Racial Epithets

[Olgar Shiverstone]

As our current campaign is currently in the Underdark, "up" has become a generic epithet for surface dwellers, as compared to those who reside in the great "down under". My duergar have a bit of an Australian flavor

 

[Stormrunner]

Lizardfolk IMC call humans "frog-monkeys": "monkey" is pretty obvious, "frog" because of their soft, moist skins (lizardfolk don't sweat). In response, humans use "lizzies", "slit-eyes", or "two-prongs" (male reptiles have two, look it up).

 

[CombatWombat51]

We called dwarves cellar-dwellers. A drow that popped up was called a pointy-eared cellar-dweller. And when a human told the drow to go explore something that wasn't well lit, "Go check out that cave, you see in the dark!" the drow replied, "You're a human, go be short-lived."

 

[Kae'Yoss]

We called dwarves cellar-dwellers. A drow that popped up was called a pointy-eared cellar-dweller. And when a human told the drow to go explore something that wasn't well lit, "Go check out that cave, you see in the dark!" the drow replied, "You're a human, go be short-lived."

ROFL. Gotta remember that one. It works well for every longer-lived race

 

[J_D]

In the Forgotten Realms, orcs are often called 'tuskers'.

 

[fba827]

I did a quick scan of this thread and tried to consolidate these...

Dwarf:
* Diggers
* Stump
* Quasim
* Hairball
* Muckers
* Barrels
* Beardless
* Comparision to anything inactive and/or pointless
* Sunlover
* Toolbreaker
* Mudgrubber
* Barrel
* Beardy
* Santa
* Rock-boy
* Minor
* Goldies
* Cellar-dweller
* Grit-sucker
* Dirt-eater
* Shorties
* Bearded goblin
* hairy stinker
* Bath-hater
* Meat shield
* Clumsy
* Any made up word to represent another language

Elf:
* Pointers
* Dandelion eaters (Daisy eater, or other plant, etc)
* For males, effeminate versions of name; for females, other female names
* Fop
* Pointy-Ears
* Pointy-ear wuss
* Dandies
* Treehugger
* Grasseater
* Leaflicker
* Berryboy
* For elves that breed with humans, Sullier
* Oathbraker
* Wood baby
* Fairy
* Peg (Pointy Eared Git)
* Dancer
* Prancer
* Vegetable
* Sissy
* Fairy Princess
* from underdweller, surface dweller
* Any made up word to represent another language

Half-Elf:
* Half breed
* Mule
* half-man
* Fairyboy
* Wood baby
* Booze-baby
* Screwup
* Hermy (short for hermaphrodite)
* from underdweller, surface dweller
* Any made up word to represent another language

Orc:
* Snout-face
* Groin
* Slopes
* Feeders
* For orcs that breed with humans, sullier
* tuskers
* Any made up word to represent another language

Half-orc:
* Half breed
* Mule
* Snout-face
* Groin
* Slopes
* Booze-baby
* Feeders
* Screwup
* Any made up word to represent another language

Gnome:
* Minus
* Mudboy
* Rootsucker
* Garnder
* Duck
* Flighter
* Tink
* Noser
* Any made up word to represent another language

Halfling:
* Peck
* Shorty
* Leg (how tall a halfling is to a human)
* Fatty
* Woolies
* from underdweller, surface dweller
* Any made up word to represent another language

Human:
* Perv
* Breeder
* Stinker
* Pinkies
* For dwarf-likers, Mudgrubber
* For elf-likers, Treehugger
* For elf-likers, Grasseater
* For elf-likers, Leaflicker
* For elf-likers, Berryboy
* For gnome-likers, rootsucker
* For gnome-likers, mudboy
* For humans that breed with other races, sullier
* Nothing
* Shortlife
* Luster
* Dill (as in dilletante)
* Monkey
* Monkeyboy
* from underdweller, surface dweller
* Any made up word to represent another language

Lizardfolk:
* Lizzies
* Slit-eyes
* two-prongs

Note that some of these have slightly varying uses...
* To insult a race in general ("The pecks live over there.")
* To to insult a person by sole virtue of being a particular race ("You're just a peck.")
* To insult a particular person's effectiveness as a member of a race ("You're just a toolbreaker." to attack a dwarf's proficiency with tools - for comparison, much the same a human male may be insulted if his manhood was the subject of a joke)
* Even still, some of these can actually be used as terms of affection to a particular person with which the speaker has in fact a good relationship ("Let's go, Stumpy!")

Suggestion: Find the racial entry in the PHB or MM. Then find any single sentence relating to a racial ability, physical feature, habit/society, or physical environment. Now, take it to an extreme exageration (to insult the race in general from an outsider's point of view) or else take its reverse (to insult a person's effectiveness as a member of the race)