Let's attempt some sort of a definition A scripting language is a language L with respect to an environment E where a sequence of operation that can be perform

Let's attempt some sort of a definition A scripting language is a language L with respect to an environment E where a sequence of operation that can be performed manually in E (a script) can also be performed by invoking a program in language L. A stronger definition can involve multiple environments E for the same language. A general purpose language L with respect to an environment E is a language in which every possible application that can run in E can be performed by invoking a program written in language L. Then again we can strengthen this definition by including multiple platforms or environments. Most people I know use "scripting language" in a derogatory way, "it's only a scripting language, you can't use it for real applications" and often with respect to perfectly good general purpose languages (which is why this approach isn't always constructive).