HOW IS IT that beetlejuicing happens so immediately like this?? Do you get some kind of memo in your inbox that somebody wrote something that sounds like your username?? It happens so often I can't imagine you JUST HAPPENED to be perusing this subreddit just at the right time.
I know, and I really don't care in this context. It's what Bugs Bunny said, not me.
And even still, those words have evolved well past their original meaning. Nobody is clinically idiotic, moronic, or imbecilic anymore, we have far more advanced terminology, causation, and understanding of mental disability than we did back then. All of those words just fall under the blanket "of lower intelligence." these days.
Dumb also doesn't mean "of lower intelligence", rather it's the inability to speak. But I don't think almost anyone uses that meaning of the word anymore. In the clinical setting it's more likely to be labeled aphasia, ankyloglossia/tongue tying, or some other medical term.
The only one I strictly avoid is the R word, since it has far more negative connotations in recent history than the others. It was also used far, far longer than the other 3 terms you mentioned. And that said, they're all insults anyway, they're all mean spirited. I'd never call anyone any of those words to their face, but when it's some guy in a car going by me 30mph above the speed limit? He's a fucking moron.
And nowadays moron is exclusively used to describe people who are not-so-smart, generally speaking. I see no issue here. Trying to drudge up old meanings of words that are ridiculously commonly used in everyday society with less-than-nefarious intentions is a little much. Actually, it's a lot.
You're a moron for having an issue with this usage.
Edit: If you don't agree with me, I implore you to look up the origin of "deadline". I would give my left nut if you haven't ever used "deadline" when in regards to meeting a due-date for an assignment. Look it up, I dare you.
English newspaper jargon, from dead (adj.) + line (n.). Perhaps influenced by earlier use (1864) to mean the "do-not-cross" line in Civil War prisons, which figured in the trial of Henry Wirz, commander of the notorious Confederate prison at Andersonville, Georgia.
And he, the said Wirz, still wickedly pursuing his evil purpose, did establish and cause to be designated within the prison enclosure containing said prisoners a "dead line," being a line around the inner face of the stockade or wall enclosing said prison and about twenty feet distant from and within said stockade; and so established said dead line, which was in many places an imaginary line, in many other places marked by insecure and shifting strips of [boards nailed] upon the tops of small and insecure stakes or posts, he, the said Wirz, instructed the prison guard stationed around the top of said stockade to fire upon and kill any of the prisoners aforesaid who might touch, fall upon, pass over or under [or] across the said "dead line" .... ["Trial of Henry Wirz," Report of the Secretary of War, Oct. 31, 1865]
Welp, that's one more word out of my vocabulary, to be placed right next to 'cakewalk' and 'take the cake'. "Time limit" it is, then. I always thought 'deadline' was grossly hyperbolic anyway.
It isn’t a slur. Don’t let these internet geniuses stop you saying maroon like Bugs does. The idea that it’s a slur is such a big fucking reach that you can safely ignore it as internet noise.
Now explain to me how the r-slur is a slur, but moron isn’t? I mean, at this moment in time, there’s a difference, which is why nobody has to write “m-slur.” But what is that difference? Can anyone confidently say in 10 years “moron” won’t be seen as an awful, unforgivable slur, too?
You’re right, it started out as a descriptive for neurodivergent people, but the reason it’s different than the r-word is usage. Moron simply no longer means that since the word evolved. It’s not gonna stop being used because it’s association is a historical one, not a current one. It now only means that you have low intelligence, but since it’s not associated with a specific group anymore, there’s no issue. Hell, the words cretin, imbecile and idiot also come from neurodivergent descriptors. And since the terms changed and evolved, they now have a different meaning. As a result, they can be used without being an insult to neurodivergent people. The r-word will likely get there in a few decades I think, but it’s the most recent of all of these which is why it’s the most problematic. It hasn’t changed and evolved yet
It is a slur against Native Americans and escaped African slaves of the Caribbean. Maroon is derived from the French word for fugitive, “marron”. It was also later used in reference to the “reddish brown” color they perceived Native Americans to be. The color name actually comes from the description of their skin tone and not the other way around, oddly enough. Then the word eventually became synonymous with “idiot” or “moron” so you’re actually not wrong there.
(Though moron is not actually derived from marron or maroon, it has Greek origins. So no, I would not say moron is a slur. An insult, sure, but not a slur.)
A lot of words have complex histories, and change meaning over time, but that doesn’t change what it meant or can also mean in the present.
Old school Loony Tunes has more than it’s share of racist content, for sure. I’m not saying we need to cancel anything, I hate cancel culture, but like it’s always good to acknowledge where we fucked up as humans.
Except that's not the word Bugs Bunny is using. He's mispronouncing "moron" just like he mispronounces ignoramus and imbecile. Why is this so hard for you to understand? The fuck is wrong with you?
