this post was submitted on 22 Nov 2024
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[–] Ozymandias1688 24 points 2 days ago (3 children)

Well didn't moron use to be a medical term too? So you're doing the same thing here, hows moron different from retard?

[–] Bacano@lemmy.world 8 points 1 day ago

Same with idiot.

People seem to have a habit of taking whatever term is used for individuals with mental disabilities and using them to hyperbolize their criticism of someone's decisions/behavior. This is insulting to the dignity of members of society so society begins to look at the term unfavorably and uses a new term to describe it's mentally challenged members. Then the cycle repeats itself.

[–] luciferofastora@lemmy.zip 1 points 2 days ago (2 children)

Was it used to demean people to the same extent?

[–] Ozymandias1688 21 points 2 days ago

Yes, if you were rated below a certain iq, you were classified as a moron or an imbecile, both medical terms of the time which became derogatory words. It does not really make a difference if you use moron, imbecile, retard or psycho. You insult somebody by implying some kind of disability, which is now widely regarded as offensive. So i think it is really kind of funny when somebody gets chastised by doing the very same thing in the same post. Some self-reflection might be in order.