Ricky Gervais, please stop using the word 'mong'

The comedian is back on Twitter but some of his language is not welcome
Ricky Gervais
Debate is raging over Ricky Gervais's use of the word 'mong' on Twitter. Photograph: Sean Kilpatrick/AP

There is a new buzzword on Twitter. Its meaning is not what it used to be, but it is now being hailed as meaning misguided, foolish and just plain wrong. The word is "gervais".

The reason that people have chosen to launch their new definition of the word stems directly from the reappearance of Ricky Gervais on Twitter and the language he is using.

He left under something of a confused cloud a year ago, stating that he didn't see the point and that if he wanted to speak to other celebrities he could text them.

Fair comment. However, his return has marked something of a watershed for me because having written about his contribution to reducing bigotry and ignorance around disability, the language he is using on Twitter, complete with photos, has made me reconsider my opinion.

He is using the word "mong".

Anyone who is disabled or who loves someone with a disability knows what that word means because they will have heard it used about them abusively at some stage. Along with "retard" and "spaz", it's a prominent verbal feature of the bullies' toolkit.

I'm 45 and I know that. Ricky Gervais is 50, so he will definitely know that – besides, he tackles the issue in an episode of Extras in which a boy with Down's syndrome is referred to as a "mongoloid".

Gervais's younger fans may justifiably claim ignorance about the word, but my 17-year-old daughter knows what it means because it was used about her sister, and she herself was called retarded.

The reason that younger people may not have heard it is because of the excellent work done by the Down's Syndrome Association, among others, which has ensured that the word has been pretty much dropped from use.

As I watched Gervais bring the word to his Twitter followers (who at last count number more than 400,000) and their gleeful repeating of it, I challenged him.

He tweeted to his followers that it was not his intention that the word be linked with Down's syndrome, and that it was only uptight people living in the past who think it means Down's syndrome.

Then he tweeted a definition in an internet dictionary stating that "mong" didn't mean Down's syndrome. I tweeted him one that showed it did. He retweeted that.

I was then bombarded with tweets from his furious fans calling me a "cunt" and a "mong". Cunt doesn't bother me, but using the word "mong" does, because of its references to Down's syndrome.

Comedian Richard Herring, who has written on the subject of disablist language, took up the issue the following morning. He blogged about it and was targeted.

He was also called "mong", as were several journalists who wrote critical pieces about Gervais's new show. Claiming that the word no longer references Down's syndrome is as wrong as it is offensive.

Many people are of the opinion that unless the word is directed at someone with a disability, it isn't abuse. This is misguided for two reasons. First, it doesn't appreciate how the word is being used. If a word referencing disability is applied to mean something ugly, foolish, unpleasant or weird, then it is an abusive epithet promoting a stereotype.

Second, reclaiming a word to lessen its power is a right only available to those to whom the abuse is directed. Disabled people can reclaim the word but a non-disabled man using the word in an abusive way will not be reaping the whirlwind of hatred.

The best comment on the issue remains Herring's, whose Twitter feed is full of abuse – and praise – for making a stand. He said: "Just a thought, but if you think mong only means idiot, why not just use the word idiot?"

Disabled people are targeted and abused and murdered. We can't keep turning our heads from this. It's happening on an unprecedented institutionalised scale and all hate crime begins with verbal abuse.


Please Ricky Gervais, warm the cockles of my heart and stop using it.

Nicola Clark is a disability rights campaigner, mother to two children with disabilities, and blogger