• PhilipTheBucket@ponder.cat
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      4 hours ago

      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.

    • nevaseerius@sh.itjust.works
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      4 hours ago

      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!

      • GBU_28@lemm.ee
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        2 hours ago

        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        Rtrded is an outdated way to describe a permanent mental/learning disability.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 (Especially using outdated language to do so, from when even less respect was paid to the people who had that disability)

      • Hegar@fedia.io
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        4 hours ago

        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.

      • ShadowRam@fedia.io
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        4 hours ago

        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.