That deaf, [redacted]and blind kid

Question

"We referred to Helen Keller as being deaf and dumb when she was primarily deaf and blind. The idiomatic term 'dumb' when applied to a speech disability is often now considered to be offensive"
Correction in The Guardian today
What "idiomatic term"? The primary meaning of "dumb" is "mute; unable to speak" and has been since it was brought into English from Old Norse.
(ObPCE: Should we expect The Guardian to apologise in a further correction for having used "deaf" and "blind" in this one?)

Ross Howard

Usenet · Accepted Answer

In our last episode,
(Email Removed),
the lovely and talented Ross Howard
broadcast on alt.usage.english:
[nq:1]"We referred to Helen Keller as being deaf and dumb when she was primarily deaf and blind. The idiomatic term ... meaning of "dumb" is "mute; unable to speak" and has been since it was brought into English from Old Norse.[/nq]
I suppose it depends on what you mean by "primary" and your dialect, although what the Guardian may mean by "idiomatic" in this context is a mystery to me as well. "Archaic" would have been more accurate.
In the American language, no one uses the word "dumb" except in the sense of lacking intellectual ability, and few understand it in any but that sense. A few compounds remain in which "dumb" retains its original sense (dumbwaiter, dumbbell), but these are understood as a whole, not by their parts. Moreover, the predominant sense of "dumb" has overwhelmed "dumbbell," which is now also a word for a stupid person. In a phrase such as "dumb animal," "dumb" is no longer understood to refer to the inability to speak.
Another objection to "deaf and dumb" is that, even taking the ancient meaning of "dumb" into account, it is often inaccurate. It is true that, in spite of her own efforts and those of Mary Swift Lamson, Helen Keller never gained tha ability to speak, but most deaf people can learn to speak, and many do. "Deaf and dumb" was often used as a formula without regard to whether it was entirely true. It did indeed become an idiomatic expression when it meant no more than "deaf." The same objection pertains to "deaf-mute" which had the added unprettiness of often being employed as a noun instead of as an adjective.

Today Helen's final resting place is a popular tourist attraction and the bronze plaque erected to commemorate her life has the following inscription written in
braille:
"Helen Keller and her beloved companion Anne Sullivan Macy are interred in the columbarium behind this
chapel."
So many people have visited the chapel, and touched the braille dots, that the plaque has already had to be replaced twice.

Lars Eighner (Email Removed) http://www.larseighner.com/

Usenet · Answer

[nq:2]"We referred to Helen Keller as being deaf and dumb ... been since it was brought into English from Old Norse.[/nq]
[nq:1]I suppose it depends on what you mean by "primary" and your dialect, although what the Guardian may mean by ... person. In a phrase such as "dumb animal," "dumb" is no longer understood to refer to the inability to speak.[/nq]
Aren't Americans "struck dumb" by something so shocking they are figuratively left speechless?
"Dumb" for unable to speak isn't recommended in BrE, either, but I'd put it in the same box as "club-footed", "bandy-legged" or "hunchbacked" archaic, as you say, but hardly "often offensive". The "stupid" meaning is recognised by all and used by some in the UK, but it still has a certain whiff of the Americanism about it (a bit like "mad" for angry), probably because "daft" and several other alternatives are available.
There's also the historical context to consider. Is it offensive to refer (erroneously, as it turned out) to a girl who died sixty years ago as "deaf and dumb", when that was the standard term in English during her lifetime? By the same token, would it be offensive to refer to Tiny Tim as a "cripple", if that's what Dickens conceived the character as ? Or Martin Luther King as a "negro", if "African-American" was not commonly used, if it had been coined at all, until several decades after his death?

Ross Howard

Usenet · Answer

[nq:1]By the same token, would it be offensive to refer to Tiny Tim as a "cripple", if that's what Dickens ... "negro", if "African-American" was not commonly used, if it had been coined at all, until several decades after his death?[/nq]
Now you've gone and wook up Ray Wise, one. But also you've been influenced by TCE there; in King's lifetime (at least his adult lifetime), the standard term was "Negro", not "negro".
I think that we should generally use terms contemporary to us when describing persons from the past, to the extent that it's meaningful to extend the contemporary usage to the past. Thus, Dr. King was an African-American (and was black), and it would be offensive to refer to him as a "Negro" even though that was a polite term in the 'Sixties. It's sort of silly to refer to Crispus Attucks, say, as "an African-American", though not quite as silly as calling William Paca (q.g.) an "Italian-American", let alone Christopher Columbus (not that you hear that anymore).
Probably it's true that the farther back in time you go the less applicable a contemporary-to-us term is going to be.

Usenet · Answer

[nq:2]By the same token, would it be offensive to refer ... been coined at all, until several decades after his death?[/nq]
[nq:1]Now you've gone and wook up Ray Wise, one. But also you've been influenced by TCE there; in King's lifetime ... would be offensive to refer to him as a "Negro" even though that was a polite term in the 'Sixties.[/nq]
That's the Ray Wise argument, but I disagree. Dr King never called himself an African-American nor was he called that in his day, so I don't think we should call him that. Would you refer to the 'wops' of Roman times if wanting to disparage them? No way: it doesn't work. Perhaps we shouldn't call Dr King a Black (RayE 'black') since it wasn't used much in his day and is largely out of vogue now. If not it, we're left with the one word, 'Negro' ('negro' (sic) in TCE). Is it offensive? You think so and the COD indicates many think so, but I don't think it would be to most 'people of colour'.

I'm tempted to crosspost this to an African-American group for verification, but from the bevy of SCI invaders still among us, I know that wouldn't be a good idea.

That deaf, [redacted]and blind kid

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