It's true — there's a difference. The three terms didn't start out as social insults either, in fact. In the early 1900s, psychologists used the terms to describe various levels of retardation. Those with an IQ of 0 to 25 (an IQ of 100 is average) were called idiots, 26 to 50 were called imbeciles and 51 to 70 were called morons. Morons could communicate and learn common tasks; imbeciles stalled mentally at about six years old; and idiots couldn't respond to stimulus or communicate with any level of competency.

Discussion Comments

anon1002574 December 24, 2019 My flight instruction used to say "Ah he forgot to file his ID-10T form?" Miss you Lowell, thanks for everything.

deadmensfgrs February 26, 2019 If "A fool and his money are soon parted" it would serve to indicate Trump is no fool, whatever niche of intelligence level he may occupy.

anon999998 April 30, 2018 Tillerson was extremely kind to Trump, but Gen. Kelly calls it as he see it.

anon999437 January 5, 2018 The real idiots are the libs. That's why they looked up to a moron like Killary.

anon999135 November 2, 2017 Tillerson was wrong about Trump-he is surely not a moron. Nope, he has to be an imbecile.

anon999022 October 11, 2017 So when Tillerson called POTUS a moron,it was a compliment, right?

anon997853 March 8, 2017 Where does 'cretin' fit into the scale?

anon995846 June 1, 2016 The goverment would need a new term for -0 classification.

anon994935 10 hours ago The people of the U.S. get the quality of government they demand, so in actuality, the citizenry elect people of their own mental capabilities. America's got the government they've asked for, and now they're complaining?

anon992861 October 7, 2015 All of this time my wife has been calling me an idiot, when what she meant was moron. Sheesh! What an imbecile!

anon992122 August 15, 2015 So how would you define the White House today: an Imbecile or Moron?

anon961663 July 19, 2014 I thought the answer was Harry Reid, John Boehner and Obama...

anon356929 November 29, 2013 I love your details. They really help me understand the concept.

anon258628 April 2, 2012 Interesting differences. I've always had difficulty determining if our federal government is made up of morons, imbeciles or idiots. Your definitions clear this up. They are all of the above!

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