this post was submitted on 16 Dec 2024

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the euphemism treadmill is a description of linguistic patterns, not a get out of rule free card (files.catbox.moe)

submitted 1 day ago* (last edited 1 day ago) by [email protected] to c/[email protected]

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Using ableist language as insults is always bad, even if the words seem innocuous. Some may reference the "euphemism treadmill" to try to justify their behavior, but it's crucial to understand that the treadmill is merely a linguistic observation. It does not exist to normalize ableist behavior.

what is the euphemism treadmill for those who dont want to google

more reading if bored

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[–] [email protected] 6 points 19 hours ago

Just about any term that refers to someone else can be used as an insult!

So as the old saying goes "offense is taken, not given". If you want to be insulted, you will be.

I find, people who insult others are saying more about their own character, than that of the target.

[–] [email protected] 6 points 1 day ago (1 children)

Idiot is ableist?

[–] [email protected] 3 points 1 day ago

it isn’t necessarily, unless it’s used with ableist intent. good explanation someone made

[–] [email protected] 6 points 1 day ago (1 children)

du hast doch lack gesoffen "idiot", "neurodivergent" & "lame" als abelism zu bezeichnen.

was so angry/disappointed in that post that i couldn't get the message across with English.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 day ago (1 children)

That's angry. (0o0)

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[–] [email protected] 8 points 1 day ago (2 children)

how is special needs ableist?

[–] [email protected] 21 points 1 day ago

Anything is ableist if that's the intention is to be ableist. "Cognitive impairment" or "Brain damage" are clinical terms, but if one decides they can also be ableist insults.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 1 day ago

it’s not, unless there is intent. i see draconic left a great reaponse to you so i will give that my seal of approval instead of rewriting.

[–] [email protected] 31 points 1 day ago (3 children)

I’ve been thinking about how we call people “right-handed” and “left-handed” instead of “handedness-typical” and “handedness-divergent”

[–] [email protected] 13 points 1 day ago (1 children)

sinister used to just mean left handed!

[–] [email protected] 5 points 1 day ago

Didn't know that one, it's a nice one.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 21 hours ago

Well there's right handed and left handed threading which assumes a person with two hands and joints that turn in the opposite directions.

[–] [email protected] 13 points 1 day ago

actually GOATED INSIGHT my friend keep it up

[–] [email protected] 57 points 1 day ago (3 children)

Neurodivergent isn’t an insult…

[–] captain_aggravated 4 points 1 day ago (1 children)

Not YET!

[–] [email protected] 4 points 1 day ago (3 children)

With that theory, any word could become an insult.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 15 hours ago (1 children)

Bingo. I assumed more people understood this, so I apologize for not communicating clearly. Any word can become an insult—with the right people in control. What’s particularly hurtful is seeing words that marginalized or oppressed groups use to describe their own experiences being co-opted and turned into insults, reinforcing their otherness.

It happened with “retard,” as with “idiot,” and so many others. Recently, I’ve seen it happen with more niche phrases (look up “is X acoustic” if you’re unfamiliar). Just the other day, I made a comment that I could see two perspectives on a matter. Instead of simply calling me wrong, someone said, “You must be neurodivergent, you’re so gullible.” In that context, “neurodivergent” was clearly being used as a stand-in for the r-slur.

To be clear, I am not against any language. I’m against the weaponizing of language.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 14 hours ago (1 children)

👍🏻

What’s interesting about the word retard specifically is it’s still used as a technical term that has nothing to do with developmental disabilities - for example, fire retardant - to slow/stop something.

[–] [email protected] 0 points 14 hours ago (1 children)

right, i mean thats just kind of a side effect of language existing

a similar concept appears in the terms “dumbwaiter,” “dumbfounded,” “dumbstruck” wherein “dumb” literally just meant mechanical/nonspeaking, and had none of the other implications of disability-related muteness it has now.

obviously “dumb” carries a lot less weight these days than the r slur, but the existence of etymologically related terms doesn’t give an “out” to people using them for offense and denigration in either case

[–] [email protected] 1 points 12 minutes ago

but the existence of etymologically related terms doesn’t give an “out” to people using them for offense and denigration in either case

Never said it did. I remember the first time I saw retard being used in a technical sense and being thrown by it’s usage in todays world. Ultimately though you can’t police language, people are gonna say whatever dumb shit they want, doesn’t mean you have to listen. And no, anyone using “dumb” or “idiot” today is not referring to disabled people, those words stopped being used to describe disabled people multiple decades ago and are far removed from being associated with disabled people. Retard is a lot more recent, but even as a kid growing up in the 90s where calling people gay, queer and faggots were acceptable, even retard used as a slur back then was frowned upon.

