name calling

noun

the use of abusive names to belittle or humiliate another person in a political campaign, an argument, etc.

Origin:
1890–95

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Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2013.
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World English Dictionary

name-calling

—n
	verbal abuse, esp as a crude form of argument

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 10th Edition
2009 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009
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00:10

Name calling is always a great word to know.

So is callithumpian. Does it mean:

a children's mummer's parade, as on the Fourth of July, with prizes for the best costumes.

a scrap or morsel of food left at a meal.

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Matching Quote

"Children, randomly at first, hit upon something sooner or later that is their mother's and/or father's Achilles' heel, a kind of behavior that especially upsets, offends, irritates or embarrasses them. One parent dislikes name-calling, another teasing...another bathroom jokes. For the parents, this behavior my have ties back to their childhood, many have been something not allowed, forbidden, and when it appears in the child, it causes high-voltage reaction in the parent."

-Ellen Galinsky

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name calling

name-call·ing