this post was submitted on 16 Dec 2024

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the euphemism treadmill is a description of linguistic patterns, not a get out of rule free card (files.catbox.moe)

submitted 6 days ago* (last edited 6 days ago) by [email protected] to c/[email protected]

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Using ableist language as insults is always bad, even if the words seem innocuous. Some may reference the "euphemism treadmill" to try to justify their behavior, but it's crucial to understand that the treadmill is merely a linguistic observation. It does not exist to normalize ableist behavior.

what is the euphemism treadmill for those who dont want to google

more reading if bored

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[–] [email protected] 14 points 5 days ago (1 children)

seeing as ableist terms are always rooted in previously uncontroversial medical terms i propose the term "the swag ones"

[–] [email protected] 8 points 5 days ago

just got diagnosed with cool guy syndrom so now i take.. adderall

[–] [email protected] 27 points 5 days ago (1 children)

Idk man, a good chunk of these are just sorta not that associated with their origins anymore. A lot of insults are historically demeaning towards certain groups (especially poor people).

[–] [email protected] 12 points 5 days ago (2 children)

as always, act everything considering the window of present you are in. “idiot” means a lot less offense today than it did back in the day.

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[–] [email protected] 36 points 5 days ago (4 children)

I’ve been thinking about how we call people “right-handed” and “left-handed” instead of “handedness-typical” and “handedness-divergent”

[–] [email protected] 14 points 5 days ago

actually GOATED INSIGHT my friend keep it up

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[–] [email protected] 5 points 5 days ago (1 children)

Also, “brave”

[–] [email protected] 2 points 5 days ago

never thought of it that way, but yeah, lowkey! though it’s definitely in a different class of “insult” when compared to the ones in OP. more passive agression, snide rather than forced.

[–] [email protected] 6 points 5 days ago (1 children)

Shouldn't this, then, extend to all implications of stupidity in behavior, not just individual words?

[–] [email protected] 1 points 5 days ago (3 children)

Good thought, because yes, this rule applies to a lot of behaviors—insulting someone’s actions or reasoning can sometimes carry ableist implications if we’re not careful. But no, it doesn’t mean all implications of foolishness are inherently ableist. It’s entirely possible to critique someone’s choices, reasoning, or behavior without tying it to assumptions about intelligence or ability. The key is focusing on what they did or said rather than who they are.

For example: “I see you’ve chosen confidence over accuracy again.” This critiques someone’s approach or behavior—being overly confident while wrong—without targeting their intelligence or abilities.

[–] [email protected] 4 points 5 days ago* (last edited 5 days ago) (1 children)

Is it permissible, conversely, to describe things as smart, in a positive sense?

Furthermore, doesn't choosing confidence over accuracy itself imply that reduced accuracy is a bad thing, despite it being something that people with reduced intellectual capacity cannot reasonably avoid?

[–] [email protected] 2 points 5 days ago* (last edited 5 days ago) (1 children)

I can’t think of examples right now, (edit: but thought of some later) but it’s definitely possible to describe something as “smart” in a way that’s ableist—like if it ties someone’s value only to intelligence or reinforces stereotypes about who’s considered “smart.” However, I’m sure the vast majority of ways to describe something as “smart” wouldn’t really be considered ableist and so are “permissible” in my book.

[–] [email protected] 4 points 5 days ago* (last edited 5 days ago) (1 children)

How so? Isn't necessarily acknowledging intelligence as a positive quality imply lack of it is a negative one?

[–] [email protected] 3 points 5 days ago (1 children)

Ah, we have a difference in terms here.

Acknowledging intelligence as a positive quality

is never ableist.

Acknowledging intelligence as a ~~positive~~ quality

can be ableist, depending on what values are being cast.

It’s about how intelligence is framed in relation to others and whether it’s used to dismiss people who might not fit those standards.

[–] [email protected] 4 points 5 days ago (1 children)

Ah, we have a difference in terms here.

Acknowledging intelligence as a positive quality

is never ableist.

Acknowledging intelligence as a ~~positive~~ quality

can be ableist, depending on what values are being cast.

I don't understand what you're saying here. Acknowledging intelligence as a positive quality is acknowledging intelligence as a quality.

It’s about how intelligence is framed in relation to others and whether it’s used to dismiss people who might not fit those standards.

So it's your opinion that the upholding of standards that cannot be met by some individuals by inherent lack of capacity is unacceptable?

[–] [email protected] 2 points 5 days ago (1 children)

Acknowledging intelligence as a positive quality is acknowledging intelligence as a quality.

Here’s an example where it’s not: “Of course you got in, you [are(n’t) Asian/were in the gifted program/have ASD].”

These examples are rare bifecta of ✅ acknowledging intelligence as a positive quality ✅ casting value judgement on those who do or do not fit that quality

[–] [email protected] 2 points 5 days ago (1 children)

I don't see how that doesn't acknowledge intelligence as a quality.

Like, I'm not trying to play this off as some kind of rebuttal, I'm just genuinely not understanding what's being said.

casting value judgement on those who do or do not fit that quality

But all acknowledgements of intelligence as a positive quality necessarily carry an implicit value judgement of those who lack that positive quality.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 5 days ago (1 children)

But all acknowledgements of intelligence as a positive quality necessarily carry an implicit value judgement of those who lack that positive quality.

