this post was submitted on 04 Jan 2024
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You've pointed out the whole problem. Only two generations ago the word "retarded" was used without malice to refer to individuals who had a developmental disability. To use it as an insult, now, makes it all the more demeaning to those individuals with developmental disabilities.
It's different from "dumb" or "lame," which I've never heard used as an innocent way to describe a speech or physically impaired person, firsthand. Those words fit your description, better, of those that have been so far removed from their original meaning that they are no longer offensive by today's standards.
Dumb really means not being able to speak; I've never heard a different term for that medical condition.
But then of course it is also absolutely used as synonymous with stupid; the definition conflict is never really apparent because actually being medically dumb is so rare.
Language evolution is very interesting.
"Dumb" is "mute", but neither are used medically anymore. It is "speech impaired"
retarded is "developmentally disabled", it isn't really used medically anymore.