The Oxford English Dictionary (hereon "OED", for simplicity’s sake) offers several alternative definitions for the term pride . Almost none of them are positive. For present purposes, let’s skip the more obscure leonine variant--and in fact, a "pride of lions " may actually have its etymological roots in the symbolic representation of this animal during the Middle Ages for the biblical sin--and instead turn our attention to the rather slippery semantic aspects, since there’s a lot encapsulated by this peculiarly bipolar word. I’m inspired to engage in this linguistic activity because the annual "Pride Week" for us gays and lesbians is soon at hand, and I’m particularly interested in knowing what it is, exactly, that I’m supposed to be proud of.
In the following two OED definitions, for example, pride is portrayed as being inherently antisocial, a very, very bad thing:
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