How bad a word is cretin?

[TroublesomeLuck]

Our headteacher has recently done an interview for the school magazine where he has called Gavin Williamson "a cretin". Now I'm no fan of Gavin's. But am I right in thinking that's a terrible word for someone to be using?

Yikes I've been using it for years! I learned it from the song Cretin Hop by the Ramones and never gave it a moment's thought!

Nincompoop is an excellent word that doesn't get enough outings.

'Cretinous behaviour' is a description I've heard.

I’d argue that cretin, moron and idiot are far enough removed from the time when they were used in a medical context to have lost that meaning or association. Whereas retard, spastic and mongol haven’t.

I would say cretin is like idiot, dipshit, moron, blockhead, eejit, stupid twonk, numbskull etc - a word disparaging the intellect of someone. I think it's modern use is far from its historical definition. And if ever a person deserved his intellect disparaging, it's Gavin Williamson.

Unlike spastic for cerebral palsy or mongoloid for Downs, both of which lingered in popular use (it was only in '94 that The Spastic Society became Scope), cretin hasn't been used as term for congenital hypothyroidism in public for decades, if ever in thr UK.

I Dont think someone in a professional role, ie: a headteacher should be using terms like this publicly, whatever their private opinion may be . No wonder standards are on the floor

How are we meant to say someone is not very intelligent though?

It is not appropriate for a headteacher to use that word, presumably if a child called their teacher a cretin they would be disciplined.

I don't use the word myself due to the medical/historical meaning.

'Person x is not very intelligent' but actually Williamson is intelligent on any ordinary measure, he's just wrong.

Just by using those words.

It's very interesting to see the range of opinions. And whilst I agree that its use in a medical context is long ago, there are clearly people on here who like me think it is a horrible word to use.
My view is that as headteacher he shouldn't be using a word like that - and although I agree "idiot" wouldn't be as offensive, actually I wouldn't like to see him in an interview to students use that word either. Just safer all round to avoid it I would have thought.

The avoid it, and others can do as they see fit.

Fair enough.

‘He lacks judgment’….

Well I’m mid 50s and around the same age as my ds Headmaster, I know the historical meaning of Cretin, and I would expect the HT to know as well. I would think he wasn’t very well educated if he didn’t. And I would be shocked if he used that word.

Although I do understand someone calling Gavin Williamson’s intelligence into question.

I remember a picture showing a person with cretinism in my high school biology book around 1973/4. So when I hear it see the term I always think of that sad image

My view is that as headteacher he shouldn't be using a word like that

Yes I agree, in fact I don't think I've ever used the word in public, just on MN (and was deleted😂)

I don't like hearing the word cretin, same for retard and spastic as I'm aware of the background, but the words idiot and moron are widely used, imbecile maybe not as much. I'm frequently calling myself an idiot

So whats the background to the other three words that make them as bad?

I used to use it as I understood it to mean an idiot.
However, I don’t now as it is a derogatory name for someone with learning difficulties

I would expect a headteacher to know better than to use that word, particularly in 'print'. It gives me the same impression I get of those who use the r word on social media.

So is the word idiot though.

Actually nothing shows better the arbitrary resurrection of offense than this post.

The amount of posters saying, ‘ I used cretin till someone told me it’s origin and now I don’t’. In other words, there’s effectively been a campaign to reconnect the word cretin with people with disabilities, and thereby recreate offense, where the word had been disassociated from people with disabilities and thereby disassociated from offense. (I have no idea why people think this resurrection of offense is beneficial, but there we go).

The word idiot though has not had such a campaign. So remains, arbitrarily, ok, even for those who won’t use cretin.

Hence the above post, ‘ I used cretin as I thought it just meant idiot but now I understand it means people with learning disabilities’ without realizing…

‘Idiot’ is also a horrible word and I won’t let my children use it.

*Ronald?? I meant Roald, of course!