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A warning from the future... (cw ableist word)
(thelemmy.club)
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this post was submitted on 11 Aug 2026
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Yes.Terms like stupid, dumb, moron, etc are directly linked to medical classifications based on eugenicist IQ scores.
Some are so removed from that context most people don't know or care but I take it as a challenge to be more creative with insults.
context is the only thing that ever gave words meaning in the first place, by holding onto it when the vast majority has moved on you're just reinforcing bigotry
Did you just not read the last part of my comment?
I don't go around chastising people for using those terms personally, I was just answering a question.
I'm with you on the being more creative with insults angle as well. It's good to get a bit poetic. Reducing it to intelligence also kinda lets the offending party off the hook.
Oh yeah for sure, I was on the bus when I typed that up but yes to elaborate more, it is reductive to dismiss awful people or ideas as simply a product of inferior intellect or cognitive malady.
Like I said, it's more fun to be creative with our insults.
People that arent awful but consistently make baffling choices are tougher. Generally thinking of co-workers here. Just being totally off base on things that could be figured out with incredibly basic logic, stuff I could have figured out as a 10 year old. Defending ass backwards innefieciencies to the death. Having no mind for logistics or priorities but not letting others delegate for you. There are occasions where its like HOW THE FUCK ARE YOU NOT ABLE TO FIGURE THIS OUT? Watch any episode of Kitchen Nightmares, this combination of arrogance and baffling incompetence isnt rare and i genuinely dont understand it in some situations. My chef thinks chickens predate eggs. And not just chicken eggs, he believes that evolution is cyclical. When it was just him and I when I came in one day where usually 2 other people are in and he leaves at the time, he didnt know what the deal was until he checked the schedule he made. He then went in to say one of my work homies has been scheduled for 5 that day 'for some reason'. My brother in christ, you make the schedule.
Huh, learn something new everyday.
Is there a better word to use to insult people?
I try to be situational. Stupid as an insult to a person kinda removes some blame anyway, you're saying they dont know any better, where often they do know better and dont care. Which is way worse. Depends on what you're trying to get across 'stupid' is used for a wide variety of situations.
I'm personally a big fan of Chud
You just wait till I prove the existence of Cannibalistic Humanoid Underground Dwellers and you'll all be sorry
Ridiculous is one of my favorites as it gets right to the meat of it: "You are a person (or if not a person, object, concept etc.) deserving of ridicule."
absurd. Way out there. So far gone. I also try to avoid words like crazy, nuts, and insane. Replacement: That's wild. beyond the pale. yikes. But really it's more important to just notice and try something else that fits in that area.
I often correct myself with wild when I catch myself typing out crazy.
One of my faves is imbecile, especially in Spanish. Does it have some super problematic history?
I can just see it now: imbecile was once the epithet used against the extremely poor racial victims of the ku klux klan
quick googling and the AI summary I fucking hate but seems reliable enough here
barring the inclusion of the afforementioned "stupid" this seems fine.
I'll have to do further investigation but it might have the same baggage as those other terms.
I don't know why it is so hard for some people (not you) to shed reactionary terminology. Either because they are too lazy to come up with something more clever or are defensive because they regularly use such terms.
Oh my god what the fuck, imbecile has more historical medical bullshit associated with it than fucking "stupid" but you're giving it a (maybe) pass?
I wish i could just wake up and the people responsible for this discourse would disappear or at the very fucking least stop scolding people over commonly used language that they themselves are inconsistent with
Foolish stupid dumb oh one of these is fine! no, it isn't, unless they all are.
Calm down bud. Nobody is scolding anyone here. Chill the fuck out.
Also you are right we should not use imbecile either. That is not a term I encounter frequently and not one I ever use.