong words should be reserved for the strong situations/people/sentiments to which they apply. Romney's opinion on this matter is silly and tiresome, but it is a far cry from bigotry.

My online dictionary defines "bigotry" as "intolerance toward those who hold different opinions than oneself." "Chauvinism" is defined as "excessive or prejudiced loyalty for one's own group, cause or gender." Maybe bigotry is what the victim of chauvinism thinks of the chauvinist. Or maybe we need a word that can somehow bridge the gap between the two. But, on reflection, I think the reader is closer to the truth than my first stab: Romney is attempting vicarious chauvinism on the part of a religion, evangelical Christianity, he doesn't share. I'm not sure we have a word in English for that, except shameless.

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