Pejoratives (or terms of abuse, derogatory terms), including name slurs, are words or grammatical forms that connote negativity and express contempt or distaste. A term can be regarded as pejorative in some social or cultural groups but not in others, e.g., hacker is a term used for computer criminals as well as quick and clever computer experts. Sometimes a term may begin as a pejorative and eventually be adopted in a non-pejorative sense in some or all contexts, e.g., "punk," "Methodist," or "Quaker". In historical linguistics, this phenomenon is known as melioration, or amelioration, or semantic change.

Name slurs can also involve an insulting or disparaging innuendo, rather than being a direct derogatory remark. In some cases, a person's name can be redefined with an unpleasant or insulting meaning, or applied to a group of people considered to be inferior or lower in social class, as a group label with a disparaging meaning. Also, an ethnic slur or racial slur can be used as a pejorative to imply people of those groups are inferior or deficient.

William "Bill" Maher, Jr. ( /ˈmɑːr/; born January 20, 1956) is an American stand-up comedian, television host, political commentator, author, and actor. Before his current role as the host of HBO's Real Time with Bill Maher, Maher hosted a similar late-night talk show called Politically Incorrect originally on Comedy Central and later on ABC.

Maher is known for his political satire and sociopolitical commentary, which targets a wide swath of topics including religion, politics, bureaucracies of many kinds, political correctness, the mass media, greed among people and persons in positions of high political and social power, and the lack of intellectual curiosity in the electorate. He supports the legalization of marijuana and same-sex marriage, and serves on the board of PETA. He is also a critic of religion and is an advisory board member of Project Reason, a foundation to promote scientific knowledge and secular values within society. In 2005, Maher ranked at number 38 on Comedy Central's 100 greatest stand-up comedians of all time. Bill Maher received a Hollywood Walk of Fame star on September 14, 2010.

Steven Miller (born November 8, 1956 in New Jersey) is an American record producer and executive. He is best known for his association with Windham Hill Records, where his ambient sound helped create notable instrumental recordings such as Michael Hedges’ Aerial Boundaries, Mark Isham’s Vapor Drawings and George Winston’s December.

As a guitarist and keyboardist, Miller released a recording of his own compositions, Singing Whale Songs in a Low Voice (on his Hip Pocket/Windham Hill Jazz imprint) which featured Isham and pianist Art Lande. He also worked with many of the other Windham Hill artists, including label founder William Ackerman, Liz Story, Alex de Grassi, Darol Anger, Barbara Higbie, Scott Cossu, Nightnoise, Michael Manring and Andy Narell. Together with Narell, he created the original music for Apple Inc.’s early/mid 80’s products, IIe, Lisa, and Macintosh.

Miller has been actively involved in new technology. He and Ackerman developed a system of pressing records which enabled the label to domestically manufacture and sell audiophile quality lp’s for standard lp retail price. He was also one of the first producers to fully embrace digital recording. During the transition years from vinyl to compact discs, his recordings were frequently played at hi fi shops to demonstrate the CD’s extended dynamic range. In recognition of his work, he was appointed to the board of the RIAA’s Compact Disc Group.

Adam Carolla (born May 27, 1964) is an American radio personality, television host, comedian, and actor. He hosts The Adam Carolla Show, a talk show distributed as a podcast which set the record as the "most downloaded podcast" as judged by Guinness World Records.

Carolla co-hosted the syndicated radio call-in program Loveline from 1995 to 2005 as well as the show's television incarnation on MTV from 1996 to 2000. He was the co-host and co-creator of the television program The Man Show (1999–2004), and the co-creator and a regular performer on the television show Crank Yankers (2002–2007). He hosted The Adam Carolla Project, a home improvement television program which aired on TLC in 2005 and The Car Show on Speed TV in 2011.

Carolla has also appeared on the network reality television programs Dancing with the Stars and The Celebrity Apprentice. His book, In Fifty Years We'll All Be Chicks, debuted on The New York Times Best Seller list in 2010.

Carolla was born in Los Angeles, California. His father, Jim Carolla, a psychologist of Italian heritage, and his mother, Kris (née Novello), who is of Hungarian descent, separated when Adam was young. Carolla was not given a middle name; on his driver's license application he filled the "middle name" blank with "Lakers" (after his love for the Los Angeles Lakers professional basketball team) and the made-up name still appears on his license.