I agree with the other three, but this is wrong about “narcissists”. “Narcissistic Personality Disorder” is a diagnosis, but calling someone a “narcissist” isn’t. That’s just a description of someone’s personality. It’s much older than the diagnosis, going back to the Greek myth of Narcissus. The diagnosis doesn’t get to co-opt the much older usage.
You’re not speaking ancient Greek, mate, you’re speaking English, and your use is informed by the history of the English language. The use of Nar******t in pop culture is largely informed by Christopher Lach’s 1979 book The Culture Of Narcissism, which made the argument that contemporary American culture was normalising clinical NPD. You didn’t learn to call people nar******ts by reading ancient Greek myths, and I know that for a fact because the ancient greeks didn’t go around using the word. To them, it was just some guy’s name. You learned the word from someone who learned the word from someone who learned the word from Lasch’s book, and from the ableist books that came after. Your folk etymology explanation that the pop culture use comes directly from Greek is missing a lot of important and relevant intermediate steps.
I agree with the other three, but this is wrong about “narcissists”. “Narcissistic Personality Disorder” is a diagnosis, but calling someone a “narcissist” isn’t. That’s just a description of someone’s personality. It’s much older than the diagnosis, going back to the Greek myth of Narcissus. The diagnosis doesn’t get to co-opt the much older usage.
You’re not speaking ancient Greek, mate, you’re speaking English, and your use is informed by the history of the English language. The use of Nar******t in pop culture is largely informed by Christopher Lach’s 1979 book The Culture Of Narcissism, which made the argument that contemporary American culture was normalising clinical NPD. You didn’t learn to call people nar******ts by reading ancient Greek myths, and I know that for a fact because the ancient greeks didn’t go around using the word. To them, it was just some guy’s name. You learned the word from someone who learned the word from someone who learned the word from Lasch’s book, and from the ableist books that came after. Your folk etymology explanation that the pop culture use comes directly from Greek is missing a lot of important and relevant intermediate steps.