“deplorables”
political contempt · reclamation: high
From a 2016 remark; reclaimed by many on the right as a badge of defiance.
◆ Real Reddit sample · classifier not yet validated — suggestive, not findings
Based on 448 real Reddit comments sampled via Arctic Shift.
How the word is actually used
n = 316 aimed/attributed/claimed · plus 104 neutral mentions, 28 meta · 95% CI on direct: [45–56%]
Most of what looks like contempt is people attributing the put-down to others or claiming it themselves — not aiming it. That gap is the whole point.
Where it's aimed
- Conservatives90%
- Rural & working-class folks9%
- Liberals & progressives2%
Inferred per-comment target group, n = 399.
Where it's used — and how
- r/democratsn44
- r/Liberaln42
- r/askaconservativen42
- r/PoliticalDiscussionn42
- r/unpopularopinionn41
- r/Conservativen41
Same word, different room: the bars (aimed · attributed · claimed) show how each community uses it. Sampled across political, regional, and identity subreddits.
Etymology
First attested 2016 · campaign remark
'you could put half of [them] into a basket of deplorables.'.
- 2016 — earliest attested use (illustrative)
- 2000s — broadened into online class/political snark
In context (short, fair-use)
- DIRECT“Thank you for the realism I'm your post. Seems like we have some deplorables working against this thread for no good reason. Lol I never knew a little work on diy armor would…” reddit r/Mandalorian ↗
- ATTRIB“He knows full well what he is doing: mocking PhD Jill Biden’s use of “Dr.” Making fun of the wife of someone just diagnosed with cancer is classic Trumper behavior. Hillary was bei…” reddit r/politics ↗
- MENTION“Inoffensive to Americans for the most part, until Hinchcliffe showed up with the whole "garbage" bit. Then Sleepy Joe had his own "basket of deplorables" moment. As for enabling …” reddit r/MMAPoliticsAndCulture ↗