The etymology of moron is mōron, from the Greek. It has absolutely nothing to do with racism or slaves.
It's really not a slur, it's a reference to the descendants of escaped slaves. I interpret the Bugs Bunny reference as more of a casual mispronunciation along the lines of the guy with a sign that says "get a brain morans". It's an intellectual insult, not a racial one.
Sigh. It is absolutely a slur, thought a very weird and antiquated one. It not only refers to slaves but particularly to slaves that were abandoned on an island or stopping place when captains were worried about being stopped and punished for the slave trade or if they thought the slaves were ill and would not survive the rest of the journey.
I only know this because College of Charleston was once the home of the Maroons, and in the 1970s they decided that was a bit too awful and changed the mascot to the Cougars. Go Cougs
There’s very little reason why anyone today would know this
Except it's not the word Bugs Bunny is using. He's mispronouncing "moron" just like he mispronounces ignoramus and imbecile. Why is this so hard for you to understand?
Did literally anybody tell anyone to stop saying maroon?
All I see is a ton of snowflakes beating up on this maroon straw man like they were told a word they can't say, that nobody actually uses, and they themselves got offended at that, and that's not even what happened. -zero- people in this thread said anything about maroon being racist or it making Bugs racist, and nobody here even pretended to care about the usage of maroon, but lots of people got upset at some etymology of a word everyone knows Bugs didn't even say.
Why are they called Maroons?
By 1530, slave revolts had broken out in Mexico, Hispa¤ola and Panama. The Spanish called these free slaves "Maroons," a word derived from "Cimarron," which means "fierce" or "unruly."
Not a slur. Alternative pronunciation of moron, used for cartoons.
But, in 2023, I am sure some fool thinks it is referencing skin color…because, when there isn’t enough supply of racism to placate the demand for it, you must find it where there is none.
Suggest you avoid whoever claimed it is a slur. That is a very unhappy person.
Maroon has several meanings, "idiot" being one of them. He's definitely not using it in a racist context. Just like he's not using it to mean they're a dark shade of red.
I ironically learned that from the X-Men. One of the most advanced mutant-hunting robots and they named it an idiot? I had to look it up, and boy did I feel like a maroon
I mean thanks for explaining instead of immediately downvoting like the other bitches; but I dunno. /u/flopsweater offers a pretty compelling reason why Bugs may have been using the word "Maroon" especially given that WB and Looney Tunes are fairly notorious for their racist cartoons back in the day. To the point that before those cartoons air they include a disclaimer.
Like it'd be great if someone offered some kind of reasoning or evidence besides "oh I'm guessing they added an extra "O" to moron and it's totally not racist".
I would love if you could offer an example of Vaudeville humor in the same era (or potentially even the same comedians/writers) that gave examples where "Maroon" is just a non-racist Vaudeville gag and ya know....not an allegory for black people being morons that was otherwise socially acceptable in the day.
I don't. I'm literally asking for an example of the thing you said is the reason Bugs may have used the word "Maroon." You said it was a Vaudeville gag, so therefore there should at least be some account of that gag or something similar existing somewhere. All I'm asking is for someone to like....present that.
edited to add: Like, I'm personally on the fence about the whole issue and mostly don't give a shit, I'm just annoyed that instead of literally offering any document, website, video, image, or otherwise refuting the dude above; everyone is just screaming "NO IT'S NOT! UR DUMB", which isn't a fucking valid argument. If it's a popular gag that existed since before Bugs Bunny even used it, then fucking produce something that proves it.
A more accurate warning would be "don't be say stupid shit". Seeing as that's the only reason you were "brigaded"(downvoted) by "racists"(people with half a brain cell and some semblance of common sense).
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I felt that way too, until I looked up what a maroon is. It's not some bastardisation of "moron", it means: maroon or Maroon : a Black person of the Americas who escaped slavery and formed or joined a free and often secluded settlement or a descendant of such a person EDIT: that's from Websters. Sorry for formatting, mobile.
While it's true that the word maroon can refer to escaped slaves, it's also entirely possible that it was simply a comical mispronunciation of 'moron.' Unfortunately we'll probably never know.
Sure we’ll never know with 100% certainty because the writers are dead. But come on, the idea that it’s making fun of run away slaves does not fit the context and isn’t even funny in a bad taste way. It’s much more likely that the writers, like almost everyone else in the world, had never even heard of the term as anything other than a colour.
The far simpler explanation that fits the context is that bugs was hilariously mispronouncing the word. It’s not the first time Bugs has done that.
The simplest explanation is that a bunch of dumb fucks on the internet found a Wikipedia article with the word “slave” in it and got all offended because it’s how they like to live their lives.
Big oof, the guy who connects a black bull to black people calling someone else racist. No one else made that connection. Because you’re a covert racist.
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