Now that it seems decided that the word “weird” should be used in a derogatory way against sociopathic narcissists in politics, I have to be careful about how i use this word.
In the recent years, I usually used it to describe someone or something that was different in an interesting and charming way. I am neurodivergent in a way that is easily hidden (not that I make coucious efforts to hide it), I would often describe myself as just “slightly weird”. I no longer want to use this word to describe myself anymore because of the above mentioned reasons.
In old literature, I’ve seen the word queer used as such, but today it doesn’t really carry that meaning anymore. Although I wouldn’t really mind if it confused people about my gender, I don’t really worry about that. 😁
Any other suggestions ro help describe myself that wouldn’t put the focus of the discussion on neurotypes?
Quirky, unique, eccentric, remarkable, mystifying, fantastic, unconventional, offbeat.
if you’re referring to yourself I’d prefer ‘quirky’ because it has less of a self-aggrandizing quality to it. More neutral per se
Eccentric, mystifying, unconventional, and offbeat all have varying levels of ‘polite judgment’ or condescension inherent to them so should be used carefully when referring to others.
Unique, remarkable, and fantastic are the more complimentary versions.
I think “quirky” as a self-descriptor got pretty heavily stigmatized during the 2010s, though. Like if someone self-identifies as “quirky”, the first thing that comes to my mind is the *holds up spork* copypasta. I actually personally really like offbeat, as long as you use a modifier like “a bit”.