"Derpy"-insult ?

[angelachristian]

I have a question : Among the fans of the cartoon show "My little pony" started an argument about a pony named "Derpy" , some people said that "derp" or "derpy" was an insulting and discriminating US-American word against people with disabilities

Comments

[sagesoren]

I don't know the origin of the word, either, but yeah, the fanbase has been calling that pony "Derpy" for some time now. Even the word "derp" pops up around LJ quite a bit, so I'm curious to know, too.

[garage_rob]

i have a fish named derp, so I hope it's not derrogative!

[denisemedevac]

What a coincidence! Me too.

[stacyinthecity]

Derpy is a derivation of herp-derp. It is slang I see a lot on the internet.

I don't know the full etymology of it, but yes, I have heard that it comes from someone making an insulting immitation of people with mental disabilities.

here, read this.

[sagesoren]

Not the OP, obviously, but I can totally see what you mean now that you pointed it out. Hmmm...

[denisekw]

agreed.

[stormdog]

That's in line with my associations with the word.

[alessandriana]

All I can say is that I've never seen the word derp used in the way you describe, not even once. It's usually used as a sort of fond descriptor for someone who's dorky or silly, or as a tag for pictures where someone is photographed unexpectedly making a weird expression.

[hkitsune]

Derp is just a word that's really similar to D'oh!, you know, from the Simpsons. Saying that something is derpy does mean it's stupid, or absent-minded, or just kind of numb-skulled, but it doesn't mean retarded or disabled.

[airevac]

True that.

[callautomation]

I agree, too.

[nmairambulance]

I agree.

[di_glossia]

That's honestly an interesting question.

To my knowlege, "derp" first appeared in the South Park episode "The Succubus" where Mr. Derp used "derp" as an interjection and used slapstick humor. A meme developed called Herp-Derp (alternately, Hurr-Durr), which uses pictures of someone looking stupid and/or cross-eyed. In this latter context, derp is undeniably offensive. Occasionally people with Downs Syndrome are used for the meme. The offensiveness is in the very fine line between mental disability and low intelligence. If derp is used to mean similar to someone with mental disability, then it is offensive. If it is used to mean similar to something someone with low intelligence would do or to mean a momentary lapse in intelligence, it is generally seen as inoffensive.