The Difference Between Midgets and Dwarfs

The difference between midgets and dwarfs can be a hard thing to discern. The words are often used interchangeably, despite the fact that technically speaking, they refer to two different types of people. Many people of normal height (otherwise known as "freakishly tall people") believe, erroneously that there is no difference between midgets and dwarfs, and that they are simply two words for the same thing. Therefore, in order to educate the world we have created this article to illustrate the difference between midgets and dwarfs.

To begin educating you on the difference between midgets and dwarfs, we should first define exactly what a midget and a dwarf, strictly speaking, are. If that bores you, or if you're in a hurry, feel free to skip onto the last section, "The Difference Between Midgets and Dwarfs".

Dwarfs

When telling the difference between midgets and dwarfs, it is imperative that you realize that dwarfism is a medical condition. There are over 200 forms of medical dwarfism, most of them stem from genetic mutations. The most common form of dwarfism is Achondroplasia, which causes about 70% of dwarfism cases. If you are trying to tell the difference between midgets and dwarfs, and you have a specific person in mind, note also that dwarfs with Achondroplasia tend to have low muscle tone, overcrowded teeth and shorter limbs when compared proportionally to their bodies.

Midgets

Strictly speaking, a midget is just an exceptionally short person. They have no other physical or genetic abnormalities other than being extremely short. The term was first used in 1865 to refer to a person who is extremely short but has normally proportioned limbs and body structure.

The Difference between Midgets and Dwarfs

And so we see that the primary difference between midgets and dwarfs is that dwarfs have a genetic mutation while midgets do not. If you are trying to tell the difference between a dwarf and a midget, just remember that a midget will look like a completely normally proportioned person, only smaller, while a dwarf will probably have limbs that are proportionately slightly smaller than that of normal people.

If you still do not understand the difference between midgets and dwarfs and you are at a loss as to deciding whether a person is a simply a midget or a true dwarf, your best course of action would probably be to simply ask them. After all, it's rude to stare.