Dwarf vs Midget - Difference and Comparison

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Differences (6)

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	Dwarf	Midget
Treatment:	surgery	growth hormones
Offensive:	The word dwarf is not considered offensive by their community	Is considered offensive by their community.
Associated problems:	Joint diseases, nerve compression, disproportionate organs	Only height is short.
Social problems:	Low self esteem, acceptance by society	Low self esteem, acceptance by society
About:	A medical condition where a person is extremely short with disproportionate body parts	A condition where a person is extremely short.
Physical disability:	Extremely short and Dispropotionate body parts	Extremely short
Height:	Less than 147 cms	Less than 147 cms
Causes:	Genetic disorder, Heriditary	Heridetary, genetic disorder, nurtitional deficiency,

The terms Midget and Dwarf are terms used to describe a person who is extremely short in height. The term Dwarf is more often used these days and midget as a word is almost extinct because it is considered derogatory and offensive to call someone a midget. Both terms describe a short person, but refer to different physical characteristics and genetic conditions.

1 About
2 Differences in origin of word
3 Physical Condition comparison
4 Who does it affect?
5 Differences in associated problems
6 Differences in treatment
7 See Also
8 References

[edit] About

"Midget" refers to a person who is very short, but normally proportioned. The term Midget is now rarely used and has given way to "Short person" or "little person". This term as such is considered offensive now in usage. But its usage was very common until the early to mid twentieth century.

"Dwarf" refers to a person with one of several varieties of a specific genetic condition called dwarfism. A dwarf has disproportion of body parts.This is generally caused by a genetic or nutritional disability. Any adult Human below the height of 4'10"(147 cm) is considered a dwarf. With reference to legends or folklore, a dwarf is considered a legendary creature resembling a tiny old man, who lives in the depths of the earth and guards buried treasure.

[edit] Differences in origin of word

Midget, comes from the word midge "small fly" + -et, so that a midget is etymologically a "very small fly". The first reference to the word is found in 1848 in Canada with the meaning "sand fly". In Old English it was "mycg", and it goes back to an Indo-European root, *mu-, which also gave the word mosquito and, by a circuitous route, musket.

The word Dwarf is of Germanic ancestry, coming ultimately from the proto-Germanic root *dhwergwhos meaning "tiny". In Old English it was "dweorg" and meant "person of abnormally small stature".

[edit] Physical Condition comparison

A midget is small in height but doesn't have disproprtionate limbs or other body parts. A dwarf is small and has disproportionate body parts. Both are categorised by height less than 147 cms for an adult human. A midget is small but proportionate while a dwarf's growth is a disability.

[edit] Who does it affect?

Dwarfism is known to affect affect humans, animals and plants. Midget is a term used for humans only. In humans, a child for whom one or both parents is affected by dwarfism has a chance of inheriting the condition. Both these conditions affect men and women. It is also caused by hormonal or nutritional deficiency.

[edit] Differences in associated problems

While there are many problems associated with Dwarfism, midgets are not plagued by these problems. Midgets are just normal people whose height is stunted. In the case of dwarfs, the physical conditions affecting them are: malformed bones, nerve compression, joint disease, and disoriented growth of some organs.

Both midgets and dwarfs have to suffer the psychological or social problems associated with their condition. Social prejudice against their extreme height may reduce their social confidence and opportunites. Sometimes they're mocked and may suffer from low self esteem. Sometimes extreme shortness (height of less than 3 feet) may interfere with their day to day chores.

[edit] Differences in treatment

Since the conditions are related to genetic problems, there are few treatments available. Dress enhancements such as shoe lifts etc are some of the few ways to change the aesthetics of little people. Growth hormones are rarely used to treat these conditions as the benefits are very small. The most effective means of increasing adult height by several inches is limb-lengthening surgery, though availability is limited and cost is high in terms of dollars, discomfort, and interruption of life.