# Why "stupid" should be retired as an insult **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [May 10, 2015, 4:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-stupid-should-be-retired-as-an-insult/719682 "2015-05-10T04:17:48Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecccb3/32.png) [@Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skald_the_Rhymer)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2015, 3:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-stupid-should-be-retired-as-an-insult/719682/21 "2015-05-10T15:08:05Z")
> [@Velocity](#): > > By this logic, any insult is justifiable; what about the N word? I refuse to cede the right to call other black men “nigger,” especially when we’re (a) good buddies or (b) they’ve done something egregiously ignorant. I also refuse to use the construct “n-word” except in sentences like this one. It just occurred to me that I’d never call a black WOMAN “nigger,” even if she were as egregiously ignorant as, say, Jenny McCarthy. I’m not sure what that means. ---
**Author:** ![Robert163](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/4af34b/32.png) [@Robert163](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Robert163)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2015, 3:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-stupid-should-be-retired-as-an-insult/719682/22 "2015-05-10T15:17:29Z")
> [@Skald\_the\_Rhymer](#): > > I refuse to cede the right to call other black men “nigger,” especially when we’re (a) good buddies or (b) they’ve done something egregiously ignorant. I also refuse to use the construct “n-word” except in sentences like this one. > > It just occurred to me that I’d never call a black WOMAN “nigger,” even if she were as egregiously ignorant as, say, Jenny McCarthy. I’m not sure what that means. IDk if I can agree. Maybe you could use the word in private but I think any use in mixed company is inappropriate. Even if i were robbed/mugged by a black man, I would still not say “Well I was robbed by a N-Word” when I was describing the events. I would just say “I was robbed”. Logically\*, it should not bother a black person if they hear someone say “I was robbed by a N-Word” but I think the word has such a long standing connotation of hate and derogatory thought that black people would still find it offensive. Since I have a desire not to offend people I would not use it. I can see your point. It makes sense on a certain level. Can you see the point I am making? \*By Logic I mean the “definition” of the N-Word is a black person who acts in a very negative manner. But I don’t like that idea either because I do not believe the color of your skin is the cause of the way you act. ---
**Author:** ![Malthus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/85f322/32.png) [@Malthus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Malthus)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2015, 3:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-stupid-should-be-retired-as-an-insult/719682/23 "2015-05-10T15:21:52Z")
> [@marshmallow](#): > > That doesn’t leave much. Pretty much just asshole. Most everyone has an asshole. Will no-one think of the poor folks who have had colostomies? :mad: ---
**Author:** ![monstro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ba9def/32.png) [@monstro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/monstro)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2015, 3:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-stupid-should-be-retired-as-an-insult/719682/24 "2015-05-10T15:31:06Z")
> [@Skald\_the\_Rhymer](#): > > It just occurred to me that I’d never call a black WOMAN “nigger,” even if she were as egregiously ignorant as, say, Jenny McCarthy. I’m not sure what that means. We ladies prefer “nigress”. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecccb3/32.png) [@Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skald_the_Rhymer)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2015, 3:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-stupid-should-be-retired-as-an-insult/719682/25 "2015-05-10T15:41:53Z")
> [@Robert163](#): > > IDk if I can agree. Maybe you could use the word in private but I think any use in mixed company is inappropriate. Even if i were robbed/mugged by a black man, I would still not say “Well I was robbed by a N-Word” when I was describing the events. I would just say “I was robbed”. Logically\*, it should not bother a black person if they hear someone say “I was robbed by a N-Word” but I think the word has such a long standing connotation of hate and derogatory thought that black people would still find it offensive. Since I have a desire not to offend people I would not use it. I can see your point. It makes sense on a certain level. Can you see the point I am making? > > \*By Logic I mean the “definition” of the N-Word is a black person who acts in a very negative manner. But I don’t like that idea either because I do not believe the color of your skin is the cause of the way you act. I didn’t say YOU (assuming you’re white) can call people nigger. I said that black people can use it amongst ourselves, because its meaning is different then. The “n-word” construct remains stupid and I may start slapping people – well, men – who force me to hear it. ---
