this post was submitted on 17 Mar 2025
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idk for idiot or imbecile.
Moron is a slur imho.
But these are only my opinions and English isn't even my first language so I might miss some things ^^`
The reason I bring these words up is every one of them was originally a medical diagnosis, that eventually became offensive so they changed it to retarded, which has now itself become offensive, which then became special ed/sped, or special needs, which are now going the way of retard and becoming offensive.
The line of which of those words is a slur is entirely arbitrary.
Euphemism treadmill go brrr
Yup but imho it doesn't stop there.
Once the word stops being used as a medical diagnosis it will slowly stop being associated with learning / mental disabilities.
Nowadays not a lot of people associate saying someone is an idiot with any social minority so it kinda is just a disparaging qualifier.
Retard just happens to currently be in that sour spot.
Someday saying "intellectually disabled" will draw horrified gasps from people who will berate you for not using "cerebrally unenfranchised"
I mean there’s already a school of thought that “disabled” has a negative connotation to it, that’s where the term “differently-abled” comes in.
It’s all kind of a dance to not hurt anyone’s feelings.
Wow dude, that cuts me deep.
/s
Honestly "differently-abled" seems more like a media term than anything linked to either handicapped communities or scientific research. Imho it's kinda stupid.
And people speaking on behalf of marginalized communities is a real issue that does a lot of harm. e.g. Autism Speaks
An expression I encountered helping my roommate work on their education master was "handicapping situations". It's a bit unwieldy but I like that it conveys that someone is handicapped by a combination of an ailment, an activity, and a lack of accessibility.
In other words, someone who's paraplegic isn't in a "handicapping situation" when gaming in a chair.
Or someone who's dysorthographic isn't handicapped as long as their not trying to write anything.
I use handicapped as a shorthand for myself but it's still a neat concept imho.
I might be mistranslating some stuff since said roommate is French.
PS: about the dance, blame it on people insisting on using our disabilities as insults.
PS2: You're always gonna hurt someone at one point or another. But it's not hard to try not to and apologize when it happens imho.