"Mouth-breather" as a derogatory

[vanima]

Personally, "troglodyte" is my favorite derogatory term for morons.

*gigglesnorts*

[Flyndaran]

Personally, "troglodyte" is my favorite derogatory term for morons.

I'm sure that's a racist slur to the Geiko cavemen.

[Ghel]

My husband and his son are examples of both sets of mouth breathers. They both breathe through their mouths, but they look quite different when doing it.

My husband is an intelligent, likeable guy who simply cannot get enough air through his nose to remain conscious. In fact, he has sleep apnea because of this, and so uses a CPAP machine. He (usually) doesn't look stupid when he's breathing through his mouth.

His son, on the other hand, is not too bright. He will frequently sit and stare into space, slack-jawed, breathing through his mouth. He looks incredibly stupid doing it. Apparently, he can get enough air through his mouth, because when I tell him to shut his mouth, he will. For a few minutes, until his attention wanes, and his jaw drops open again.

So yeah, I will occasionally call somebody a mouth-breather in reference to their lack of intelligence. And in my step-son's case, I think it's warranted.

[PepperElf]

Raises hand. Mouth-breather here too.

Allergies. I can breath through my nose if my mouth is closed... but only when I'm not totally stuffed up. Even then.... forcibly breathing through my nose is not comfortable.

what moron started using "mouth breather" as an insult? whoever it was deserves to have allergies from hell

'rule of thumb'

Boondock Saints taught me that one