[–] captain_aggravated 3 points 22 hours ago

That's the attitude one would expect from such a high class individual.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 23 hours ago

Correct

[–] [email protected] 32 points 1 day ago* (last edited 1 day ago) (1 children)

"Cisgender" isn't an insult either, but that doesn't stop Elon Musk and his flunkies from treating it as such.

[–] [email protected] 9 points 1 day ago

mega fax

[–] [email protected] 13 points 1 day ago* (last edited 14 hours ago) (9 children)

correct, it’s not (or shouldn’t be), but it’s being used as one, especially recently!

precontext: i said i could see both sides of some non-important debate. something about whether a community mod should be heavy or light with bans, and i was like, “well it depends on what the motivations and needs are.”

their response to that?

in this post i hope to call attention to the same destructive processes happening to “neurodiverse” as to all the other terms. particularly i want to call out the ableist motivations behind it.

[–] [email protected] 38 points 1 day ago (1 children)

It's an insult because of intent, not because of the word itself, though.

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[–] [email protected] 9 points 1 day ago (1 children)

You can use gay, homosexual, homo habilis as insults

That doesnt make these words bad

[–] [email protected] 12 points 1 day ago

precisely? never said otherwise :) to quote another person right in this thread whom i agree with:

It’s an insult because of intent, not because of the word itself, though.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 1 day ago (1 children)

Yeah and I could call you a wet blanket for not realizing words can be used however the fuck you want.

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[–] [email protected] 22 points 1 day ago (1 children)

Idk man, a good chunk of these are just sorta not that associated with their origins anymore. A lot of insults are historically demeaning towards certain groups (especially poor people).

[–] [email protected] 11 points 1 day ago (2 children)

as always, act everything considering the window of present you are in. “idiot” means a lot less offense today than it did back in the day.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 21 hours ago

I agree. "idiot-proof" is a common term in the design industry and it's somewhat synonymous with accessibility, fault tolerance, and resilience.

[–] [email protected] 4 points 1 day ago

Reasonable.

[–] [email protected] 20 points 1 day ago (1 children)

today i learned that 'cretin' has ableist origins. just hearing the word, and being completely unaware of its origins, i assumed it had racist origins and was somehow related to the isle of crete.

apparently 'cretinism' is an old-timey word for congenital iodine deficiency syndrome.

[–] [email protected] 7 points 1 day ago

okay wow TIL too! i was just pulling from memory and a few online examples but i never dove into the specific histories of that particular word!

[–] Tar_alcaran 42 points 1 day ago (7 children)

If one of the words needs an asterisk instead of a letter, I don't think all of them are equal...

[–] [email protected] 15 points 1 day ago* (last edited 1 day ago)

I have an older family member who is severely mentally disabled and always has been. His medical records diagnosed him as r*tarded. The adults diagnosing him at the time didn't understand enough about mental conditions and their differences when he was a child. So kids like him were diagnosed with that. It did have more 'legitimate' uses than it does in our current context. Doesn't make it good or right, doesn't mean they shouldn't have tried to be more specific either. That legacy leads to now where we have the nuance and resources to do better. I am glad it's more and more relagated to the past as it's consistently been used to dehumanize people.

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[–] [email protected] 26 points 1 day ago (3 children)

Interesting. Feels like there's a bit of a paradox, where we need a term to address a group of people who are being "othered," but while that's the case, there will be people who use that term as an insult.

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[–] [email protected] 2 points 1 day ago (1 children)

... would you like to walk away from Omelas..?

[–] [email protected] 2 points 1 day ago

i get the reference but not how it applies here

[–] [email protected] 6 points 1 day ago (23 children)

Shouldn't this, then, extend to all implications of stupidity in behavior, not just individual words?