• ExLisper@linux.community
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    10 months ago
    1. Invent a new name for an undesirable condition
    2. People start using this name as an insult
    3. Get offended that an insult is used to refer to people with said condition
    4. Go back to 1
    • Blackmist
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      10 months ago

      In the UK people of a certain age remember Joey being an insult.

      This is because Blue Peter, a popular kids show, had a segment on a heavily disabled man called Joey Deacon. Between him and his friends at the care home, they had written a small book, at a few words a day. This, they thought, would endear the disabled to the nation’s children, who would see that just because somebody cannot speak or move, they could still achieve something.

      The next day, every playground was awash with kids calling each other Joey and grunting at each other.

      Blue Peter really did not know us at all.