It's pretty offensive that an old term for people who can't talk is "dumb", amirite?

-101 It's pretty offensive that an old term for people who can't talk is "dumb", amirite?

by Anonymous 13 years ago

Dumb doesn't mean stupid though, it simply means that you can't talk. How is that offensive? It's what it means.

by Anonymous 13 years ago

No, what's offensive is that it's a slang term for stupid.

by Anonymous 13 years ago

When you say "dumb", 99% of people will think of "stupid". Calling mute people dumb, though technically correct, could send unwanted connotations

by Anonymous 13 years ago

The old term is not offensive.

by Anonymous 13 years ago

That's like saying it's offensive that the term for happy used to be gay. Just because it's a derogatory term now doesn't mean it was back then.

by Anonymous 13 years ago

Yeah, it meant unable to speak before it meant stupid.

by Anonymous 13 years ago

@Joe, had you said what you posted in the comment in the original post, it would be clearer as to what you actually meant.

by Anonymous 13 years ago

Dumb, lame, retarded, and other words like that weren't offensive originally, and only had a set definition for the people it described. Now dumb and lame mean stupid, and retarded is sadly turning into that also.

by Anonymous 13 years ago

yeah, sorry my OP was unclear. I understand that word meanings change over time. I just hate to see disabled people be called the same thing as what others are associating with idiotic, stupid, etc

by Anonymous 13 years ago

by Anonymous 13 years ago