Originally Posted by petunia
And, if "gifted" is so bad, why does no one complain about the terms "gifted athlete" or "gifted musician" or "gifted artist". Our kids are "gifted students", much in the same way.

I think cognitive giftedness is threatening to people. No one likes to feel stupid.

It's ok to watch an athlete or artist at work because their gifts are specific to one area ("it's ok that I can't sing like her because I can cook really well"), or their performance is partially the result of practice and training ("if I had been in lessons from the age of two I could've been an Olympic figure skater").