Difference between a Democratic Socialist and a Social Democrat

Anything that has the word is anathema!

For many in this country the word Socialist is just such a buzz word that you cannot have a rational discussion.
Sad, but true.

It's taken me half a century to realize it, but nuance is never a welcomed argument

I would have told them to go with "social democrat" since the word "socialist" has been demonized and equated with "communist" by right-wing capitalists for a century seeking to scare uninformed Americans and turn them against "big government" and collective action.

Of course they didn't ask me.

But the guys with the flat hats decide what terms mean. They never ask me, either.

the term socialism has (deservingly so) negative connotation which implies antagonism to capitalism and private enterprise. The democratic party supports capitalism - not to be confused with crony capitalism or kleptocracy. Robert Reich, the most eloquent defender of capitalism, has a great movie on Netflix - “Inequality for all”. Most frequently, 1970s era is being used as a reference when capitalism worked well in America which leads us to beleive that Nixon, in fact, was the last decent republican president (if you ignore watergate).

In the English language, the first word modifies the second word. DEMOCRATIC SOCIALISM means a political reform (Democratic) of an economic term (Socialism: an economic structure where the State controls the means of production).

It must be a little counter-intuitive because I have had to google "social democracy vs democratic socialism" most every time I've come across either term being used.

Both generally believe in “managed capitalism”. Social Darwinism aka capitalism, needs to be managed and generally restricted.

There is no such thing as a pure capitalist or communist state on the face of the earth. All are some sort of hybrid system.

because I know some "true purist" commies who hate DSA much more than Trump and the Republicans, maybe because DSA is socialism without the authoritarianism. The authoritarianism trumps the importance of workers controlling the means of production. DSA is a real big tent, so I would not categorize it too much, it's like the Unitarian Universalist church for the left. The are many Social Democrats in DSA too, who want to reform capitalism to the point that one could call it socialism in the loose sense, like they did in the 1800s. What burns me is the teabilly leftists who appropriate leftist causes like choice, unions and death penalty, but when you tally it all up they're just trying to help repigs win elections. Jack Barnes and his Socialist Workers Party have went down that route the past two years, and it's infuriating.