Saying 'Derpy' Is No Longer Permitted? That's Dumb

According to the left, there’s a long list of things we’re not supposed to say because they may hurt someone’s feelings. As a result, we make up new words, and those eventually get labeled as slurs and get added to the list.

The latest example? “Derpy,” according to a report at The College Fix:

Here’s the latest no-no: “derpy.” How do we know? Because two scholars have just publicly apologized for using it, agreeing with a peer who called their use of it out as an ableist slur.

The Urban Dictionary defines it as silly, ridiculous, awkward or clumsy. But to social justice warriors who see microaggressions in every corner, it’s an ableist slur. In other words, offensive to people with disabilities, they believe.

The apology, published earlier this month, states in part:

The word “derpy” was introduced to us as a pop-cultural term that meant believing in something despite the fact that it has been disproven. A provocative notion, given that our aim was to suggest that while queer theory has effectively undone “sexuality” as a concept, empirical research (even thoughtful, feminist sexual science) persists as if the complexity of sexuality is ultimately map-able and as if the right set of variables will resolve the epistemological differences of critical theory and neuroscience once and for all. …

As it turns out, the term “derpy” has also been appropriated as an ablist slur. We regret our negligence in not figuring that out before the Commentary was published.

The thing is, it is a bit of an “ableist” slur … and that’s the point.

Insulting someone for low intelligence is, by its very nature, what the left calls “ableist.” You’re describing them as being like someone who is mentally deficient in some manner, usually those who are mentally disabled. It’s an insult, which makes the term a slur by its very nature.

And we need terms like that in our language.

Not all that long ago, we called people “retarded.” But we were told that was insensitive to people who were mentally disabled, even though we weren’t allowed to call them retarded anymore either, though the word means “slowed,” which is actually an accurate description of their learning ability. We had to use different terms.

So, people started looking for terms that they could use without appearing insensitive, so “derpy” was coined. From the start, it was meant to belittle people, because, frankly, some people need to be belittled. Some people need to be insulted because simply dismissing their arguments is insufficient for their idiotic ramblings, and not everyone can remember that bit from Billy Madison where the principal tells Adam Sandler:

Mr. Madison, what you’ve just said is one of the most insanely idiotic things I have ever heard. At no point in your rambling, incoherent response were you even close to anything that could be considered a rational thought. Everyone in this room is now dumber for having listened to it. I award you no points, and may God have mercy on your soul.

Is it an ableist slur? You bet, and as someone who has two learning disabilities, I am going to level my own stamp of approval on it.

We need insults, and I refuse to allow the cry of “ableist” to dissuade me from using perfectly good insults that only really insult the individual in question.