When I look through the comment sections of Youtube, Instagram and Facebook, I see derogatory words and sayings that are rarely acceptable in the “real world.” I’ve noticed that these phrases are usually used as a last minute resort when chat streams turn ugly and the offender wants to humiliate his/her challenger.
Often enough, the term only succeeds in making the user look like a total idiot. However there’s a trend that has come to my attention that attracts more than just your average offensive and uneducated Joe with a keyboard.
Using the words feminazi, veganazi and even grammar nazi have become pretty mainstream, whether they’re floating around with the latest meme or collecting more and more definitions on urban dictionary.
When people use the word grammar nazi, they probably are thinking about the modern meaning; somebody who can’t bring themselves to look over small grammar errors. By doing this they are totally ignoring  the original and very serious connotations of the word. The word nazi stems from the German word Nationalsozialist–a follower of the National Socialist German Workers’ Party led by Hitler. These followers, especially the ones who worked for the German government in the holocaust (1933 to 1845) committedpńnzd a mass genocide of jewish people.
As I’m sure we are all aware, Nazis are often thought of as the worst beings humanity has ever created, and from the way horror stories from the concentration camps depict them, rightly so.
So how does that relate back to the present? Well, there is a lot of space to express your views on anything from the best ice cream flavor (chocolate chip mint, obviously) to your thoughts on racism. Plus, with all the online forums, comment sections and Twitter/Facebook/Tumblr/Instagram accounts there are going to be people that loudly and fiercely shout out their opinions to the whole wide world (at least whoever happens to stumble across them in all their glory).
But sometimes people disagree and we’re right back to paragraph one. A comment zone war.  Words are exchanged.Thoughts are not quite thought out. When it finally dies down they leave thinking of the other as I don’t know……. a Nazi?
My point is that it isn’t so much about “political correctness” but really just thinking about what we are all really saying. Overall I think it’s important to keep in mind that no matter how heated the argument gets vegans, feminists and lovers of proper grammar have never killed millions of innocent people in the pursuit of world domination as the actual Nazis did.
By Grace Dorsey
Art by Grace Dorsey