There was hysterical laughter and bunch of mumbo jumbo coming from the peanut gallery. These terms are perfectly harmless and uncontroversial, right? Well, it may surprise you that these words have very complicated and checkered—and sometimes downright discriminatory—pasts.
Now, words evolve. Their meanings shift. But, it’s very important to be mindful of words that were originally or historically used in very offensive ways. Here’s a list of words with hurtful histories that may have you thinking twice about your word choice.