**Author:** ![John\_Mace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_mace/32/185_2.png) [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2015, 4:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-stupid-should-be-retired-as-an-insult/719682/26 "2015-05-10T16:30:54Z")
I’ve never understood how claiming special rules for group A doesn’t hurt the cause of ensuring that society treats group A equally. That is not to say it is a major cause of inequality, just saying that it hurts the cause. If it’s more important to protect that rule than to not hurt the cause of equality, then knock yourself out. ---
**Author:** ![iljitsch](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/77aa72/32.png) [@iljitsch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iljitsch)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2015, 5:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-stupid-should-be-retired-as-an-insult/719682/27 "2015-05-10T17:12:51Z")
> [@Skald\_the\_Rhymer](#): > > I didn’t say YOU (assuming you’re white) can call people nigger. I said that black people can use it amongst ourselves, because its meaning is different then. That’s stupid. If you are free to use that word in certain circumstances, I should be free to use the same word in the same circumstances. And stupid is a perfectly fine insult, as it doesn’t insult someone’s innate intelligence, it insults someone for failing to use that intelligence. ---
**Author:** ![John\_Mace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_mace/32/185_2.png) [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2015, 5:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-stupid-should-be-retired-as-an-insult/719682/28 "2015-05-10T17:15:11Z")
> [@iljitsch](#): > > And stupid is a perfectly fine insult, as it doesn’t insult someone’s innate intelligence, it insults someone for failing to use that intelligence. Actually, it does. You are thinking of “ignorant”. Not that I think we should stop using stupid, but “stupid” is not a synonym for “ignorant”. ---
**Author:** ![iljitsch](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/77aa72/32.png) [@iljitsch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iljitsch)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2015, 5:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-stupid-should-be-retired-as-an-insult/719682/29 "2015-05-10T17:23:43Z")
Ignorant means you didn’t know something, which obviously is a good reason to fail to act on that knowledge. Maybe you’re being stupid for not paying attention when that knowledge was made available, maybe you are intelligence-challenged and didn’t understand the knowledge, or maybe there was no way for you to know. I don’t think there is a strict formal definition of stupid (sorry, being ignorant here), but I believe my interpretation is more reasonable than the OP’s that it’s equivalent to “retarded”. ---
**Author:** ![Robert163](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/4af34b/32.png) [@Robert163](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Robert163)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2015, 5:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-stupid-should-be-retired-as-an-insult/719682/30 "2015-05-10T17:31:55Z")
> [@Skald\_the\_Rhymer](#): > > I didn’t say YOU (assuming you’re white) can call people nigger. I said that black people can use it amongst ourselves, because its meaning is different then. > > The “n-word” construct remains stupid and I may start slapping people – well, men – who force me to hear it. I thought that in most cases black people say/said Nigga and that most white people simply don’t catch the difference in inflection/pronunciation. ---
**Author:** ![billfish678](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7bcc69/32.png) [@billfish678](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/billfish678)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2015, 5:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-stupid-should-be-retired-as-an-insult/719682/31 "2015-05-10T17:41:46Z")
Has “stupid” reached dog whistle level yet? That seems to be the latest standard for a word crossing a line. ---
**Author:** ![davidm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/davidm/32/225_2.png) [@davidm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/davidm)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2015, 5:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-stupid-should-be-retired-as-an-insult/719682/32 "2015-05-10T17:41:54Z")
Hmm… Using an ongoing popular thread as an example: “Stupid Republican idea of the day” (The actual name of the thread) Versus “Intellectually challenged Republican idea of the day” I actually think the second one may be more contemptuous. 😛 How about: “Bad Republican idea of the day” Naah. That sounds like it could be a disagreement over what wine goes best with caviar. ---
**Author:** ![davidm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/davidm/32/225_2.png) [@davidm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/davidm)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2015, 5:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-stupid-should-be-retired-as-an-insult/719682/33 "2015-05-10T17:43:55Z")
> [@Robert163](#): > > I thought that in most cases black people say/said Nigga and that most white people simply don’t catch the difference in inflection/pronunciation. Is there a difference? Should white people use the work “nigga”? I certainly wouldn’t. ---
