# morons, idiots, and imbeciles **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [November 11, 2001, 7:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/morons-idiots-and-imbeciles/92791 "2001-11-11T19:38:13Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 7\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![joemill](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/a9a28c/32.png) [@joemill](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/joemill)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2001, 7:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/morons-idiots-and-imbeciles/92791/1 "2001-11-11T19:38:13Z")
I read somewhere that there is a definite IQ number associated with someone being labeled a moron, idiot, and imbecile. I think I remember an idiot was someone with an IQ of 60? I thought I saw it here and did a search, but didn’t come up with anything. Does anyone have any information on this? Thanks ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2001, 7:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/morons-idiots-and-imbeciles/92791/2 "2001-11-11T19:42:45Z")
From Merriam-Webster: moron : a mentally retarded person who has a potential mental age of between 8 and 12 years and is capable of doing routine work under supervision. imbecile: a feebleminded person having a mental age of three to seven years and requiring supervision in the performance of routine daily tasks of self-care. idiot: a feebleminded person having a mental age not exceeding three years and requiring complete custodial care. ---
**Author:** ![Sylkyn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/da6949/32.png) [@Sylkyn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sylkyn)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2001, 7:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/morons-idiots-and-imbeciles/92791/3 "2001-11-11T19:46:25Z")
According to this site [http://www.lanka.net/lakehouse/2000/10/01/fea13.html](http://www.lanka.net/lakehouse/2000/10/01/fea13.html) "Mental disorder is the generic term for all forms of mental ill health of which there are four main types. Children in the lowest type are called idiots, who, even when their mental development is completed, are never able to care for their personal needs, or to guard against common physical dangers, or develop speech, or master simple occupational tasks. The next type is called imbeciles. They are capable of caring for their personal needs, guarding themselves from danger and mastering simple routine tasks. They learn to speak but show a marked poverty of ideas, and seldom learn anything from the ordinary kind of school curriculum or acquire any but the simplest occupational skills. Children at the highest level of feeble-mindedness are called morons. They are capable of supporting themselves under favourable circumstances, though they lack judgement about handling their finances and meeting their responsibilities. They learn to read and write, but the meanings they are capable of learning are limited to concrete facts. Abstract concepts such as truth, integrity, suspicion etc., are completely beyond their grasp. Normally, children with incomplete development of the mind are known as feeble-minded." It goes on at length to address other issues, as well, but I thought this might at least answer the immediate OP. ---
**Author:** ![samclem](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a9a28c/32.png) [@samclem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/samclem)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2001, 8:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/morons-idiots-and-imbeciles/92791/4 "2001-11-11T20:10:53Z")
> [@](#): > > Mental disorder is the generic term for all forms of mental ill health of which there are four main types. 'Call me a “maroon” but I read that thing a dozen times and can find only “three” types. I would assume that the fourth type is called a “doper.” :D:D:D ---
**Author:** ![Sylkyn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/da6949/32.png) [@Sylkyn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sylkyn)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2001, 8:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/morons-idiots-and-imbeciles/92791/5 "2001-11-11T20:20:23Z")
😃 I don’t think I cut and pasted the rest of it, since he was only asking about morons, imbeciles and idiots. I obviously fit all three of those categories, as well. Quote from the same referenced site: “Another kind of classification of feeble-mindedness is by form or the nature of the causes producing it. Primary or endogenous mental deficiency includes cases which seem to lack the hereditary potentialities for normal mental development.” Maybe this is the fourth, although it only says “another kind of classification”. I only read a part of this site.It’s kind of long-winded, but contains some halfway decent, and relatively easy to understand explanations. ---
**Author:** ![Chez\_Guevara](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/aeb1de/32.png) [@Chez\_Guevara](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chez_Guevara)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2001, 8:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/morons-idiots-and-imbeciles/92791/6 "2001-11-11T20:53:08Z")
[This](http://plaza.powersurfr.com/delajara/IQBasics.html) answers the OP. ---
**Author:** ![barbitu8](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/839c29/32.png) [@barbitu8](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/barbitu8)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2001, 11:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/morons-idiots-and-imbeciles/92791/7 "2001-11-11T23:44:47Z")
DSM-IV does not recognize the classifications noted in the OP. Those are obsolete. 80-89 is low average; 70-79 is borderline intelligence; 51-69 is mild mentardation. As contained in the above link: > [@](#): > > IQ Range Classification > 50-69 Mild > 35-49 Moderate > 20-34 Severe > below 20 Profound > Moreover, “educable mentally retarded” is roughly equivalent to mild mental retardation, and “trainable” mentally retarded is roughly equivalent to moderate (5). The DSM now requires an assessment of a person’s adaptive functioning as an additional criterion for labeling someone retarded. IQ is not enough. Maybe the same sort of thing should be done for labeling somebody a genius. It should be added that “adaptive functioning” must be shown during the development period (prior to age 22).