Did you know that several derogatory terms used to be scientific?

Imbecile was a medical category of people with moderate to severe intellectual disability, as well as a type of criminal.[1][2] The term arises from the Latin word imbecillus, meaning weak, or weak-minded. It included people with an IQ of 21–50, between "moron" (IQ of 51–70) and "idiot" (IQ of 0–20).[3]

The meaning was further refined into mental and moral imbecility.[4][5] The concepts of "moral insanity", "moral idiocy"," and "moral imbecility", led to the emerging field of eugenic criminology, which held that crime can be reduced by preventing "feeble-minded" people from reproducing.[6][7]

"Imbecile" as a concrete classification was popularized by psychologist Henry H. Goddard[8] and was used in 1927 by United States Supreme Court Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr. in his ruling in the forced-sterilization case Buck v. Bell, 274 U.S. 200 (1927).[9]

The concept is closely associated with psychology, psychiatry, criminology, and eugenics. However, the term imbecile quickly passed into vernacular usage as a derogatory term, and fell out of professional use in the 20th century[10] in favor of mental retardation.

In recent decades, the phrases "mental retardation", "mentally retarded", and "retarded" initially used in a medical manner, are regarded as derogatory and politically incorrect much like moron, imbecile, cretin, dolt and idiot, formerly used as scientific terms in the early 20th century. On October 5, 2010, President Barack Obama signed Senate Bill 2781, known as "Rosa's Law", which changed references in many Federal statutes that referred to "mental retardation" to refer instead to "intellectual disability".[11]

What I think is ridiculous is this part:

On October 5, 2010, President Barack Obama signed Senate Bill 2781, known as "Rosa's Law", which changed references in many Federal statutes that referred to "mental retardation" to refer instead to "intellectual disability".

Mental retardation was CLEARLY a scientific, accurate description of a condition. But people used it as an epithet, and so it had to be changed into an EQUIVALENT description, "intellectual disability".


The same thing happens with mankind's baser functions -- voiding and evacuation.

Look at all the euphemisms and subtle euphemisms-upon-euphemisms that refer to "taking a dump".

Water closet, W.C., bathroom, restroom, facilities, little boys' room, number 1, number 2, "bath tissue", etc.

But no matter what you call it, you're still embarrassed because of what you know goes on there, so even the euphemism gets hinted at with a blush!

I have Irish culture in me; I prefer to call it like it is.

It's an endless cycle.  A particular word or phrase is used to scientifically or formally describe something.  Because that something is undesirable, the word is used both in its "official" capacity, as well as an insult.  People become offended by the insult, and demand a different word or phrase be used as the "official" designation.

It's just a matter of time before "intellectual disability," or some variant of that phrase, starts being used as an insult, and the PC police come up with something new to describe the condition.

My grandparents always said "colored".  And my father who was from New Jersey used all kinds of interesting words that I won't put here.