to politely request people stop using the word 'moron'

[opionated]

it was a medical term

@KC225 Cretinism is the condition of physical/mental disabilities caused by congenital hypothyroidism

I don’t use the term but think “moron” (like “idiot”) is in fairly wide use and that people don’t associate it with its past meaning.

If angry I try to talk about behaviours. My go-to insults about people are mainly male genetalia related!

YABU. Get a grip.

I don't think you can ask people not to use it.

You can explain the history/meaning, which some people may not have known, and ask if they were aware of it. That may persuade some people to stop.

There are so many more offensive words to choose from

What a moronic request.

If words like stupid, idiot and moron shouldn’t be used, what words are acceptable to describe someone who is being, er, “this trait for which no acceptable words are left”?

How will I ask for carrots when in Wales then?

Seriously though, some words evolve and lose ‘original’ meaning over a very long time. I’d never use retard, spastic or mongol as insults as I have known them used as a medical terms in my lifetime. Moron and idiot are not in the same bracket, they are terms for general stupidity (I appreciate they have also been used to describe low intelligence rather than just stupid in the past). Both have original roots in meaning ‘foolish’, and the current definition for both is ‘stupid person’ and is in no way used for medical diagnosis.

Younger generations would in no way associate moron with those of genuine low cognitive ability, and there is no value in making words taboo just because they had a different meaning before many people were even born.

And while we’re at it please can we stop using “naughty”... It’s a horrible word that used to mean “evil and nasty”.

Surely using such a word will therefore scar your children for life when they find out... In fact, surely using such language about another person is abusive and warrants a call to Social Services.

Well if the OP was trying to make "opinionated" her username then I think I understand the reason for her objection to synonyms for "stupid"

Lunatic is an interesting one. I think they used to think that the moon made people mad. I don’t know if it’s PC to use it or not, but I quite like the derivation

Retard is offensive because people currently use it as a slur for people with learning disabilities. Moron isn't because it is not used as s hate crime towards a particular group. All words have origins, div is about the only one I've found which means a similar thing but comes from prion slang rather than medical labels, I think.

No, I won't be doing that.

Come on guys, perhaps we should only ever use ‘nice’ words.... Oh wait, sorry, ‘nice’ used to be rather insulting meaning silly or stupid... oops sorry, just wrote the “st” word.

Argh, really sorry, I used “guys”.... basically referring to you all as terrorists!

Maybe we should just stop communicating

I think ‘flid’ is short for thalidamide so that’s not appropriate either. I was quite shocked when I found out this as we used to call people flid at school (in the 80s) a lot.

Language evolves. It is no longer a medical term and neither is cretin or idiot.

Retard has a much more recent history so I can see why that is offensive.

I think the OP needs to stop being so uptight.

Well, if we're going to be all offended about what words originally meant.

OP, in future please refrain from using the word "nice".

You wouldn't want to offend anyone bow, would you?

'How happy is the moron,
He doesn't give a damn.
I wish I were a moron -
My God! Perhaps I am!'

So what do I call Donald Trump now then? 🙄

So what do I call Donald Trump now then?

I quite like orange shitgibbon.

en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moron_(psychology)

It’s a horrible word that used to mean “evil and nasty”.

It also meant immoral.

Gay used to mean a prostitute as well. A more controversial one is ‘hysterical’, as it was obviously used at one point as suggestion that women were not mentally stable. It now has very common usage describing something as ‘very funny’, but also still holds meaning as having a ‘highly emotional’ reaction to something. Most would use it without thought, but others still find the word offensive.

I do use the word moron to describe people such as Donald Trump however I don't use the word retard.

Otherwise how else can I describe stupid people?

1910-1920
Key Legislation
1913 Mental Deficiency Act. Use of terms 'idiot', 'imbecile', 'feeble-minded' and 'moral imbecile'. In particular this influential Act made it possible to institutionalise women with illegitimate children who were receiving poor relief.

Publications
1910 Mary Dendy – The Problem of the Feeble-Minded

1920-1930
Key Legislation
1927 Mental Deficiency (Amendment) Act: replaced the term 'moral defective' with 'moral imbecile'; crucially allowed for mental deficiency resulting from illness or accident - previously it had to have been there from birth.