Deaf-mute

[3] The Oxford English Dictionary states that the North American pejorative usage of the word to imply stupidity was first noted in the UK in 1928.

[7] In informal American English the term dumb is sometimes used to refer to other hearing people in jest, to chide, or to invoke an image of someone who refuses to employ common sense or who is unreliable.

[8] In the past deaf-mute was used to describe deaf people who used sign language, but in modern times, the term is frequently viewed today as offensive and inaccurate.

[9] From antiquity (as noted in the Code of Hammurabi) until recent times, the terms deaf-mute and deaf and dumb were sometimes considered analogous to stupid by some hearing people.

Because historically it was thought impossible to teach or communicate with them, deaf-mutes were not moral agents, and therefore were unable to own real estate, act as witnesses, or be punished for any crime.

[14][15] Stephen King's novel The Stand features a main character named Nick Andros who is referred to as "deaf-mute."

In the foreword to a reprinted edition of The Con Man, originally published in 1957, McBain says, "A reader pointed out to me two or three years ago that this expression was now considered derogatory.