Maybe for you, but not for me. I can congratulate the Olympic gold medalist for her achievement without having any repressive or denigrating judgment toward all the other competitors. Can’t you? The value judgement I express in that scenario is, at worst, neutral.

[–] [email protected] 4 points 5 days ago (1 children)

I can congratulate the Olympic gold medalist for her achievement without having any repressive or denigrating judgment toward all the other competitors. Can’t you? The value judgement I express in that scenario is, at worst, neutral.

Tell me, if someone has a positive quality, and another lacks that quality, the difference between them is:

A. Positive

B. Neutral

C. Negative

[–] [email protected] 1 points 5 days ago (1 children)

I don’t understand your question I’m sorry. But can’t you congratulate the medalist without doing judgement on the non-medalists?

[–] [email protected] 2 points 5 days ago (1 children)

Any congratulations of the medalists necessarily implies that they have done better than the non-medalists. While the intent is not to denigrate, it is, implicitly, denigration of the results, whether deserved or undeserved, of the non-medalists. Any positive judgement necessarily creates a vacuum of negative judgement for those who do not meet it, and unless you regard all things as value-indistinguishable, such positive judgements are inevitably made.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 5 days ago (1 children)

You perceive one value scale:

better/worse

I perceive two entirely separate, non-causal scales.

Good at back handsprings/bad at back handsprings
greater in value or explicit worth/lesser in value or explicit worth

[–] [email protected] 2 points 5 days ago (1 children)

That implies that you put no valuation on back handsprings, even in the context of the Olympics. Which would make any praise of it very empty.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 5 days ago (6 children)

You continue here to operate on a single-value system, where I find it trivial to embrace multiple variables. My evaluation of every single person to exist cannot be charted as a single value on a single sliding scale from 0-100.

I value back handsprings highly, but my evaluation of a person’s handspring performance has no bearing on my overall evaluation of them as a person, whether they are valuable, deserving of respect or rights. Those scales are utterly unlinked.

It’s okay that you don’t, but can you at least try to imagine how one might operate this way?

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[–] [email protected] 22 points 5 days ago (1 children)

today i learned that 'cretin' has ableist origins. just hearing the word, and being completely unaware of its origins, i assumed it had racist origins and was somehow related to the isle of crete.

apparently 'cretinism' is an old-timey word for congenital iodine deficiency syndrome.

[–] [email protected] 7 points 5 days ago

okay wow TIL too! i was just pulling from memory and a few online examples but i never dove into the specific histories of that particular word!

[–] [email protected] 7 points 6 days ago

Tone policing won't fix that some people predictably make fucking terrible decisions, for no sensible reason, and we need to deal with that and warn others about it.

Which is why the real solution is for every forum to fuck off with enforced civility and let people call each other assholes. Some of them will deserve it. Moderation exists primarily to make that call. You're not just a filter for no-no words. You're a human being and you're expected to have an opinion.

[–] [email protected] 62 points 6 days ago (11 children)

Neurodivergent isn’t an insult…

[–] [email protected] 38 points 6 days ago* (last edited 5 days ago) (1 children)

"Cisgender" isn't an insult either, but that doesn't stop Elon Musk and his flunkies from treating it as such.

[–] [email protected] 10 points 6 days ago

mega fax

[–] [email protected] 15 points 6 days ago* (last edited 4 days ago) (7 children)

correct, it’s not (or shouldn’t be), but it’s being used as one, especially recently!

precontext: i said i could see both sides of some non-important debate. something about whether a community mod should be heavy or light with bans, and i was like, “well it depends on what the motivations and needs are.”

their response to that?

in this post i hope to call attention to the same destructive processes happening to “neurodiverse” as to all the other terms. particularly i want to call out the ableist motivations behind it.

[–] [email protected] 6 points 5 days ago (1 children)

Without the context it doesn’t come off as insulting.

[–] [email protected] 39 points 6 days ago (1 children)

It's an insult because of intent, not because of the word itself, though.

[–] [email protected] 6 points 5 days ago

oh absolutely :) would never disagree with you here 💯💯💯

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[–] [email protected] 8 points 6 days ago* (last edited 6 days ago) (1 children)

"You're not normal! You CAN'T be normal, because then I'll no longer be THE normal! SHUT UP, THIS IS THE CONDITIONER FOR THE THREAD BY WHICH MY SANITY IS HANGING!"

[–] [email protected] 10 points 6 days ago

“how can i have an identity without establishing and then demonizing an outgroup!?!”

[–] [email protected] 25 points 6 days ago (1 children)

Interesting. Feels like there's a bit of a paradox, where we need a term to address a group of people who are being "othered," but while that's the case, there will be people who use that term as an insult.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 6 days ago (1 children)

the better strategy might be to investigate and challenge what forces cause people to use ableist insults

[–] [email protected] 14 points 5 days ago (1 children)

True. Or just discard their attempts to taint the language. Like how some slurs have been reclaimed.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 5 days ago

yea! reclamation is my personal fav cuz its so gorgeously petty

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