this post was submitted on 23 Nov 2025
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Unpopular Opinion

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There’s a clear campaign against the mentally ill with the global rise of fascism. Lots of it shows up in anti homeless rhetoric, but you can see it in the MAHA and anti vaccination movements.

There’s no reason to use the word “r-tarded” to describe someone. As someone who’s worked with the intellectually challenged, it’s an insult to them to compare them with people who are willfully ignorant.

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[–] deegeese@sopuli.xyz 29 points 3 days ago (4 children)

What’s the next euphemism we should switch to?

For a while there in the 90’s, “differently abled” looked like it was next on the treadmill.

Words for stupid or crazy are always going to be used as insults.

[–] Blue_Morpho@lemmy.world 7 points 3 days ago (3 children)

My nieces introduced me to "short bus" as an insult instead of retarded.

[–] klemptor@startrek.website 13 points 3 days ago (1 children)

Short bus has been a thing for a long while.

[–] Blue_Morpho@lemmy.world 7 points 3 days ago

It was over 25 years ago.

So yeah, insults have already moved on and people complaining about using "retarded" sound like boomers.

[–] Lodespawn@aussie.zone 7 points 3 days ago

Err, that's no better, it's possible worse ..

[–] JackbyDev@programming.dev 2 points 2 days ago

"I'm not using the word that means the bad thing, I'm just saying you ride the same thing as them" 🙄

[–] JackbyDev@programming.dev 2 points 2 days ago

The fact that it's still currently used as a euphemism for people with actual conditions like down syndrome is precisely why it's problematic to use it as an insult. Previous words used in decades past are only insults now and no longer used as a euphemism for the condition.

[–] kalkulat@lemmy.world 4 points 3 days ago

'trumped' works for me

[–] sem@piefed.blahaj.zone -3 points 3 days ago* (last edited 2 days ago) (1 children)

The *r slur is intentionally cruel in a way that stupid can't match, since stupid is more generic and versatile.

Maybe the *r slur doesn't need a replacement, we can just hold ourselves to a higher standard, and drag things without comparing them to someone with a disability.

[–] PiraHxCx@lemmy.ml 11 points 3 days ago (2 children)

The "r" word used to be the correct medical term used to avoid words like stupid and idiot that were considered cruel slurs, now the "r" is considered a slur, and the cycle goes on and on.

[–] JackbyDev@programming.dev 2 points 2 days ago

Just because words have a lifecycle doesn't excuse you from using harmful ones during the time of the life cycle when they're harmful.

[–] sem@piefed.blahaj.zone 2 points 3 days ago* (last edited 3 days ago)

Accurate.

Except "stupid" was just a word, not medical terminology.

This page has great examples, including toilet and shit.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Euphemism#Lifespan