this post was submitted on 28 Jun 2023
239 points (99.6% liked)
Knitting
2002 readers
1 users here now
A place to show off your knitting, ask questions, and generally enable each other!
CURRENT THEME
🧶 CABLES 🧶
LAST WINNER
RULES
-
All instance rules apply: see legal.lemmy.world
-
WIP/FO Posts should include pattern details (at least name, preferably link)
-
Relevant self-promo from community members is acceptable but will be handled on a case-by-case basis. Exclusively salesy posts will be removed. (more info)
UPCOMING THEMES
TBA!
founded 1 year ago
MODERATORS
you are viewing a single comment's thread
view the rest of the comments
view the rest of the comments
What on earth was the word?
Detectives assemble! Something that could be confused as similar to Neanderthal, but isn't. I'm guessing mongoloid?
You guessed correctly. It is not always a slur, more a description in an anachronistic method of defining human ‘races’, but is apparently a slur used against autistic people and therefore has been deleted from my mental vocabulary.
I think it’s a slur against people with Down’s syndrome. It was originally used to refer to people from East Asia (mongoloid from either Mongols or Mongolia, not sure which), then later applied to people with Down’s syndrome due to similarities between some East Asian facial features and the facial features common among those living with the syndrome.
Looks like it was most commonly used in the 50s and 60s. Not sure if it wasn’t considered offensive then or if people just didn’t care as much.
Edit: also, props to you for using this as a chance to learn rather than getting defensive.