• magnetosphere@fedia.io
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    20 days ago

    As I get older, I have more and more sympathy for people who can’t keep up with socially acceptable terminology. At the same time, I have less and less tolerance for people who deliberately use outdated, insulting language.

  • secret300@lemmy.sdf.org
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    19 days ago

    Give it a few more years and then “mentally disabled” will be the new retarded. We’ll cringe at how people would say they’re “disabled”.

    I work with the mentally disabled and have for a while now. I love my guys but it’s so annoying seeing how new terms will come and go throughout the years constantly.

    • frezik@midwest.social
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      19 days ago

      The Euphemism Treadmill might stop when the term is so clinically dry as “mentally disabled”. It doesn’t exactly roll off the tongue of a schoolyard bully the way “retarded” does. I dunno, we’ll see.

      • Wahots@pawb.social
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        19 days ago

        I’m pretty sure that “mentally retarded” was the medical term for many decades, before it became cultural lingo. There was something similar for erectile dysfunction too, they used to call you impotent, not exactly a great thing to hear at the doctor’s office.

  • LovableSidekick@lemmy.world
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    19 days ago

    Fun fact: word usage changes over time. For example, “idiot” used to be a technical medical term for extreme mental disability. We live in the Age of Information, and if somebody doesn’t want to learn about historical context that’s actually willful ignorance on their part.

  • HubertManne@moist.catsweat.com
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    20 days ago

    I am so glad you posted this. Sometimes I get into little arguments about word usage and younger folk truly don’t understand how not only commonplace word usage that is considered some sort of insult now but how officially they were used. Near me was a place that helped folks with all sorts of independent living including housing and job training and just counseling and it was called the NSAR and Im almost sure the R was retardation. Think it changed its name and I can’t find anything on it now but I did find like this https://mn.gov/mnddc/parallels2/pdf/70s/70/70s-WWH-NARC.pdf

    • The Picard Maneuver@lemmy.worldOP
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      20 days ago

      It’s hard to fully explain how the reception of words change to people who haven’t seen it first-hand.

      Even some bad words, which might be incredibly rude to say today, didn’t have the same oomph in the past, so while the definition technically might not have changed, the intended severity of it has.

  • iii@mander.xyz
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    20 days ago

    That was simply the euphemism du jour, on the eternal euphemism treadmill.

    • lime!@feddit.nu
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      20 days ago

      can you really call it a euphemism when it just used to be a medical term back then?

      • Ogmios@sh.itjust.works
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        20 days ago

        Pro tip: It still is a medical term. Internet activists deciding they don’t like a word doesn’t actually change the word.

        • Milk_Sheikh@lemm.ee
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          19 days ago

          It’s not only the ‘SJW’ crowd who are asking people to stop using it, but also the medical field, patients, and their caregivers directly asking everyone to stop.

          The results of both the parent and professional surveys support a move away from the use of the term mental retardation. The majority of parents indicated that they would be upset if a physician used the term mental retardation.

          • deegeese@sopuli.xyz
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            19 days ago

            Right, the euphemism treadmill works on medical terminology same as common speech. The medical terms used to be ‘moron’, ‘idiot’, and ‘cripple’.

            Goes medical term-> common language -> insult -> forbidden

            • Milk_Sheikh@lemm.ee
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              19 days ago

              I mean it’s not like the crown will cut your tongue out for saying the word. You can still say it, and people decide if it is taboo or not, and dis/approve accordingly.

              But much like we don’t use “negroe” despite that having been the word in common use, we’ve recognized the pain it causes that group because of the way language gets weaponized to ‘other’ people.

          • infinite_ass@leminal.space
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            19 days ago

            Probably under pressure from the SJWs. Medical people are practically minded, not given to rewriting the nomenclature to suit the fashion of the hour (they still use Latin for God’s sake). Unless the money is threatened of course.

            • Milk_Sheikh@lemm.ee
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              19 days ago

              Tell me you’re a reactionary without telling me you’re a reactionary. Did you even read the link?

              The results of both the parent and professional surveys support a move away from the use of the term mental retardation. The majority of parents indicated that they would be upset if a physician used the term mental retardation.

        • lime!@feddit.nu
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          20 days ago

          that’s not how that works. “idiot”, “lunatic” and “hysterical” were once medical terms. they are no longer used as such.