by Ken Hiebert
Lots of talk about words these days. It seems like every other day there’s a new dissertation on which words are ok to say, and which ones are unacceptable.
These days, the meanings of words change with the weather. Words that were rather ordinary last year now carry malicious intent, and words that once described specific, insidious behaviours now are applied to half the human race seemingly on a whim.
I remember when I was in elementary school and people with Down Syndrome were still referred to as “mentally retarded”. Oops, sorry. I meant to say, “mentally r——-”. Anyway, the meaning of that word is probably as close as you’re ever going to get to what’s really going on, and the American Medical Association still used it as of 2019 as a medical descriptor of the condition, the US government officially removed it in 2012 [1] Also, it’s probably the least offensive way to phrase it, since it simply means, “delayed” and taken in it’s original context, it actually sounds a lot better than handicapped, or challenged, or intellectually disabled.
So, why was this word deleted from the English language? Well, technically it hasn’t been because it still has a legitimate use as referring to anything other than a person’s mental faculties, although it’s almost never used for fear of misunderstandings. It is still an acceptable musical term (ritard) which means to gradually slow down.
According to Ben Zimmer, language columnist at the Wall Street Journal, words like “moron” and “imbecile” were legitimate scientific descriptions at one time, but were officially discontinued when the the common folk began using them as synonyms for “idiot” and “fool”. [2]Of course, these words aren’t nearly so caustic as the implications of the R-word, even though the R-word by itself is much more benign and needn’t refer to a person’s mental state at all.
So, essentially what happened (and what continues to happen) is that really smart, well-educated people came up with a word to accurately describe a medical or psychological condition, but then were forced to abandon it because a bunch of low-lifes came in and stole it and began wielding it against their drunken buddies who accidentally hit them in the groin with an errant pool cue at the bar on Friday night.
It’s kind of like the musician who spends a year writing and recording a beautiful piece of music, only to have it used at a Donald Trump rally. [3]
Of course, it really doesn’t even matter what the word actually means, but only how it’s used. If mean and nasty people hadn’t used the term with such derision and so insultingly, it likely would never have been outlawed in the first place. Sadly, it doesn’t seem to matter what word is used to describe someone’s perceived “lesser state”, bullies still exist and their friends still drink too much beer, so they will still use whichever word is current to insult the less fortunate, which eventually will result in that word being banned as well. So, of course it’s not the words that are the problem, but the attitudes of those using them and so far there’s been no way to ban assholery.
The funny thing is, as soon as someone decides that a word is far too poisonous and destructive to be allowed to exist, the black market value of that word immediately goes through the roof. Any word with the dubious honour of being chosen to be represented by a single letter has a status and juiciness that’s hard to resist and this alone ensures its survival. Try putting a plate of cookies on the table and telling your kids not to touch it while you’re out.
Now, I’m not suggesting that we bring back the R-word, I’m just saying that the more we let bullies and other tormentors dictate which words we ban, the fewer words we’ll have at our disposal, or our defense. Lucky for us, there are still dozens of word choices available if you absolutely must feel the need to insult someone’s intelligence, and you’d likely be doing yourself a favour to add a few of them to your vocabulary - while you’re still allowed to.
Footnotes:
1. AMA House of Delegates - Eliminating use of the term “mental retardation” by physicians in clinical settings PDF
2. Mark Peters, The Boston Globe - The R-word and the challenging history of words for dummies
3. Andrew Solender, Forbes - All The Artists Who Have Told Trump To Stop Using Their Songs At His Rallies