Writing on writing

Self-deprecate or self-depreciate?

They're one letter apart; but there's quite a debate about the difference - and superiority - of these two phrases.

Which of these options you think is correct depends on your perspective on the inevitable changes in language. (I'll leave out of my discussion entirely the group of people who say "self-depreciation" is right, obviously, because it is older and more traditional. Continuity is, of course, an important quality of language that keeps it comprehensible. But I think this fusty old attitude is what prevents people from being interested in theories on language, and maybe makes them resistant to intelligent discussion on word choice.)

"Self-deprecate" is correct if your concept of the evolution of language is that word meaning changes based on frequency of word usage. My sole resource for this is (due to laziness) an old Reddit post, which claims a 24:1 usage ratio between "self-deprecate" and "self-depreciate". While the newer version may have come about from an error (I'm imagining a typo in an influential newspaper that shifted public opinion on the matter overnight. lol), the fact that the public has embraced "self-deprecate" means that, like it or not, that is the correct phrase.

Additionally, the Reddit commenter cites a Webster's Dictionary of English Usage entry which states that "depreciate" has become specialized financial jargon, and therefore doesn't sound quite right in the sense of the putting down of oneself. I'll point out that what sounds right to someone depends on what they have heard most often, so Webster's point is biased. But I guess I can forgive that.

However, I'll still vote for "self-depreciate" as the best version of this phrase. It gains its visual aspect from its association with money. Think of how often we use financial terms to describe emotional things - "I value my family"; "my friends are worth the world to me" - these phrases wouldn't have the same power to them if they didn't also have a financial definition. Even though you're not literally putting a price tag on your siblings, the association of monetary and relationships with people (including yourself) is well-established. Therefore, I find "self-depreciation" to be the more powerful phrase.

A way around this debate entirely is using different wordings altogether - for example, self-denigration; self-disparagement; or more informally belittling oneself or putting oneself down (all of these supplied by Webster).

yes, I wanted to write an essay about this

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