moronic colleague

Hi all,
We have a bit of a prepared answer for this one, just because it has come up before (indeed we are literally about to post it on another thread, it arises so often). So here we go...

Our position on 'moron' isn't black and white. You may remember from this thread (www.mumsnet.com/Talk/site_stuff/a2027525-Disablist-language-and-deletions?msgid=45884254#45884254), when we had a large on-board discussion specifically about disablist language, there was actually no consensus at all about 'moron' (obviously when clearly not used in an SN-related context), with lots of posters saying they didn't actually think it was particularly problematic.

Our approach to deletions is based on Justine's summary on that thread: are they terms currently, or very recently, used in an ordinary descriptive sense about people with disabilities; and/or are they terms which get used in an unpleasant way by rude or bigoted people to directly demean and belittle people with disabilities.

That thread seemed to us to show that MNers themselves didn't feel that 'moron' necessarily fell into either category. So we take it on a case-by-case basis and only delete if it seems to us to be likely to be interpreted as a deliberately disablist term - which we really don't think is the case in this context. However we are happy to change the title to 'numbnut' if the OP wants, and given the upset we think that's probably the best thing to do tbh.

Hope that clears things up a bit and we're sorry if our position has seemed a bit muddled - the area of disablist language is a truly thorny one and for better or worse we think it's best to be guided by the consensus that emerged from that thread.

Best wishes