Do Certain Derogatory Words Bother You

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Spot on - language scientists call this the "euphemism treadmill". Slang words get overused sometimes, so that they lose their punch or get people into trouble, and young people often like to have their own slang to set themselves apart from their parents' generation; so people find new ones. The word "ret*d" was once only a formal medical term, just like "autistic"; but it got picked up as a slang insult, and spread so widely that the "official" meaning got lost. And before doctors started to use "ret*d", they used words like "idiot" and "moron" as technical terms - "ret*d" was introduced partly because those words had become such common insults.

Words shift in meaning like this all the time, but with slang and insults, it tends to happen much faster. In a sense, there is no such things as a "derogatory word", only derogatory ways of using them; and sometimes there is a general agreement that using a certain word at all is derogatory.

We can't ban "autistic" as a word to stop it being used in an insulting way, because then we'd lose the proper use too. But if the nasty use became common enough, we might decide that finding a new name for autism was the only thing left to do. The only lasting solution would be a world where people don't throw insults at each other - we can encourage this by promoting respect and tolerance for diversity. But so long as there are vindictive people in the world, there's not much that can be done to stop the meaning of words getting shifted like this.

"ret*d" bothers me because it was ubiquitous when I was growing up and I had a cousin who was one of my favorite people on the planet who was severely mentally disabled and I didn't like when people would refer to him that way. I hate the term, actually and will always refer to it in quotations.

I don't like the word Aspergers, but that's mainly because I can only think of: Ass Burgers and it sounds stupid to me that way.

The problems with finding new words for legitimate words that have become weaponized are
1. The next words are usually boring and less descriptive ie manic-depression to bi-polar
2. The bullies win again
3. The new words will inevitably become pejoratives and will have to be abandoned and the euphemism treadmill will keep on keepin’on.

At some point the euphemism treadmill needs to be euphemistically smashed to pieces. But I don’t hold much hope for that anytime soon, the trend is the opposite and accelerating.

How long before before before the word autistic is abondoned to the bullies?

Also, can I ask you a question. How did you put the things like your "Aspie Score" (if that is the correct thing to say) on the bottom of your posts or profile or wherever?

You go into "My Account" and then you add things like that if you wish to the signature area. You can preview your entries before submitting them.

Awesome. Thank you!

That word also bothers me. I used to get called that all the time, in elementary school. There was one time when I was in my 20s and I was waiting for my dog to finish doing his business before calling him in for the night. There was a guy having a house party and he spotted me from where his back yard was. He said, "The ret*d is looking out her window. I yelled out to those people, "Your souls are ret*d!" There was a dead silence. One of the guests asked him why everyone was so quiet. Another guest told the person, "He called that Mod over there a ret*d."

I'm just curious. You refer to yourself as a she in the text, but your profile says male. Why's that?

Exactly. Well put!

Since the topic has come up, I notice you list your AQ score as 34 out of 40. I suppose that is a typo for 34 out of 50?

For those interested in this storyline, that was today's comic. It updates daily at https://questionablecontent.net

It is well put. Sadly its the truth. The word "ret*d" itself was adopted in Fifties by the medical community as a euphemism for earlier terms (like moron, and imbecile) , only to become an insult on the lips of every baby boomer grade school kid on the playground a few years later in the Sixties. So in the Seventies they were dreaming up euphemisms for THAT euphemism, like "challenged".