# Why "stupid" should be retired as an insult

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-stupid-should-be-retired-as-an-insult/719682>\
**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:** 1\
**Showing post:** 46

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![The\_Joker\_and\_the\_Thief](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/e79b87/32.png) [@The\_Joker\_and\_the\_Thief](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Joker_and_the_Thief)\
**Post date:** [May 10, 2015, 7:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-stupid-should-be-retired-as-an-insult/719682/46 "2015-05-10T19:10:36Z")

</div>

I agree with the excellent catalogue **marshmallow** posted above. Insults are supposed to be hurtful, and the trend on the intellectual left to prevent any hurt feelings borders on infantilizing. Moreover, as was pointed out in your [last thread on language and society](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=756136), there isn’t yet a nationwide consensus on the use of terms like “fat” or “gay”.

Finally, you don’t have the best track record on this yourself:

> [@"Asians can't fly!" comments after GE235 crash](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/asians-cant-fly-comments-after-ge235-crash/711882/1):
>
> Comments like “Asians can’t fly!” would only make sense if the pilot had been given a perfectly good airplane (no malfunctions) and had been flying **stupid stunts** on purpose, or somehow mishandled his aircraft and caused a perfectly functional airplane to crash into a river.

(emphasis added)

---

_[View the full topic](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-stupid-should-be-retired-as-an-insult/719682)._