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	aaron_agonistes 2011-03-17 06:12 am UTC (link)
	Interesting. etymonline.com says that the origin of the word is "blame" or "reproach", so the current usage would be a person behaving in a manner foolish enough to warrant a reproving comment. Is there anywhere other that wiki that it's listed as being specifically ableist? (Reply to this)(Parent)(Thread)

	life_on_mars 2011-03-17 11:13 pm UTC (link)
	the origin of the word is "blame" or "reproach", That's in the verb form. As a noun, it tends to mean someone blundering and incompetent rather than mentally deficient. (Reply to this)(Parent)

eclatante
2011-03-18 06:08 am UTC (link)

The noun meaning "foolish, stupid and ineffectual person" is first attested 1934 in British slang, popular 1950s-60s, crossed over to U.S. with British sitcoms. It probably developed from the verb sense of "reproach" but may be influenced by "nitwit".

The bolded part is probably what people are thinking about. In any case certain activisty folk aren't too fond of certain modern conceptions of intelligence (i.e., intelligence as universally measurable/comparable, lack of culturally conceived intelligence as subhumanizing, etc.), so maybe that's also playing a part?

idk my bff etymology

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	napalmnacey 2011-03-18 09:36 am UTC (link)
	From what I know, (I'm Australian so it's used a lot in our lexicon) it just means to be very silly or foolish. I don't see where the connection to intelligence levels come from. I hope it's not ableist, cause I love that word. My Mum and I use it all the time when the cat does something silly. (Reply to this)(Parent)

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