Quote:
Originally Posted by kunkstyle
No, but if everyone stops using ###### and replaces it with idiot I fail to see how idiot doesn't become more offensive now.
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Maybe it will, maybe it won't. Then we'll move on to another word, or set of words. That doesn't invalidate the observation that making an argument that technically "idiot" and "######" are very similar has nothing to do with which one is more offensive to use in a specific place at a specific time.
That being said, I believe this is more about separating off people who are legitimately slow of thought due to their genetics, which is not their fault, and people who are intellectually challenged due to defects in their personality, worldview, or lazy character, which (theoretically, if you believe in some form of free will) is at least partly their own fault. If "######ed" is a purely descriptive term we agree to use to apply to the former, than using it as an insult to describe the latter indirectly demeans those who deserve sympathy and not ridicule.
When you get down to it, all insults demean someone, otherwise there would be no point to them. Discussing which ones we should and shouldn't use is something that will always change over time as a society's core values change, depending on what qualities are perceived as positive, negative, and unmentionably rude to discuss.