As part of a larger, questionnaire‐based study parents of children with mental handicaps and doctors with some involvement in this field were presented with a variety of words sometimes used to refer to people with mental handicaps. They were asked to indicate how often they felt each term should be used. Both groups strongly favoured the use of “mentally handicapped” and “learning difficulties”. Doctors were significantly more inclined than parents to accept “dull”, “backward”, and “devel