# Pc Strikes another blow for...um pcness?
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pc-strikes-another-blow-for-um-pcness/487777
**Category:** The BBQ Pit
**Created:** [February 28, 2009, 7:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pc-strikes-another-blow-for-um-pcness/487777 "2009-02-28T07:56:34Z")
**Posts on this page:** 20
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@Critical1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Critical1)
#### Post date: [February 28, 2009, 7:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pc-strikes-another-blow-for-um-pcness/487777/1 "2009-02-28T07:56:34Z")
> **[MyNorthwest.com - MyNorthwest.com](https://mynorthwest.com/?nid=11&sid=139518)**
long story short, mental retardation is no longer an acceptable term for use in Washington state laws and will be replaced with “intellectual disability” because mental retardation is “insulting” to retards…I guess
imbecile
moron
idiot
retard
special
Jerry’s kids?
disabled
challenged
handicapped
(quoting from memory) person with special something something something else (seriously it was a sentence to avoid using the word retard to describe some one who was in fact a fucking retard irl)
have I missed any? I am sure I did. Look Fucknuggets, the word Retard is NOT in and of itself an insult, it is a term used to describe a physical condition
the fact that there are about 30 words/terms in the english language used to describe a group of people who are by definition to stupid to worry about some random person they have never met calling them names says a lot about the people who want to “protect” them…the tards dont care, and that sirs makes them smarter than you.
I am not an expert, hell I wont even pretend to have some great wide experience with those less ably brained, but the experiences I do have all tell me the same thing. People working with the handicapped are more worried about other people using terms like retard than the retards themselves ever will be.
passing a law because people use a word as an insult is indeed fucking retarded, although that might be an insult to retards since there is one I know who heard about this and responded with “those dumbasses”.
whats next? will you remove the word “Douchenozzle” from the law books? What about “hat” as in Asshat? or should I find myself on the senate floor where this was being put to a vote I might be overheard to utter the phrase “what the fuck kind of asshattery is going on in here?” will you scrub the word “Damage” from the books? as in “what is your Damage, Heather?”
insults are words uttered with intent, words without intent are just words.
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### Author:  [@Tim\_T-Bonham.net](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tim_T-Bonham.net)
#### Post date: [February 28, 2009, 8:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pc-strikes-another-blow-for-um-pcness/487777/2 "2009-02-28T08:02:17Z")
> [@Critical1](#):
>
> the fact that there are about 30 words/terms in the english language used to describe a group of people who are by definition to stupid to worry about
And probably so stupid they don’t know the difference between “too” and “to”.
Or how to start a sentence with a capital letter.
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### Author:  [@Cisco](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cisco)
#### Post date: [February 28, 2009, 8:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pc-strikes-another-blow-for-um-pcness/487777/3 "2009-02-28T08:25:12Z")
In my experience, retahds don’t care what you call them, but how you treat them.
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### Author:  [@neutron\_star](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/neutron_star)
#### Post date: [February 28, 2009, 8:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pc-strikes-another-blow-for-um-pcness/487777/4 "2009-02-28T08:30:54Z")
I cut myself on the OP. It was too edgy.
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### Author:  [@Critical1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Critical1)
#### Post date: [February 28, 2009, 8:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pc-strikes-another-blow-for-um-pcness/487777/5 "2009-02-28T08:36:04Z")
> [@t-bonham@scc.net](#):
>
> And probably so stupid they don’t know the difference between “too” and “to”.
oh SNAP
> [@t-bonham@scc.net](#):
>
> Or how to start a sentence with a capital letter.
Lazy, the word you are looking for is Lazy
> [@Cisco](#):
>
> In my experience, retahds don’t care what you call them, but how you treat them.
Carlos Mencia did a bit about him performing for some hospital/group of handicapped kids that had my literally crying I was laughing so hard, and it was mostly the things the kids were saying to him that were killing me
one kid told Mencia he looked just like another kid, THAT kid responded by saying “I’m Not MEXICAN…Gotcha Bitch!!”
