How do you know an idiot when you see one?

Answer 1

You'll know them first when they open their mouths and spew out nonsense.

Answer 2

I know plenty of people who look totally normal and they don't "scream" idiot by looking. If you had asked, "how do you know an idiot when you hear one talk?" I could have easier answered. We cannot label anybody by the way they look. Talk to law enforcement officers and see what they tell you about how deceiving looks are. The definition of idiot is:

A foolish or stupid person.

A person of profound mental retardation having a mental age below three years and generally being unable to learn connected speech or guard against common dangers. The term belongs to a classification system no longer in use and is now considered offensive.

So which of these definitions did you really mean?

Answer 3

Seeing isn't necessarily believing. Here is a run-down on the word's history and it's uses.


History
It was originally used in ancient Greek city-states to refer to people who were overly concerned with their own self-interest and ignored the needs of the community. Declining to take part in public life, such as (semi-)democratic government of the polis (city state, e.g. Athenian democracy) was considered dishonorable. "Idiots" were seen as having bad judgment in public and political matters. Over time, the term "idiot" shifted away from its original connotation of selfishness and came to refer to individuals with overall bad judgment–individuals who are "stupid."

In Ptolemaic Egypt, idiotès was a term for soldier (etymologically parallel to that word which derives from sold 'pay'), derived from the idios logos, the Ptolemies' royal treasury that paid them.

In modern English usage, the terms "idiot" and "idiocy" describe an extreme folly or stupidity, its symptoms (foolish or stupid utterance or deed). In psychology, it is a historical term for the state or condition now called profound mental retardation.

Handicap
In 19th and early 20th-century medicine and psychology, an "idiot" was a person with a very severe mental retardation or a very low IQ level, as a sufferer of cretinism, defining idiots as people whose IQ were below 20 (with a standard deviation of 16); Mongolian idiot was applied to people who had Down syndrome.

In current medical classification, these people are now said to have profound mental retardation, and the word "idiot" is no longer used as a scientific term.

Use as an abuse
In modern English and other languages, idiot is also a derogatory term used to insult, usually meaning "You are stupid." For example, a group of drunks disturbing the peace could be referred to as "idiots." However, use of "idiot" to refer to people who are genuinely mentally retarded would generally be considered offensive.

A few authors have used "idiot" characters in novels, plays and poetry. Often these characters are used to highlight or indicate something else (allegory). Examples of such usage are William Faulkner's The Sound and the Fury and William Wordsworth's The Idiot Boy. Idiot characters in literature are often confused with or subsumed within mad or lunatic characters.

The most common imbrication between these two categories of mental impairment occurs in the polemic surrounding Edmund from William Shakespeare's King Lear. In Fyodor Dostoevsky's novel The Idiot, the idiocy of the main character, Prince Myshkin, is attributed more to his honesty, trustfulness, kindness, and humility, than to a lack of intellectual ability. This somewhat parallels the use of the word "idiot" in colloquial Russian to characterize a naive optimist and the "do-gooder."

Personally, I claim an idiot when I see one who is doing something that is completely absured or unethical!!

Answer 4

It is mandated by the US government to tattoo all idiots on the forehead so they will not be mistaken as intelligent individuals that might amount to something. It's invisible except under a black light. When you see one, RUNNNNN!!!

Answer 5

They are usually
a: driving a Ford and riding my ***
b: riding a Harley with no mufflers
c: wearing a Tshirt they bought to advertise for something sporting or expensive.
d: towing a big boat
e: Illinois or Pennsylvania license plates
f: ringing my doorbell with a Bible or Watchtower magazine in their hand

Answer 6

you cant know an idiot when you see one....but if you are talking about people who have a physical or mental disibility then your a cruel person for even judging those people because just because they have a physical or mental disibility doesnt mean they are genuinely good people and are very intelligent

Answer 7

They look a lot like Tom Cruise.

Answer 8

They usually open ther mouth and cast out any doubts.

Answer 9

These days that presidential seal on the podium gives it away.

Answer 10

Right after he opens his mouth!