Issues with "derp"

[sqbr]

Can someone give me a link to a post about why "derp" is abelist? There's a discussion on my twitter list, and there's no way I can summarise it in 140 characters.

(nb I am also pretty sleepy, so don't feel up to explaining it here either. If you're interested, I'm sure someone else will post a link eventually)

Comments

[kaz]

I was confused about this myself - people were saying that it arose from mocking sounds made by people with certain intellectual disabilities, but I couldn't remember anything that hinted at that context - but... Let's just say that if you run a Google image search on "derp" or "herp derp", the evidence in form of images photoshopped to look like people with Down Syndrome as well as stuff that I'm not sure how to describe but let's just say it's pretty clear what is being referred to, hits you like an anvil of ableism.

[sqbr]

Yes but the person I was discussing it with found that insufficiently compelling, arguing that it was plausibly people co-opting a non-abelist word for abelist purposes.