Offtopic: I only see "genius" used these days to describe an idiot. I guess this is how words change meaning over time. At some point in the future being called a "genius" will always be seen as pejorative.

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crossroadsguy 6 hours ago | parent | next [-]

That's because calling an idiot an idiot plainly is apparently considered uncouth and attracts downvotes, flags and downvotes often mean oblivion. In fact you will find do-gooders chome in with "be civil" but you flip the word and it's all kosher. The thing is all of us do and say idiotic things. So that makes a bit tricky indeed.

> in the future being called a "genius" will always be seen as pejorative.

If you are not a genius and someone calls you a genius, well, for you the future is already here, genius! (Shit I didn't really mean that :P)

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dylan604 4 hours ago | parent | prev | next [-]

I don't think the definition is changing at all. To me, we've just lost the ability to comprehend sarcasm.

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codedokode 6 hours ago | parent | prev | next [-]

There should be a name for this style of speech, using "good" to mean "bad".

	▲	saimiam 6 hours ago \| parent \| next [-]
		Irony? Camp? “genius is a camp - so good that it’s bad”. “In the sentence ‘this is the sh1t’, ‘sh1t’ is camp - so bad that it is good”.
	▲	xioxox 5 hours ago \| parent \| prev \| next [-]
		Semantic inversion or contronym
	▲	akoboldfrying 6 hours ago \| parent \| prev \| next [-]
		Sarcasm
	▲	dyauspitr 5 hours ago \| parent \| prev [-]
		There’s a lot of this in African-American vernacular. I’m not exactly sure what a “bad bitch” means but I believe it means attractive whore, but does it or does it just mean a good woman? Either way that’s two traditionally negative terms that seem to be used positively.

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fusslo 6 hours ago | parent | prev | next [-]

just like 'Nimrod' becoming an insult

	▲	pessimizer 5 hours ago \| parent [-]
		Or "dunce." https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Duns_Scotus

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saimiam 6 hours ago | parent | prev [-]

Genius take!