Posted: Oct 02, 2014 6:57 pm
Language is descriptive, not prescriptive. You're not going to change people's attitudes just because you change the language. Look at the long list of terms for disability.
Lame/crippled > handicapped >disabled > differently abled.
Lunatic > mentally ill.
Idiot/imbecile/moron/cretin > spastic > mentally retarded > learning difficulties.
At some point, you have to address the attitudes of society towards these issues that result in every one of these terms becoming an insult, rather than simply attempting to engineer the language to use new terms.
Lame/crippled > handicapped >disabled > differently abled.
Lunatic > mentally ill.
Idiot/imbecile/moron/cretin > spastic > mentally retarded > learning difficulties.
At some point, you have to address the attitudes of society towards these issues that result in every one of these terms becoming an insult, rather than simply attempting to engineer the language to use new terms.