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

I have never thought of 'loon' as spiteful or insulting before, - I would certainly have said of my children e.g. 'running around like loons' or of another road user 'driving like a loon' , but if it is considered offensive then of course I will reconsider my use of the word.

The term 'Village Idiot' IMO is usually intended to mean anything from the village's most stupid person to a mentally disabled person living within the village.

It is a very out of date and very insulting term.

Mitmoo was foolish to use the term, and even more foolish to try to defend it by saying she thought the woman was an idiot and as she was in a village, that's why she referred to her as a village idiot.

OP you should have just admitted your mistake and apologised for any offence caused, just as happened on this thread about the term 'harelip' , - another thing I have learnt today as I would not have thought twice about saying this but will in future.

sorry not OP, mitmoo.

Well said Kungfu. MN has certainly broadened my outlook on many things, and enabled me to metaphorically "Walk a mile in someone else's shoes".

I have just read back through this thread to work out whether or not "loon" should be avoided as a term, since the thread got a bit out of hand and I think this sums it up for me:
BirdsgottaflyWed 17-Aug-11 10:13:42

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

Good enough for me - shan't use it any more.

Dr Koothrappali will get this. I'm married to Sheldon Cooper, seriously, he even has The Green Lantern T shirt! We lived in a village, where he was called both. As his i.q. is some 150 points higher than the person using the term, I ignored it.

However, if you are aware of someones differences or difficulties, it is unaccapetable. I think it's usually it's people that are not particularly bright, and don't comprehend the difficulties the person has. I quietly put people right when it's directed at my (aspie) kids, usually by adults in shops, and go on to point out their lack of manners, in a slightly louder voice.

Evil, moi?
:)

Not evil at all, Jodianna. (I get the Sheldon ref too). :)

Rather than a list of offensive words to avoid, I would like a list of insults I can use- or are we not allowed to insult anyone?

Surely the point of an insult is to offend, the problem only comes in using the word lunatic if it is aimed at someone who actually has a mental disability, not when aimed at an intelligent person to describe their behaviour?

This site doesn't reflect real life views, many of the 'offensive' terms on here are not found offensive in most circles on an everyday basis.

Why don't we start a list of permitted words? Then when you write a post you just have to check every word against the list.

Or you could just post normally. And if anything you say seems to be upsetting people and you would rather not upset them, review that.
You know, like common manners.

I quite like the challenge of trying to express myself from a small list of words. Like this novel. Though I would end up sounding like a primary school reading book.

breathleslowly

That does seem to be what some on here would love to see happen.

One must never say or write anything that could possibly offend anyone or, continuing your literary example, my observation that the trend seems to be to adopt Orwell's Newspeak philosophy.

The notionthat English can be sanitised by either screeching something-..ist at anything that could remotely offend anyone or restricting the meaning of perfectly harmless words is really quite worrying.

Some words are indeed harmless, as evidenced by the several, joyful swearing threads that have sprung up.
Some are harmful.
Racist language that was in common use when I was a teenager is now seen as unacceptable.
Hopefully some of the disablist language that is now in common use amongst those who are not part of the SN community or connected with it in any way will also become unacceptable. But it won't happen unless those of us who do mind stand up and say so.
My son's approach used to be much clearer, until I educated him out of it.
Call him a retard or a mong or a fucking nutter, and he would hit you.
Fucking wanker he had no problem with.
There's a difference, and as Pag suggested, if you don't know then good manners should mean that you are prepared to listen and adapt when the realities are explained to you.

I think Pag's approach is the most sensible, definitely.

POG That's it exactly!