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### Author:  [@neutron\_star](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/neutron_star)
#### Post date: [February 28, 2009, 8:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pc-strikes-another-blow-for-um-pcness/487777/6 "2009-02-28T08:40:25Z")
You think Carlos Mencia is funny, but you talk about retarded people as if you weren’t one of them.
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### Author:  [@Cisco](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cisco)
#### Post date: [February 28, 2009, 8:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pc-strikes-another-blow-for-um-pcness/487777/7 "2009-02-28T08:41:31Z")
> [@Critical1](#):
>
> Carlos Mencia did a bit . . .
Wonder who he stole it from.
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### Author:  [@Hunter\_Hawk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hunter_Hawk)
#### Post date: [February 28, 2009, 6:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pc-strikes-another-blow-for-um-pcness/487777/8 "2009-02-28T18:30:10Z")
FWIW, here’s the [summary page](http://apps.leg.wa.gov/billinfo/summary.aspx?bill=1835&year=2009) on the bill itself. You can find the text of the bill and the nonpartisan analysis via links at the bottom of the page.
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### Author:  [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Left_Hand_of_Dorkness)
#### Post date: [February 28, 2009, 7:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pc-strikes-another-blow-for-um-pcness/487777/9 "2009-02-28T19:01:50Z")
Although I think the OP is missing some subtleties of the argument, I somewhat agree: changing the terms to avoid pejorative connotations is fucking intellectually disabled. The connotations are endemic to the concept, not to the term: if you want to insult someone who appears not to be thinking reasonably, comparing them to someone with genetically poor cognitive skills is a wonderfully handy comparison. “Intellectually disabled” will remain free of these connotations only as long as it is eldritch jargon: concurrently with the term’s widespread use will be the term’s pejorative connotations. This happened with “mentally retarded,” which was invented for exactly the same purpose, namely, to free idiots, cretins, morons, and imbeciles from the pejorative connotations of these words when used outside of a technical context.
On the other hand, it’s a worthy goal to try to separate the two: while folks with very low IQs may not have the vocabulary to appreciate the insult, there’s nothing to prevent them from realizing they’re being jeered at, or used as the butt of jokes. While it’s a fool’s race to keep changing the technical jargon, while the race can never be won, it may provide folks a chance to use a technical term without having ugly connotations simmering below the surface, at least for a few years.
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### Author:  [@Boyo\_Jim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Boyo_Jim)
#### Post date: [February 28, 2009, 7:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pc-strikes-another-blow-for-um-pcness/487777/10 "2009-02-28T19:09:37Z")
“Intellectually disabled” will soon be the only insulting term allowed in the Pit, which may be ironic because the term is supposed to not carry any pejorative connotation.
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### Author:  [@Snarky\_Kong](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snarky_Kong)
#### Post date: [February 28, 2009, 8:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pc-strikes-another-blow-for-um-pcness/487777/11 "2009-02-28T20:18:04Z")
It’s like grading papers in purple because red is too harsh of a color.
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### Author:  [@minor7flat5](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/minor7flat5)
#### Post date: [February 28, 2009, 10:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pc-strikes-another-blow-for-um-pcness/487777/12 "2009-02-28T22:17:59Z")
Ah yes. Another step on the [euphemism treadmill](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Euphemism#The_.22euphemism_treadmill.22).
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### Author:  [@chacoguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chacoguy)
#### Post date: [March 1, 2009, 2:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pc-strikes-another-blow-for-um-pcness/487777/13 "2009-03-01T02:09:16Z")
> [@minor7flat5](#):
>
> Ah yes. Another step on the [euphemism treadmill](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Euphemism#The_.22euphemism_treadmill.22).
