Fugitivus Discussion Forum

Hey, so, wait. Are 'dumb' and 'stupid' ableist words, too? I've been reading several blogs that say they are. In that case, how do you substitute those words?

Carefully?

I think 'dumb' is out because it connotes muteness as a signifier of stupidity. I'm finding it really hard to let go of, but I'm starting to try more.

As for 'stupid', I don't know. I can see how it would be dodgy, but it's such a literal descriptor that any synonym you could use would carry the same problem; the flaw of a sentence containing that word isn't in the word, but in the meaning the word conveys. And that's a lot harder to work around.

For substitution: When you call something "dumb" or "stupid", why are you saying that? What are your reasons? Substitute those in instead. I mostly rely on "willfully ignorant", "nonsensical", or "illogical" now, because that's usually what I mean.

Hm. When I say 'stupid', I probably do mean 'willfully ignorant' with the added connotation of 'irritatingly so'.

Ugh. When I say 'stupid', I'm invariably referring to a decision or product rather than a person (e.g. "these rules are stupid"), and I mean "Having some bad result that could have been avoided by applying additional intelligence/knowledge/intention", which isn't exactly a replacement I can make in my vocabulary...

Eli, what about a sarcastic "Well somebody certainly thought this all the way through..." or "This isn't a bad decision/set of rules AT ALL."?