Off topic: How offensive is the word "moron"? Any worse than e.g. "idiot"? Thread poster: Cilian O'Tuama
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How offensive is the word "moron"? Any worse than e.g. "idiot"?
I watch quite a few political podcasts (in English) on YouTube with English subtitles, and the spoken word "moron" is often blanked out - as are of course e.g. "f*ck", "sh*t", "bullsh*t" (but not "horseshit" funnily).
If someone were to call me a moron, I'd be no more offended than if they called me an idiot/eejit, imbecile or a fool (or a low-IQ person).
Is “moron” more offensive in oth... See more How offensive is the word "moron"? Any worse than e.g. "idiot"?
I watch quite a few political podcasts (in English) on YouTube with English subtitles, and the spoken word "moron" is often blanked out - as are of course e.g. "f*ck", "sh*t", "bullsh*t" (but not "horseshit" funnily).
If someone were to call me a moron, I'd be no more offended than if they called me an idiot/eejit, imbecile or a fool (or a low-IQ person).
Is “moron” more offensive in other parts of the world, e.g. USA, seeing as YouTube is American and is censoring it? Or do English speakers in UK/I (and other English-speaking countries) also find it so obscene that it needs to be censored?
It wasn’t considered “bad language” where I came from.
And “I’m a moron and this my wife...” was by an American  ▲ Collapse
| | | | Cilian O'Tuama 
Germany
Local time: 13:56
German to English
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TOPIC STARTER | I'd find "retard" more offensive, but would that be censored? | Oct 24 |
I'd find "retard" more offensive than "moron" or the others, but would that be censored anywhere?
| | | | | No better, no worse | Oct 24 |
I grew up in England and in my English, "moron" is no more offensive than "idiot". (And incidentally, nor are f*uckwit or d*ckhead, in intention, when I use them; the only difference is that those two contain "rude" words.)
| | | | Zea_Mays
Italy
Local time: 13:56
English to German
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| what comes to mind | Oct 24 |
No native speaker here, but looking at idiot, imbecile and moron, I'd say the latter is the term you wouldn't use referring to yourrself or related persons - 'I'm/you're such an idiot/imbecile' but maybe not 'I'm/you're such a moron'.
Searching the terms on the web, this interesting article on the Merriam-Webster site showed up:
The Clinical History of 'Moron,' 'Idiot,' and 'Imbecile'
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Idiot, imbecile, and moron were, not so long ago, used in a psychological classification system, and each one was assigned to a fairly specific range of abilities.
Idiots. —Those so defective that the mental development never exceeds that or a normal child of about two years.
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.
Morons. —Those whose mental development is above that of an imbecile, but does not exceed that of a normal child of about twelve years.
— Edmund Burke Huey, Backward and Feeble-Minded Children, 1912
https://www.merriam-webster.com/wordplay/moron-idiot-imbecile-offensive-history
So, from a historical perspective, 'moron' would even be the least offensive of the three terms.
[Bearbeitet am 2026-10-24 10:10 GMT]
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Zea_Mays
Italy
Local time: 13:56
English to German
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In the middle-class, SW London school where I used to teach, ‘moron’ would have been considered offensive even between students and staff would have requested an apology if they overheard it.
This is not to say that the word wasn’t heard in the staffroom…
Edited to say that it was considered as offensive as the other words mentioned here.
[Edited at 2026-10-24 15:24 GMT]
| | | | Gregor Trebec
Slovenia
Local time: 13:56
English to Slovenian
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or imbecil would be also offesive.
| | | | Cilian O'Tuama
Germany
Local time: 13:56
German to English
+ ...
TOPIC STARTER
Thanks to those of you who at least understood the question
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