No airplane will get off one of _those_. 😉
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### Author:  [@Vox\_Imperatoris](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Vox_Imperatoris)
#### Post date: [March 1, 2009, 3:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pc-strikes-another-blow-for-um-pcness/487777/14 "2009-03-01T03:25:59Z")
> [@minor7flat5](#):
>
> Ah yes. Another step on the [euphemism treadmill](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Euphemism#The_.22euphemism_treadmill.22).
I love that “concentration camp” was chosen by the British during the Second Boer War because it was “bland and inoffensive”. 😛
Valete,
Vox Imperatoris
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### Author:  [@Zoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zoe)
#### Post date: [March 1, 2009, 10:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pc-strikes-another-blow-for-um-pcness/487777/15 "2009-03-01T10:53:35Z")
> [@](#):
>
> **Snarky\_Kong** : It’s like grading papers in purple because red is too harsh of a color.
And there actually are parents and administrators who object to teachers using red pens.
Whatever these students are called, it will be considered an insult in a few years.
Did you know that “special education” is supposed to include gifted students? It has become so almost exclusively associated with those with learning difficulties that only 1% of special education funding goes to gifted programs.
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### Author:  [@aldiboronti](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aldiboronti)
#### Post date: [March 1, 2009, 4:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pc-strikes-another-blow-for-um-pcness/487777/16 "2009-03-01T16:57:56Z")
> [@Zoe](#):
>
> It has become so almost exclusively associated with those with learning difficulties that only 1% of special education funding goes to gifted programs.
I think that’s about the right ratio. I never quite got why gifted kids needed more taxpayer dollars spent on them. It’s a safe bet they’ll do just fine without any extra help.
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### Author:  [@Snarky\_Kong](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snarky_Kong)
#### Post date: [March 1, 2009, 5:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pc-strikes-another-blow-for-um-pcness/487777/17 "2009-03-01T17:11:30Z")
> [@aldiboronti](#):
>
> I think that’s about the right ratio. I never quite got why gifted kids needed more taxpayer dollars spent on them. It’s a safe bet they’ll do just fine without any extra help.
Because doing just fine is a huge waste of talent for a lot of people.
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### Author:  [@Guinastasia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guinastasia)
#### Post date: [March 1, 2009, 6:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pc-strikes-another-blow-for-um-pcness/487777/18 "2009-03-01T18:15:56Z")
> [@Snarky\_Kong](#):
>
> It’s like grading papers in purple because red is too harsh of a color.
I used to use purple pens in high school sometimes-so that would have been counter productive.
(Although if anyone wanted to grade my paper in purple, that would have been cool with me-I like purple!)
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### Author:  [@Canadjun](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Canadjun)
#### Post date: [March 1, 2009, 6:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pc-strikes-another-blow-for-um-pcness/487777/19 "2009-03-01T18:44:35Z")
> [@minor7flat5](#):
>
> Ah yes. Another step on the [euphemism treadmill](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Euphemism#The_.22euphemism_treadmill.22).
This is getting off the topic of the original OP, but that link made me start swearing about “differently abled” again. I am paraplegic, and I consider “differently abled” just about the most **idiotic** (oops - that is a variation on “idiot” and “idiot” isn’t PC. Sorry! :D) term for someone with a disability that I can think of! Everybody in the bloody world is “differently abled” (any given person has at least slightly different abilities from every other person), so that phrase has no useful meaning.
Call me disabled. Call me handicapped. Call me crippled. WHY did people decide those words were so horrible? (and were the people that decided that disabled/handicapped/crippled themselves or did they just think it would make us poor dears feel better if they thought up yet another new phrase?)
Mutter, mutter, mutter…
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### Author:  [@Revtim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Revtim)
#### Post date: [March 1, 2009, 6:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pc-strikes-another-blow-for-um-pcness/487777/20 "2009-03-01T18:53:37Z")
> [@minor7flat5](#):
>
> Ah yes. Another step on the [euphemism treadmill](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Euphemism#The_.22euphemism_treadmill.22).
Thanks for this link, I’ve long been aware of this concept but didn’t know there was a term for it.
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