#alternative language

I'm trying to figure out some dwarven alternatives for phrase that typical are written with the words 'man' or 'men'. These are coming from Thorin's perspective and I don't think he would refer to his Company like a commander says, "His men" since the race of Men are a separate entity to Dwarves and Dwarf-men. Plus, Thorin has a dislike for the race of Men, so I don't think he would equate his dwarven companions to men.

Examples from Thorin's perspective that need changed:

His men protested loudly.

If you were one of my men, I'd...

The men around the table laughed riotously.

...with my men?

Gentlemen (is Gentlefolk alright? Gentlepeople? Gentledwarves?)

The hardest part is when there aren't just dwarves in the scene (Bilbo and Gandalf or even some Elves) so I can't always say 'the dwarves'.

Any suggestions or thoughts on the matter would be really appreciated! Thank you!

If it’s a matter of not knowing something, some good options might be uninformed, ignorant, or oblivious.  If there’s a reason for you not knowing it, you could also give that reason (“Sorry, I’m new,” etc.).

-Liz

The first thing I would recommend would be to work on your self-worth. You don’t need to apologize or insult yourself for not knowing something. Even the smartest person on earth doesn’t know everything. We all have knowledge gaps and it’s the sign of a wise person to be able to admit we don’t know something. 

However, I know that this is a process that won’t happen overnight. The following list is from this post. It was compiled as a list of words to replace ableist slurs in general, so some of these words may not be applicable, but you may find some words that work well for you. 

Absurd

Annoying

Asinine

Awful

Bad

Boring

Close-minded

Confusing

Contemptible

Despicable

Foolish

Frustrating

Gross

Ignorant

Illogical

Impolite

Inane

Irritating

Nonsensical

Obnoxious

Outrageous

Paradoxical

Petulant

Pointless

Ridiculous

Silly

Unacceptable

Unconscionable

Uncool

Unreasonable

Unthinkable

Vile

Weird

Wretched

I'll be your strength,

I'll give you hope, 

Keeping your faith when it's gone (NSYNC - This a promise you) 

Cause the players gonna play, play, play, play, play

And the haters gonna hate, hate, hate, hate, hate

Baby, I'm just gonna shake, shake, shake, shake, shake

I shake it off, I shake it off (Taylor Swift - Shake it off)

What doesn't kill you makes you stronger

Warrior up

Cowpoke up

Don’t be a baby

Grow up

Eat shit

Fuck me daddy

Don’t be a chicken

Catboy up

Wizard up

Grow some gonads

Grow some courage

You just answered your own question. You could say “This may be a weird question”. You can also use silly, foolish, uneducated, annoying, inane, ridiculous, or many other words. These words can be used as replacements, though they don’t mean the same thing. Using any word that means the same thing as stupid/dumb will still be ableist as you would be using a lack of intelligence as an insult. 

(And I think the phrase you were looking for is “intellectually disabled” or “intellectually impaired”)

This is a great question! It can be hard to figure out alternatives to use when we find out a word is offensive. This article goes through some ableist language and explains why it’s wrong and provides alternatives. This article provides alternatives based upon the word you’re trying to replace. 

The following are some words that can be substituted for ableist words depending on the context:

Absurd

Annoying

Asinine

Awful

Bad

Boring

Close-minded

Confusing

Contemptible

Despicable

Foolish

Frustrating

Gross

Ignorant

Illogical

Impolite

Inane

Irritating

Nonsensical

Obnoxious

Outrageous

Paradoxical

Petulant

Pointless

Ridiculous

Silly

Unacceptable

Unconscionable

Uncool

Unreasonable

Unthinkable

Vile

Wretched

I hope this helps!