Is there a classification for adjectives that are hard to be used negatively?

Question

I came across this interesting excerpt from the autobiography of the author of the Dynamic Programming method:

“[the word dynamic] has a very interesting property as an adjective, and that is it's impossible to use the word dynamic in a pejorative sense. [...] Thus, I thought dynamic programming was a good name. It was something not even a Congressman could object to.” - Richard Bellman

And I wondered if there is a linguistic way to formalize such concept and if I could find a small list of such adjectives.

I don't believe it's really impossible to use it in a pejorative sense: "the legislation on this topic is too dynamic". But it's a scenario that I had to search a subject that is specifically meant to not be dynamic, so the "pejorativeness" comes from the antithesis. Adjectives like "fast" and "strong" can still be used pejoratively on objects that are meant to be somewhat fast or strong, like a car going too fast or a pepper that is too strong.

EDIT: I guess something that is normally dynamic can be too dynamic too. "The variables in this chaotic system are too dynamic" or something like it. So maybe only affordance adjectives are really in this category?

I believe "agile" is another of such adjectives, and to use it negatively hard because it's about the ability to be quick. I wonder if such affordance adjectives are consistently positive adjectives.

Does this make sense as a definition?

Answer 1

First, "negative" and "pejorative" are not the same. Not even close. If it were impossible to use the word dynamic pejoratively (which I doubt), that would say nothing about negation. Pejoration is a matter of intent on the part of the speaker, not meaning.

Second, there is a term for words (or phrases - "lexical items") that can't be used in negative contexts, but that has nothing to do with being pejorative. A word like ever or a phrase like in weeks is what is called a "negative polarity item" (NPI), because it's ungrammatical outside a negative environment.

• She hasn't ever visited Turkey but not *She has ever visited Turkey
• She hasn't been to the club in weeks but not *She has been to the club in weeks

There are a lot of NPIs in English. But there are also some PPIs, as well. These Positive Polarity Items are words or phrases that can't be used in a negative environment, like would rather and already

• He would rather be home ~ *He wouldn't rather be home
• He's already here ~ *He isn't already here

But, once again, this has nothing to do with using a word pejoratively, or with a better slogan for a programming system.

Answer 2

They have a positive connotation.

Connotation refers to a meaning that is implied by a word apart from the thing which it describes explicitly.

and

Words may have positive or negative connotations that depend upon the social, cultural, and personal experiences of individuals. For example, the words childish, childlike and youthful have the same denotative, but different connotative, meanings. Childish and childlike have a negative connotation, as they refer to immature behavior of a person. Whereas, youthful implies that a person is lively and energetic.