this post was submitted on 26 Mar 2026
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[–] samus12345@sh.itjust.works -1 points 19 hours ago (1 children)

It's kind of a leap to hear "dwarf planet" and think that it's denigrating people with dwarfism in any way.

[–] GraniteM@lemmy.world 0 points 18 hours ago (1 children)

It's not a direct connection, but trying to say a dwarf planet isn't a planet, when it's got the word planet right there, is generating the kind of semantic confusion that, carried forward, would lead to the conclusion that people with dwarfism aren't people. The -oid suffix already conveys "is almost the thing, but not quite," such as in words like humanoid, asteroid, android, and (most importantly) the aforementioned planetoid. Making planetoid the official word for "is in ways like a planet but actually isn't" would have been working with existing etymology, rather than creating needless confusion.

[–] samus12345@sh.itjust.works 1 points 18 hours ago

I'd certainly support not using "dwarf" in the names of celestial bodies any more, although it would make the Red Dwarf's name anachronistic.