use of the word 'moron'

With all due respect, if you are going to be left a quivering mess because someone on an Internet forum called you a moron, the Internet is probably not the place for you. Sticks and stones and all that, it is only a word. You can be offended all you like but it won't stop people using such terms, the Internet of all places

Gilly, you said "bloody hell", some people find that offensive. What's sauce for the goose and all that...

And I agree with a pp, comparing moron with n*r is really not a sensible comparison...

We cross posted but the M word (which I'm not writing out of respect) isn't considered unacceptable anymore.

What's a peanut gallery?

Idiot, moron and imbecile were medical terms defining I q in the early 1900 s - they appear on the 1911 census .

I tend to use 'fool' when referring to believers in things such as toxins , superfoods, homeopathy etc.

Gilly I'm sorry that you have such a visceral response to the word.

It's difficult because people can respond to all sorts of things. I had a real phobia of feet for a while, and would throw up. It took a lot of therapy to get rid of and I'll still avoid them if I can. I can't expect people to not show their feet, though. I have a colleague who hates a few common words and visibly recoils if they are used. I find it offensive when people call me babe when I'm in a professional capacity. I can't expect it to be banned.

It's not a word that I tend to use, but it doesn't offend me. It's intention isn't to be offensive, these days. Most people probably don't even know the origins.

There's also the issue that MN struggle to moderate the site at times anyway, and having a list of banned words would make that much worse.

There would be a much bigger reasoning to ban "cis", if we can start banning words. That has no usage that isn't offensive and 90% of MN find it offensive.

I guess I'll be accused of joining in with the Hip Hip Hurrah shouts of hooligans next time I want to post something cute dreamt up in the peanut gallery. All because I thought MN was really good for calling a spade a spade. Maybe it's good for us to be nervous about our precise wording & sure we won't appear like idiots.

Oops, did I offend you?

I find cunt offensive, seriously. But l highly doubt that word would be banned.

Gilly that seems like an extreme reaction to the word, it obviously has a massive back story for you, could you try to look at that? It's not a great word, but nor is calling someone an idiot for example and sometimes we have to get past words that we feel are offensive, because well, most of society does not!

Ridiculous. You can't just ban words that aren't even in regular usage anymore. And comparing moron to n**r is just stupid. It's not the same at all.

Ok, if we are talking about freedom of speech and not banning offensive words, why do we have so many offensive unacceptable names then, why not use them all in the name of freedom of speech.

I am not personally affected by racist comments, but they are deemed unacceptable, so try my best not to use any and offend somebody.
There is no difference between racist words and disablist terms but for some reason disablist terms are allowed to stay in society.

I would also ask if you think racist comments that don't exist anymore are acceptable now, and those offended, choose to be.

M*n is a defined unacceptable term, yet people choose to ignore this and use it anyway. What a society we live in.

Is 'div' OK? I never know if it is.
I just stick to calling people donkey or plum, I think they are safer.

As an older person some words suggest to me words that used to describe those living in mental hospitals of the past- moron, cretin, think jack Nicholson on 1 flew over the cn after treatment. So the words should have disappeared with the hospitals imo. Idiot is more common usage it is more acceptable.

I was just about to say I find lame just as offensive but I was beaten to it!

I have to say MN flagged up that moron was offensive, I had no idea before.

nice response in the light of gillybeanz pain-filled posts, ilovetea.

Some terms which others think are fine can genuinely hurt people. When this is pointed out, the polite thing to do is say sorry and try not to do it again. I don't think that it is remotely feasible or desirable to ban all words which hurt ( not merely 'offend') but perhaps it would be possible for a post which contains such terms to be reported and for MN to send an explanation of why it is better to voluntarily avoid them?

I definitely don't think it should be banned. MN is the only place I've ever seen anyone get offended by it. No-one bats an eyelid at 'moron', 'idiot' etc in real life - of course it's an insult to call someone that, that's the whole point - but it's not offensive in the sense of being discriminatory, these words just don't exist in that meaning any more.

Of all the things one could choose to be offended about, I think this is a bit of a lame one (no offence intended - but see how easy it is to pick a word out of normal language and clutch your pearls in offence if you so choose?!)

FGS

Even if I did find the word offensive (I don't) I wouldn't expect it to be banned. My offended-ness doesn't trump the freedom of speech of others.

One of the other categories of learning disability was 'idiot'. A word commonly used.

I don't use either because I know they upset people, but banning words is a tricksy road to go down.

I was criticised on a thread for using "cretin". Upon googling its origin I learned that it was used to describe people with certain disabilities, but in a somewhat patronising way as it derives from the French word "chretien" meaning "Christian", so was used in a sort of "poor souls" type tone.

I'm still undecided as to whether or not to continue using it. It's in a similar vein to "idiot" for me.

M*n (no longer in technical use; now considered offensive) a person of borderline intelligence in a former and discarded classification of mental retardation, having an intelligence quotient of 50 to 69.

The original meaning of gay was not negative, in fact the opposite, it was "happy" only recently it had negative connotations.

For those who say language changes and evolves, then why is it not acceptable to use all the racist and disablist words we used to have?
New terms and diagnosis leading to the correct label being used, means we no longer use the words found to be offensive.
If they aren't offensive anymore why wouldn't we use them, after all they were originally acceptable.

Maybe the answer is because they offend people. They are used to bully and taunt, taken out of context and used to label people in a detrimental way.

cute, nervous, gay. They all used to have pretty negative original meanings.

There have been other threads where people have said that idiot and moron are offensive and should be banned

There was a long debate on the phrase "beyond the pale" and "having a paddy" which are apparently racist to Irish people

Personally I think that language changes and evolves and none of those are offensive. But I also think it depends upon the intention of the user and someone can choose whether or not to be offended