Moron was an invented word that found its way into the English language when psychologist Henry Goddard used the term to classify a group of people who were mildly mentally retarded. The term was used to replace feeble-minded, which was misused by society to refer to individuals with any severity of mental retardation, not just the mildly retarded. Goddard created the novel word by combining parts of words like sophomore and oxymoron.
Feeble-minded came from the Latin word flebilis, meaning "to be lamented," and referred to individuals who were not profoundly mentally retarded but required intervention and care.
Retarded comes from the Latin retardare, "to make slow, delay, keep back, or hinder." The term was recorded in 1426 as a "fact or action of making slower in movement or time." The first record of retarded in relation to being mentally slow was in 1895. The term retarded was used to replace terms like idiot, moron, and imbecile because it was not a derogatory term. By the 1960s, however, the term had taken on a partially derogatory meaning as well.
Perhaps the negative connotations associated with these numerous terms for mental retardation reflect society's ambivalent attitude about the condition. There are competing desires among elements of society, some of whom seek neutral medical terms, and others who want to use such terms as weapons with which to abuse people.
Today, the term "retarded" is slowly being replaced by new words like "special" or "challenged." The term "developmental delay" is rapidly gaining popularity among caretakers and parents of individuals with mental retardation. Using the word "delay" is preferred over "disability" by many people, because that term (delay) encapsulates the core deficit that creates mental retardation in the first place. Delay suggests that a person has been held back from their potential, rather than someone who has been disabled. Undoubtedly, these new terms will also gain derogatory meanings and will be replaced at some point.
