A vituperation is an insult or injury.
Vituperium is a term that derives from the Latin vituperĭum . According to the first meaning of the dictionary of the Royal Spanish Academy ( RAE ), a vituperation is an insult , an insult or an infamy that is pronounced against a person.
For example: "After the president's words, it didn't take long for the vituperations to be heard throughout the venue" , "I don't care about the vituperations of the supporters : I do my job with professionalism and the leaders of this club are satisfied with my task" , “The lawyer's vituperation surprised me.”
What is a vituperation
Vituperations are an expression of rejection or criticism . Suppose that the mayor of a municipality does not enjoy the sympathy of the people since he was denounced for corruption . The city he manages is also suffering a great economic crisis. That is why it is not surprising that, when participating in the inauguration of a park, many neighbors dedicate various insults to him, letting him know the discontent that exists towards him.
There are different ways of expressing vituperation. These may be outright insults : that is, they are pronounced out loud or shouted. There may also be written vituperations , either in the form of a letter, in a note or even through an article published in the press. Nowadays, in addition, it is common to find vituperation on the Internet : social networks, in fact, have become frequent spaces for vituperation and attacks.
Vituperations are linked to aggressiveness.
Violence and aggression
The need to attack everything that does not agree with our ideas seems to be in our nature, and this is especially appreciated on the Internet, where we can shed our legal identity, our insecurities and blocks to be ourselves. No matter how hard moderate groups try to spread an atmosphere of openness and dialogue, shouting, insults and ridicule always come to turn any conversation into a fiery, aimless argument.
One of the most common forms of vilification on the Internet is the meme , a graphic composition in which someone is made a fool of or negative ideas are expressed against a product or company , among other possibilities. Generally, memes are constructed with photos manipulated through editing, although the most elaborate ones may contain absolutely original art, such as drawings or three-dimensional models made by the authors themselves.
Nowadays, it is known that any mistake or incident made by a politician, a businessman or a famous artist will lead to the creation of dozens of memes, and many of them will go beyond a simple joke. The same thing happens when a company dedicated to entertainment announces a product that does not meet all the expectations of its followers: from vituperation to death threats , fans have no limits when it comes to expressing their discontent.
Expressions with the term vituperation
It should be noted that expressions such as “Praise in one's own mouth is vilification” or “Praise in one's own mouth is vilification” allude to those who highlight their supposed merits in the face of criticism from others.
Although it is not related to what was stated above, in Chile they usually say “to take a vituperio” to refer to an appetizer, a cocktail or a snack. Given that the dictionary of the Royal Spanish Academy does not include this meaning in its definition of vituperation, it is necessary to turn to other research sources to understand the origin of such use. One explanation takes us to a well-known Chilean comedian from the mid-20th century nicknamed Firulete , who used to intentionally change the pronunciation of words as part of his performances; On the other hand, some point out that it may be malapropism, that is, the erroneous replacement of one term by another simply due to their similarity.