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title: "TIL, that "moron", "imbecile" and "idiot" used to signify gradations…"
date: 2020-05-06
source: facebook
type: Archer T. Ships shared a link.
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# TIL, that "moron", "imbecile" and "idiot" used to signify gradations…

*May 6, 2020 · Facebook*

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[https://www.merriam-webster.com/words-at-play/moron-idiot-imbecile-offensive-history](https://www.merriam-webster.com/words-at-play/moron-idiot-imbecile-offensive-history){target="_blank"}
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TIL, that \"moron\", \"imbecile\" and \"idiot\" used to signify gradations of intelligence.\
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Now, if someone calls me an idiot, I can respond huffily \"I\'ll have you know, sir, that I\'m \_at least\_ an imbecile.\"\
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\"Idiots.---Those so defective that the mental development never exceeds that or a normal child of about two years.\
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Imbeciles.---Those whose development is higher than that of an idiot, but whose intelligence does not exceed that of a normal child of about seven years.\
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Morons.---Those whose mental development is above that of an imbecile, but does not exceed that of a normal child of about twelve years.\
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--- Edmund Burke Huey, Backward and Feeble-Minded Children, 1912\"\
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[https://www.merriam-webster.com/words-at-play/moron-idiot-imbecile-offensive-history](https://www.merriam-webster.com/words-at-play/moron-idiot-imbecile-offensive-history){target="_blank"}
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