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OP Back in the twenties there were many magazine articles reciting the alleged threat to society
by the uncontrolled breeding of mentally deficient people, calling for laws to promote "eugenics"
by passing laws to sterilize the "unfit". Young as I was I detected an aroma of bovine grass
nutrients. Two alleged families the "Jukes and the Kallikaks" were cited as horrible examples.
I haven't heard any mention of them recently, but searched for the names, and found some
interesti;ng sites, one of which stated that the names were fictitious. I had always thought
Kallikak" sounded highly improbable as a family name, so I was glad to find statement that it
was fictious, meaning literally "Good-Bad".
I also found a quote about origin of word "moron":
"[4] In 1910 Goddard had invented the brand-new technical word "moron" from the Greek
moros meaning "foolish," to mean an intellectually impaired person of the "highest grade"
(I.Q. 50-75). The public at large soon appropriated the term as a joke and an epithet."
http://www.unbf.ca/psychology/likely/readings/kallikak_footnotes.htm
I had a student who used the term "moroff" instead of moron. I like it.
and being used on a forum I visit is the term "motard"... not very PC, but certainly seemingly appropriate in some cases...
formerly known as etaoin...
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