low-IQ audience
- noun
- /loʊ aɪ ˈkjuː ˈɔːdiəns/
- Slur
- Some advertisers target products toward a low-IQ audience, assuming simpler messages will be more effective.
Examples
-
Journalists sometimes complain about being told to write articles that appeal to a low-IQ audience.
-
The director denied that his movie was made for a low-IQ audience.
-
The comedian performed for a low-IQ audience last night.
-
Many critics say that a low-IQ audience is easily entertained.
-
Some advertisers target products toward a low-IQ audience, believing that simpler messages will be more effective.
-
Many critics argue that a low-IQ audience is easily entertained and often prefers more straightforward content.
-
The director denied that his film was created for a low-IQ audience, insisting that it contains complex themes.
Surface Forms
Morphology
low-IQ + audience
The phrase is fully compositional: 'low-IQ' combines 'low' (reduced) with 'IQ' (intelligence measure) to modify 'audience', yielding an audience with below-average intelligence. This adjective+noun pattern is straightforward and parallels constructions in many languages, so a B1 learner who knows the constituent words can infer the intended meaning.
Etymology
The phrase low-IQ audience joins low-IQ, meaning people with low scores on thinking tests, and audience, meaning a group of listeners or viewers. It creates a picture of a crowd that needs very simple messages, so people use it to say a group is 'not very intelligent'.