**Author:** ![Robert163](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/4af34b/32.png) [@Robert163](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Robert163)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2015, 5:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-stupid-should-be-retired-as-an-insult/719682/34 "2015-05-10T17:48:38Z")
> [@davidm](#): > > Is there a difference? Should white people use the work “nigga”? I certainly wouldn’t. I agree with you. Most of the black people I knew did not use the word Nigga. In fact most of them were against it. I don’t claim to know or speak for all black people. I’ve had in between 5 and 10 people I knew who were black that I would consider close friends and many more that I knew casually. My point is it seems to be a cultural distinction that is hard for white people to understand. ---
**Author:** ![Thudlow\_Boink](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thudlow_boink/32/320_2.png) [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2015, 6:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-stupid-should-be-retired-as-an-insult/719682/35 "2015-05-10T18:18:19Z")
“Stupid is as stupid does.” -Forrest Gump I am uncomfortable with calling people “stupid.” I’m not sure how much of that is for reasons such as those of the OP, and how much is being averse to insulting people in general. But I have no reservations about using the word “stupid” in reference to things or actions, as in “I did a really stupid thing today” or “that was the stupidest movie I’ve ever seen.” ---
**Author:** ![Loach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/loach/32/350_2.png) [@Loach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Loach)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2015, 6:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-stupid-should-be-retired-as-an-insult/719682/36 "2015-05-10T18:28:15Z")
I for one find it disturbing that some people may feel insulted by insults. What is this world coming to? ---
**Author:** ![Loach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/loach/32/350_2.png) [@Loach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Loach)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2015, 6:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-stupid-should-be-retired-as-an-insult/719682/37 "2015-05-10T18:33:07Z")
> [@Velocity](#): > > Now, someone may object, \*"But some people \*\*are \*_stupid!"_ - Yes, no doubt, but some people are fat or gay, too, and I think we can agree that using the terms “fat” or “gay” as insults would be inappropriate. Just because someone \*is \*something, doesn’t make using that something as an insult, appropriate. Here’s the problem with your opinion. If someone is fat or gay they are quite aware of that fact. Most people who are stupid function under the assumption that they are smart. Regardless of their intelligence level they still insist on pushing their stupid ideas and agendas on me. ---
**Author:** ![Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecccb3/32.png) [@Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skald_the_Rhymer)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2015, 6:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-stupid-should-be-retired-as-an-insult/719682/38 "2015-05-10T18:35:46Z")
> [@iljitsch](#): > > That’s stupid. If you are free to use that word in certain circumstances, I should be free to use the same word in the same circumstances. > > And stupid is a perfectly fine insult, as it doesn’t insult someone’s innate intelligence, it insults someone for failing to use that intelligence. It’s far from stupid. Among black people, nigger can be a term of affection, a term of non-hateful judgment, sometimes a term buying into white racism; it depends on context. From a white American to a black person, the default interpretation is the racist one because of the history of race relations in the US. The interpretation differs because the situation differs. ---
**Author:** ![bucketybuck](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/898d66/32.png) [@bucketybuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bucketybuck)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2015, 6:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-stupid-should-be-retired-as-an-insult/719682/39 "2015-05-10T18:37:48Z")
I don’t care if I offend the stupid. I don’t care if the stupid are hurt at being called stupid, I don’t care because they are stupid. Fuck the stupid, they make it worse for everybody. ---
**Author:** ![Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecccb3/32.png) [@Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skald_the_Rhymer)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2015, 6:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-stupid-should-be-retired-as-an-insult/719682/40 "2015-05-10T18:38:38Z")
> [@Robert163](#): > > I thought that in most cases black people say/said Nigga and that most white people simply don’t catch the difference in inflection/pronunciation. Rhotic versus non-rhotic accents do not different words make. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-stupid-should-be-retired-as-an-insult/719682.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-stupid-should-be-retired-as-an-insult/719682.md?page=3)