I hear that this has been tried before but it didn’t really land because finding viable substitutes for particular terms can be difficult. I’m fascinated by language though and I wanted to take a shot at this myself.

Just a disclaimer that I’m not trying to drag anyone over using any of these terms and I’m not going to pretend that I’m some paragon of anti-ableism myself - I have work to do on this front, you probably do too and if we all work together we can make some positive change and establish better habits and a more supportive culture in our communities.

Here’s a list of words that are more socially acceptable in their ableism and some suggestions for alternatives:

Crazy, Stupid, Dumb, Moronic, Idiotic

[In the sense that something is incorrect or bad]

Silly, foolish, absurd, ridiculous, laughable, nonsense/nonsensical, illogical, incomprehensible, inscrutable, irrational, contradictory, hypocritical, self-defeating, naive, ill-conceived, inane, asinine, counterproductive, unbelievable,

Crazy, Mad

[In the sense of letting loose or being enthusiastic]

Going wild, getting stuck into something, in a frenzy, on a rampage, being engrossed, head over heels, obsessed.

Psychotic, Psychopath, Psycho

[In the sense that something is cruel]

Vicious, bloodthirsty, monstrous, horrific, sadistic, heartless, brutal, ruthless, horrendous, reprehensible, despicable, depraved.

Crippled

Hamstrung, moribund, incapacitated, impaired, ineffective/ineffectual, hog-tied (lol).

What are some other ableist words that are pretty commonplace even amongst the left that you’ve heard?

Are there terms that I have overlooked or any ones that you use yourself that you’d like to replace?

  • charlie [any, comrade/them]English
    5•1 year ago

    It’s a way of trying to get people to grasp an issue they couldn’t normally. It’s a tool for bridging a communication gap. It’s a specific type of example of a structural problem. You are looking at trees and not the forest.

    really this could be applied to most non-specific insults then.

    Yes, and it should, but that’s an intersectional issue

      • charlie [any, comrade/them]English
        3•1 year ago

        Yes that’s fair, definitely.

        Where I don’t agree is that we can find a way to fight fire with fire without burning innocents.

        Agreeing on a basic framework of, “it’s okay to throw generalized insults at certain people” is not something I’m on board with, but I understand the reasoning in some ways.

          • charlie [any, comrade/them]English
            2•1 year ago

            Yea, I’m autistic and sometimes I get the feeling this is more of a ND vs NT debate. The left just cares enough about humanizing people to bother having it. Usually us ND’s just get ignored and told to change.

              • charlie [any, comrade/them]English
                2•1 year ago

                Definitely. We aren’t super humans with all the correct answers. :)

                I have a hard time changing my mind, they tell me that PDA factors into it, so I’m pretty sure I could shift my position if it was presented in a way I could internalize and think on later. I usually just lurk but I’ve been trying to engage with people more genuinely.