why is "village idiot" disablist, but "loon" not?

[porcamiseria]

sorry not picking on the poster that used the term "loon" but interesting that mitmoo got fucking CANED, and the other OP did not

smacks to me as an excuse for people to kick the living shit out of a poster that has annoyed them

you bullies! I dont agree with what mitmoo has posted . however I think this is more about bullying annoyance at a certain poster, using the PC excuse of disablist language

nuff said

'loon' is also a Doric (Aberdeen) word for a young man.

Fair enough Agent, I still think that the distinction between it being an illness and it being a disability is why some things are seen as accepted and others not.

loon has not offended me, bullying and bangwaggon jumping in the guise of being PC does! it happens alot on here too, if someone offends the "norm" of thinking, its acceptable to shit kick them! It actually does not bother me, but I like to call on it as its hypocritical IMO

anwya I am going to work now, seriously....go Pag, go go go

at Lenin. Lost the cunt race.

Not going there. Not least because I was an arse and should have let it go. Peace and love and all that

I thought loon referred to the bird as well. I wouldn't use the phrase village idiot but don't find it that offensive. Does that mean we can't say idiot? Or idiotic? People with mental health issues used to be called feeble minded. The phrase is widely used now in a more general sense. We don't want to go back to the days when people went around the playground doing Joey Deacon impressions but I think people are a bit over sensitive sometimes.

To me, an idiot is a stupid person, not a mentally unwell person...

So, if someone is the village idiot, it means they're the most stupid person, not the person with the most mental health issues.

If I was unlucky enough to suffer from mental health issues, I'd take massive umbrage at being lumped in with stupid people. Or are we not allowed to call people stupid anymore? Even if they are stupid?

I guess whether a word is acceptable or not depends entirely on how it is received by those in the group it targets and also the social associations that go with it. I have a mental impairment, being autistic, and have had all the words in this thread thrown at me at some point. This is how they feel to me, a person with a mental disability:

village idiot - really hurtful, makes me feel like everyone is laughing at me behind my back

retard - offesive beyond belief

idiot - not nice but doesn't have the general mocking quality of being the village one.

loon, barking, bonkers - has an endearing quality about it, doesn't bother me at all

ignoramous - could apply to anyone, not bothered, although annoying because I know I'm not.

My father used the word loon to refer to a 'lad', scottish dialect.

kladdake my amercian HR manager used the term "retard", I was a bit shocked. I should have called her on it, but as I was trying to negotiate a pay rise I am afraid I did not.

i definitely use it, and loony. although to me it has more of an aberdonian ring to it, and i think of it as being associated with the hi-jinks that a loon would get up to, iykwim? don't use quine, though... wonder why that is. quines less loony, i suppose.

The origin of the term 'loon' for a mentally ill person is argued about.
wordcraft.infopop.cc/eve/forums/a/tpc/f/.../m/676104652

It is suggesting that there is a stereo type for a mentally ill person and that the majority conform to this. In the UK it was a degotary term for MH just like retard for LD's. As in 'you are ready for the loony bin', 'you need to see the loony doctor', and not quite as affectionate as 'you are ready for the funny farm' etc.

Like retard and mong some would like it removed from usage as it does do the MH 'cause' damage. Terms such as these tend to dehumunise, that is why they are being discouraged. It is on the list of unacceptable words in social care.

I think pag is right up-thread. It's about what the minority or affected group accepts as acceptable. Hence cunt is acceptable on MN

Interesting about the bird btw, I also thought 'loon' derived from lunatic

I'l try again
wordcraft.infopop.cc/eve/forums/a/tpc/f/.../m/676104652

I think one difference in general between words such as "loon" and "village idiot" is the degree of obviousness.

There's a bit of in-depth thinking required to trace "loon" back to any offensive roots, and a bit of ornithology is required.

"Village idiot", on the other hand, is more obviously a linguistic relic of what kind of life someone with SNs would often had in the (not so distant) past.

I have just read the whole other thread about the 'Village Idiot' from start to finish. I didn't contribute.

It was an arresting original post, placed deliberately in AIBU, and other posters understandably expressed honest views, as is in the nature of the board; and then when the OP vehemently rejected their opinions they expressed scepticism about her narrative.

Part of this scepticism was expressed as surprise that someone with a son with special needs would themselves use a term that demeans people with special needs. The words themselves didn't necessarily matter; it was the discordant juxtaposition that was being highlighted.

Another part of the scepticism apparently arose because of the equally arresting style of OP's previous threads.

There are some rudely contrary posts that I can see, and they were actually written by the OP herself (or himself).

Ignoramus also means lack of knowledge (although I didn't check that in the dictionary, so correct me if I'm wrong) which is easily remedied, where as idiot/retard/mong implies a deficiency

I agree with Pag and Lenin
As usual

I love the way retard and loon are out of bounds (I can understand the reasons for this), but cunt, which some people (including me) find very offensive and anti-women, is OK to use, even in thread titles, which children may read over your shoulder.

The other hypocrisy that gets to me is that it is all right to use expressions such as Jesus F..k..g C....t and Oh My F...... G.d in thread titles, deeply offensive to many people.

Sorry, this is more of a general rant, but it's either a parenting site or it's not. If it is primarily about parenting then the thread titles should reflect that fact that people may be looking at the site in public areas of their home, at times when children are around. We have a policy of not letting laptops go into bedrooms and keeping them downstairs in our house so that we can monitor what our teenagers are up to. Sometimes with MN, I've had a child wander past and gasp at the abusive/profane/nasty words in a thread title. Not what I want, really, with a 'parenting' site. Sometimes I feel it's more like an 'adult' site.

I wouldn't use cunt in a title but I would use it in the body of a text because if my child is wandering past and able to read cunt she could just as easily read blow job, rape, pedophile, paki, wanker etc etc.
It's a site for parents. It covers adult themes.

And I don't regard cunt as anti women. It offends me that cunt is soooooooo offensive but prick, dick etc are fine. Why are womens genetalia the worst insult.

'Village idiot' was more a 'bungler' rather than a simpleton, so not necessarily connected to SN.

In all fairness SN's wouldn't have mattered in a time were the WC or women were not educated and didn't have to read or learn how to cross roads etc. My DD's SN's wouldn't have shown up in rural England, but now she is classed as 'moderate'.

The villiage idiot still contributed to village life, hence the tern 'every village has to have one', where as a 'loon' had to be shut away somewhere.