4 ms·

in 10 years RUD will mean exploded, that's how language works. retarded used to be a medical term to replace loaded terms such as imbecile. You can see how su

in 10 years RUD will mean exploded, that's how language works. retarded used to be a medical term to replace loaded terms such as imbecile. You can see how successful that was. It turns out, dressing up an idea does absolutely nothing since it's the idea that has the negative connotation. And why shouldn't "exploded" be viewed in a negative light?

djmips 3y ago
Downvotes for language?
dotnet00 3y ago
The difference is between viewing exploded as simply something going wrong and viewing it as an indication of general failure. A starship prototype exploding in a flight right now is completely different from a Falcon 9 exploding in a flight. With the former it's almost desirable by making points of improvement obvious, with the latter it's a potential capacity crisis for the US launch industry. Yet that's not really how most journalists will report it, and also isn't how most people who don't actively keep up with developments will interpret it. Also, as you say, retarded replaced imbecile, and since then retarded has also been replaced, same will happen with RUD. Not really a big deal since they'll just change their language usage too.
ihumanable 3y ago
This process is called pejoration (sometimes pejorativization). It is a fascinating linguistic phenomenon, but it makes sense if you think about it. People start using technical terms as a pejorative, so those technical terms over time become less professional, so professions introduce new terms, and the cycle continues. Another fascinating thing is that pejoration can be cyclic, sometimes enough terms are introduced to replace a term that eventually the original pejorative term becomes innocuous or even becomes endearing. "Dickens" went through a pejoration cycle when it was used to replace the word "devil." There was a time when saying "what the Dickens" would be quite rude, but now would be seen as old fashioned to the point of being charming in some circles.

djmips 3y ago

Downvotes for language?

dotnet00 3y ago

The difference is between viewing exploded as simply something going wrong and viewing it as an indication of general failure. A starship prototype exploding in a flight right now is completely different from a Falcon 9 exploding in a flight. With the former it's almost desirable by making points of improvement obvious, with the latter it's a potential capacity crisis for the US launch industry. Yet that's not really how most journalists will report it, and also isn't how most people who don't actively keep up with developments will interpret it. Also, as you say, retarded replaced imbecile, and since then retarded has also been replaced, same will happen with RUD. Not really a big deal since they'll just change their language usage too.

ihumanable 3y ago

This process is called pejoration (sometimes pejorativization). It is a fascinating linguistic phenomenon, but it makes sense if you think about it. People start using technical terms as a pejorative, so those technical terms over time become less professional, so professions introduce new terms, and the cycle continues. Another fascinating thing is that pejoration can be cyclic, sometimes enough terms are introduced to replace a term that eventually the original pejorative term becomes innocuous or even becomes endearing. "Dickens" went through a pejoration cycle when it was used to replace the word "devil." There was a time when saying "what the Dickens" would be quite rude, but now would be seen as old fashioned to the point of being charming in some circles.