In the United States, calling someone a socialists can certainly elicit an evocative response, but is it inherently bad to hold such beliefs? According to a recent poll, Americans are largely divided on over the issue of semantics, though they do agree that calling someone a socialist is not a good thing. While about a third of the public believe that calling someone a socialist is an insult, a slightly larger portion claim that the term is neutral in nature. Less than a tenth of the public think that the term implies a compliment.