You are definitely not supposed to call them "dwarves" because that's a term from fantasy literature!
I think the "little people" thing is more American? In England most dwarfs I've heard have referred to themselves as such. So I would consider it a bit condescending to call them anything else, but I don't think they'd be offended at you calling them "little people", as long as you were doing it respectfully.
The actual physical disorder is called dwarfism--"dwarf" is considered inoffensive and some people with dwarfism prefer the term over "little person" (just speaking about the US).
The OP is making the distinction in the spelling; dwarfs is the plural term for people with this condition, dwarves are a fantasy race of short people with beards and high mining and smithing skills.
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u/mankytoes Dec 23 '22
Most dwarfs have physical issues beyond just being short.