What's the difference between 愚痴 and 文句 (and 悪口）


I was doing my routine Anki review when I saw 愚痴 listed under common words
containing 愚. This got me asking: what is the difference between 愚痴 and 文句？ I
browsed the internet and found these two links:

[「文句」「愚痴」「悪口」の違いを教えて下さい](https://detail.chiebukuro.yahoo.co.jp/qa/question_detail/q1272626122)
explains--with a disclaimer that it was their personal opinion--that 文句 is
used when one is complaining about something unspecified. (Yet, I don't see
why 「 **この** タレント嫌いなんだよ」 counts as unspecified when it could have been obvious
who's being referred to if the one complaining and the one listening to the
complaint are both watching TV at that time.) On the other hand both 愚痴 and 悪口
are directed towards someone in particular, with the difference being that the
content of 愚痴 has some basis and is something that those who hear it can
easily agree with, while 悪口 is something that has no basis and is something
that borders somewhere between complaint and defamation.

[What's the difference between complaints 不満 不平
文句?](https://japanese.stackexchange.com/questions/57487/whats-the-difference-
between-complaints-%e4%b8%8d%e6%ba%80-%e4%b8%8d%e5%b9%b3-%e6%96%87%e5%8f%a5)
differentiates various expressions of complaint or dissatisfaction, including
文句 which is one of the words in question. The accepted answer mentions that 文句
is a general term that covers a wide range of meaning, from complaint to
disapproval.

Both of these references have been helpful, but are there other differences
that these questions weren't able to cover?




愚痴 refers to some negative remark about your job or anything you're doing.
Importantly, it's **not** addressed to someone who is actually responsible for
the matter at hand. For example, when someone talks to his family how much he
dislikes his boss or client, that can be called both 愚痴 and 文句, but perhaps
the former tends to be more informal, unorganized and nonconstructive. (The
Chiebukuro question says 特定/非特定, but I think that's not relevant.) If you said
this directly to your boss or client, that will be considered as 文句 but not
愚痴. (By the way, 苦情 is something that is formally addressed _from outside_ to
someone in charge. 文句 covers both 愚痴 and 苦情, but the opposite is not true.)

悪口 refers to derogatory remarks in general. Righteous complaints are 苦情 or 文句
but not 悪口. Unlike 愚痴/文句, you can say 悪口 even if you are not involved.

Basically you cannot make 愚痴/文句/苦情 if you're not involved in the matter, but
the level of "involvement" is somewhat subjective. For example, when someone
speaks ill of a celebrity they just saw on TV (e.g., "Oh she is ugly"), that's
a 悪口 but not a 愚痴/文句. But if someone went through an entire TV drama series
and was disappointed at the last episode, they may make 愚痴 or 文句 (or 苦情 if
they emailed the TV station).




愚痴 refers to some negative remark about your job or anything you're doing.
Importantly, it's **not** addressed to someone who is actually responsible for
the matter at hand. For example, when someone talks to his family how much he
dislikes his boss or client, that can be called both 愚痴 and 文句, but perhaps
the former tends to be more informal, unorganized and nonconstructive. (The
Chiebukuro question says 特定/非特定, but I think that's not relevant.) If you said
this directly to your boss or client, that will be considered as 文句 but not
愚痴. (By the way, 苦情 is something that is formally addressed _from outside_ to
someone in charge. 文句 covers both 愚痴 and 苦情, but the opposite is not true.)

悪口 refers to derogatory remarks in general. Righteous complaints are 苦情 or 文句
but not 悪口. Unlike 愚痴/文句, you can say 悪口 even if you are not involved.

Basically you cannot make 愚痴/文句/苦情 if you're not involved in the matter, but
the level of "involvement" is somewhat subjective. For example, when someone
speaks ill of a celebrity they just saw on TV (e.g., "Oh she is ugly"), that's
a 悪口 but not a 愚痴/文句. But if someone went through an entire TV drama series
and was disappointed at the last episode, they may make 愚痴 or 文句 (or 苦情 if
they emailed the TV station).

