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Comment by Lukas_Skywalker | Hacker News Reader

Slightly related: in German, a strange thing happened at the end of the last century. Disabled people used to be called "behindert" (might be translated as "impeded" or "hindered"). I think the word was a good choice, because it took the blame away from people, and just described that they had to overcome bigger obstacles because of their situation.

In the eighties or nineties, people started to use the term as a slur. School children called each other "behindert" as an expletive.

This lead to a new term being used for the disabled: "invalid". Which in my opinion is the worst word you could use, since it origins in Latin and just means "unworthy". But it seems to still be in broad use.

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This points towards part of what's actually going on and why people keep trying to change the terminology. There's always a subset of people that use the terminology as a pejorative, because they see the people it refers to as either lesser or embarrassing to be a part of. Often children, because they don't know any better, but adults (whether children that never stopped or for other reasons) as well. Then the fact that the term is used as a pejorative spurs people (whether part of that group or not at this point) to change the accepted terminology to something else. Rinse and repeat.

It's called the "euphemism treadmill."

English has "handicapped" which is similar and also became offensive. I thought it was a good word because it allowed for more nuance than the binary abled/disabled.

Ha, I wasn’t aware that “handicapped” is considered offensive. Is that an American thing? A British thing?

It doesn’t feel offensive so much as a little outdated, especially for physical disabilities, since the current vogue is the term “disabled.” Which taken literally is not as nice as the term handicappped, but it works better with language like “I have a disability”

The "unworthy" meaning has been lost over time in Latin derived languages, the Italian "invalido" is (was) an official word to mean someone that for any reason was not fit for work, typically, but not only, soldiers wounded in the war and workers wounded on the job (amputees).

It was also common (with no negative connotation whatever) to extend the term to people with mobility issues, to blind people, etc.

It has been replaced first by "disabile" (disabled) and later with the more politically correct "diversamente abile" (differently able) which is (IMHO) really terrible.

The latest euphemism is "persona con disabilità" (person with disability) which makes even less sense.

"Invalid" used to be used in English in the 19th century. I see it in old books sometimes; had to look it up the first time. It's not a great word choice and sounds more like an illegal immigrant status or something.

Do people not use invalid anymore? I thought it was still used for people bed-bound by illness.

I thought 'invalide' was a much older term for disabled people in German? French had this term for a long time at least.

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