A few examples:
-
A creationist and an evolutionist want to save an endangered bee species. The creationist remarks about how bees were 'created' to pollinate plants. The evolutionist no longer wants to work with the creationist.
-
A man and woman are discussing how to promote equality between the sexes in the workplace. At some point, the woman complains about the 'manosphere'. This discourages the man from participating in the movement, he feels attacked by use of that term.
-
A pro-life woman and a pro-choice woman want to help out single mothers. The pro-lifer says single mothers are people that didn't 'murder' their babies. The pro-choicer sees that as an accusation, since she supports abortion as an option.
In all the examples, the word in quotes divides the people, hindering the cause. What do we call those words? In each situation, neutral language could have been used, or the word wasn't necessary to describe the cause.
If my examples are offensive to anyone, please help me improve them.
Best Answer
Within the specific contexts of these scenarios we might describe these words as controversial. Perhaps the individual words could be described more specifically as divisive. In each case, one person used divisive language which discouraged the other person from wanting to participate. I would argue that the words could be considered divisive because they are often in complete contrast (to the point of being offensive) to the other person's view.
divisive /dɪˈvʌɪsɪv/adj. — Oxford