I think that when people (hopefully all of us on this website) work to eliminate ableist language from their vocabulary, they end up with many fewer words to describe certain patterns/behaviors negatively.
Put your favorite non-ableist insult/descriptor in the comments!
I’d actually push back on smooth brain not being ableist. It is actually a medial condition (even though that’s not the medical term for it), and I knew a kid that had it. It gave them a ton of medical complications, and it was hard watching them and their family struggle. Probably not the best thing to compare to online racists or what have you.
That being said, I do love the rest of these lol. What’s the context behind dirt person?
Edit: the medical term is Lisaencephaly. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lissencephaly CW for poor medical prognosis, though it’s getting better, it’s still pretty grim.
spoiler
The prognosis for children with lissencephaly varies depending on the malformation and severity of the syndrome. Many individuals remain at a 3–5 month developmental level. Life expectancy is short and many children with lissencephaly will die before the age of 10. Some children with lissencephaly will be able to roll over, sit, reach for objects, and smile socially. Aspiration and respiratory disease are the most common causes of illness or death.[27] In the past, life expectancy was said to be around two years of age. However, with advances in seizure control, and treatments for respiratory illness, most children affected can live well beyond that age. With other advances in therapy and the broader availability of services and equipment, some children with lissencephaly are able to walk with varying degrees of assistance and to perform other functions once thought too advanced.
No idea that was actually a thing for people. I thought it was something “left behind” in evolution which is why I thought it a good insult… But this context makes it HARD in the ableist category and the interpretation makes it eugenists, yuck!
Dirt person is just something I picked up in the military. We would refer to the state side civilians that lived in the area around our base as dirt people. Pretty elitist (I was a fashy prick, we all were). But I use it now as a parallel to “bog dweller”, a slur for Br*tish people. I’ve always thought of it as Brits/anglos being willfully ignorant and feeling superior by choosing to live in bogs.
It’s a pretty rare condition tbh, I think that’s why the slur took off. Gonna add more info about it in my original comment in a bit. I wonder if we could add it to the slur filter/moderate for it? I guess this is the place to ask.
Also didn’t know bog dweller lol. I’m so far behind on the latest in Terf Island name calling!