Every single word which has been used to refer to a mentally disabled person will, eventually, become a slur.
“Idiot” and “moron” used to be technical medical terms. There actually used to be a whole spectrum, with “idiot” being a pretty profound level of disability, meaning that someone’s mental age was around two years old or younger.
“Retarded” was a new invention, to introduce a new term which didn’t overlap with the slurs for a non-disabled person who was being stupid. Eventually, it came to be used as a slur, at which point we couldn’t used it for actually disabled people anymore. This cycle will repeat, I think, without end.
Probably the best thing to do is use terms which are too cumbersome to easily become slurs. “Mentally disabled” is one.
I just had a comment removed for using the M-word. I replaced it with stupid, hopefully that passes the purity test. It occurred to me that dumb could easily be construed as offensive to those who are unable to speak, much more justifiably than the R-word, in my opinion.
Mentally disabled is already quite unacceptable according to some, the current cutting edge of political correctness is probably persons of/with intellectual disability. Which will probably last a couple years before we need to come up with something else.
It’s eerily reminiscent of Orwellian themes of doublespeak and Newspeak. Limiting the functionality of language in order to prevent the expression of undesirable or socially disruptive thoughts.
All of this is also massively complicated by the fact that languages other than English exist. This rapid lexical treadmill that we are currently on is quite certainly discriminatory towards non-native English speakers, because they will inevitably inadvertently use outdated terminology and be judged for it, while those who are privileged enough to be close to the sources of political correctness such as they exist will have an inherent social advantage due to that.
We live in an extremely highly regarded society, congrats all around 👏
Yeah, agreed. I mean… I’m fine with no longer using the R-word to refer to people who are being stupid. I think it’s silly, but I also am not trying to offend anyone unnecessarily. I don’t want to be the grandpa who says “colored” and can’t understand why everyone tells me I’m not allowed to say that. I’m just pointing out that the cycle of words being okay and then slowly turning into bad words you can’t say anymore, maybe implies that it’s not worth the huge amount of emphasis we put on making sure we’re using the right words and not the wrong words, sometimes.
Real talk, how is stupid any less ableist than retard? Same meaning, same origin. It’s like telling people to stop calling black people n-words, call them coons instead. Pretty silly imo!
I don’t know if I completely agree with the R-word being now not acceptable as much as the N-word.
But I believe the reason behind it is ‘stupid’ is and always has been general term for anyone and always has been.
‘Retard’ was actually used as a medical term for a class of people that had cognitive issues outside of their control. And while a good majority of people have re-used the word to general mean ‘stupid’ over the years with no intention to imply said person you are saying that to actually has ‘cognitive issues’ outside of their control.
I believe that’s why its derogatory now, but yeah… language is always changing.
Stop implying the word and say it, because of your inability to say said word means I now say it in my head because you use a silly other word to call the word what it is now placing the burden on me because you are a coward to say a word.
Go to Australia and yell cunt, ya wont even get a reaction but I bet you will say something about me saying cunt because you are one.
Rtrded is an outdated way to describe a permanent mental/learning disability.
Generally it’s best to make fun of things people do choicefully, not things they were born with. It’s also best not to make fun of people by suggesting they have a permanent condition that real people are dealing with. (Especially using outdated language to do so, from when even less respect was paid to the people who had that disability)
And then there is the rest of the Fediverse thinking this squabble between. World and. Ml is fucking retarded
The only reason it’s stupid is because the answer is obvious launch the .ml instance into the sun.
*stupid, please avoid ableism when you can.
Every single word which has been used to refer to a mentally disabled person will, eventually, become a slur.
“Idiot” and “moron” used to be technical medical terms. There actually used to be a whole spectrum, with “idiot” being a pretty profound level of disability, meaning that someone’s mental age was around two years old or younger.
“Retarded” was a new invention, to introduce a new term which didn’t overlap with the slurs for a non-disabled person who was being stupid. Eventually, it came to be used as a slur, at which point we couldn’t used it for actually disabled people anymore. This cycle will repeat, I think, without end.
Probably the best thing to do is use terms which are too cumbersome to easily become slurs. “Mentally disabled” is one.
I just had a comment removed for using the M-word. I replaced it with stupid, hopefully that passes the purity test. It occurred to me that dumb could easily be construed as offensive to those who are unable to speak, much more justifiably than the R-word, in my opinion.
Mentally disabled is already quite unacceptable according to some, the current cutting edge of political correctness is probably persons of/with intellectual disability. Which will probably last a couple years before we need to come up with something else.
It’s eerily reminiscent of Orwellian themes of doublespeak and Newspeak. Limiting the functionality of language in order to prevent the expression of undesirable or socially disruptive thoughts.
All of this is also massively complicated by the fact that languages other than English exist. This rapid lexical treadmill that we are currently on is quite certainly discriminatory towards non-native English speakers, because they will inevitably inadvertently use outdated terminology and be judged for it, while those who are privileged enough to be close to the sources of political correctness such as they exist will have an inherent social advantage due to that.
We live in an extremely highly regarded society, congrats all around 👏
Yeah, agreed. I mean… I’m fine with no longer using the R-word to refer to people who are being stupid. I think it’s silly, but I also am not trying to offend anyone unnecessarily. I don’t want to be the grandpa who says “colored” and can’t understand why everyone tells me I’m not allowed to say that. I’m just pointing out that the cycle of words being okay and then slowly turning into bad words you can’t say anymore, maybe implies that it’s not worth the huge amount of emphasis we put on making sure we’re using the right words and not the wrong words, sometimes.
Sorry but I dont sugar coat the word to holdback progress, development or accomplishment.
Total humbug it is censoring ones self.
But thank you for your input
Nah that sounds retarded
No, messing around on lemmy while your anus is bleeding is retarded, GO SEE A DOCTOR!
Real talk, how is stupid any less ableist than retard? Same meaning, same origin. It’s like telling people to stop calling black people n-words, call them coons instead. Pretty silly imo!
Stupid is the lower end of normal intelligence variation, retarded implies a developmental or other condition outside of the normal variation.
Stupid doesn’t refer to a disability, retarded does. That’s how stupid is less ableist.
I don’t know if I completely agree with the R-word being now not acceptable as much as the N-word.
But I believe the reason behind it is ‘stupid’ is and always has been general term for anyone and always has been.
‘Retard’ was actually used as a medical term for a class of people that had cognitive issues outside of their control. And while a good majority of people have re-used the word to general mean ‘stupid’ over the years with no intention to imply said person you are saying that to actually has ‘cognitive issues’ outside of their control.
I believe that’s why its derogatory now, but yeah… language is always changing.
Stop implying the word and say it, because of your inability to say said word means I now say it in my head because you use a silly other word to call the word what it is now placing the burden on me because you are a coward to say a word. Go to Australia and yell cunt, ya wont even get a reaction but I bet you will say something about me saying cunt because you are one.
Stupid is a behavior, an action.
Rtrded is an outdated way to describe a permanent mental/learning disability.
Generally it’s best to make fun of things people do choicefully, not things they were born with. It’s also best not to make fun of people by suggesting they have a permanent condition that real people are dealing with. (Especially using outdated language to do so, from when even less respect was paid to the people who had that disability)
Maybe read a dictionary??
https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/retard
Sure, as you can see from your link, a word can have several definitions.
Given the context of this conversation, it would be pretty stupid to think the relevant one is the first one.
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