What’s So Terrible About The Word Retarded?

And faggot just means gay, right?

It's not what you mean, OP -it's what everyone else hears.

I love the word retarded and even its shortened version, tard.

But all the spectrum moms who do not want their little tards burdened with the word will report you as a TOS violation for any number of reasons. Twitter will kill your account in an instant if you use the word tard.

I have found cunt, unbelievably, more accepted.

Fucking cunts.

Mental Retardation used to be a legal term. For example, "the Court found the defendant mentally retarded."

Retarded was the word one used. And retard is a legitimate word. It did not originate as a slur. It cannot be compared to faggot. More astonishing DL stupidity.

Why are people more and more proud to come out as backwards and trashy? Why do you want to advertise yourself as someone who treats other people like shit?

It’s the only bad word I still use - usually in reference to myself.

It IS a slur now R4.

I only say it around my husband or caustic friend. He’s a real DLer.

"Faggot" didn't originate as a slur either, r4.

I AM NOT RETARDED!!!!

Datalounge is full of stupid people like r4 who call everyone else stupid. It's so bad that sometimes I think that maybe, just maybe, these people are pretending to be stupid because they think it's funny, but that's sadly never the case. They truly believe they're smarter than everyone else.

I work with adults with intellectual disabilities. I don’t like the word but I wish there was a quicker way to describe them.

Autistics doesn’t seem to work anymore because when people hear it, they just assume it’s someone with bad social skills who is good at math instead of someone who tries to push their head through a windshield whenever they get into a program van.

It's not the origin of a word that's important -it's the current usage. And some words are hurtful to people. That they don't hurt you personally is no excuse for using them.

I genuinely believe that domestic dogs are just retarded wolves.

faggot (n.2)

"male homosexual," 1914, American English slang, probably from earlier contemptuous term for "woman" (1590s), especially an old and unpleasant one

R9 Do you fucking read what you cut and paste? I'm mean trying to explain anything to you is a fool's errand. This is the reason I called you stupid dumbo. Why do you then have to go and prove?

It's not just a slur against actually mentally-challenged people, it's been hurled as a schoolyard taunt by bullies since at least before I was kid in the 60's. In that, it's exactly analogous to "faggot".

On an anonymous forum full of idiots, shitposters and trolls, it's entirely appropriate to correct someone like r4, r11. Don't scold those of us who corrected him.

OP, you're an asshole. That just mean anus, nothing offensive, of course.

Jesus, we JUST had this thread. Less than a month ago. Some DLers *really* need juvenile name-calling to make them feel important/witty/"edgy," don't they?

Use of words like this truly say more about the person using them than they do about the person or group being slurred.

R8 Taffy, for 14, you don’t look so good.

OP- If you don't know what's terrible about using the word Retarded to describe mentally challenged people then you are a

RETARD

Are you really doubling down on this, r13?

"Faggot" didn't start out as a slur any more than "retarded" did. You claimed one started out as a slur, and the other word did not. That's not true. Both were legitimate words that were later turned into slurs.

I'm so tired of angry, under-medicated assholes like you and the OP making demands of our time. If you both want to go around screaming slurs because "they started out as legitimate words" or "the dictionary definition just means 'slow'" then go right ahead.

Oh, yes you are R8 !

I’m retarded you jerk!

If you don't want people to call you names for being gay, then don't call people "tards"

Grow up and stop acting like a 7th grade bully

Applaud R24.

More astonishing stupidity at r4.

I actually don’t take offense to that, R20.

Why you unmitigated piece of idiocy. Faggot was used as a slur for homosexuals from the beginning despite having other meanings. Like the word pansy which when it was used first used for gay men it was immediately a slur.

And I am so tired of people like you dimwits who have no idea how legitimate words over time when used for the SAME group of people change their connotations.

You know, it’s now occurring to me that I never had in mind CALLING someone retarded, rather just referring to them as retarded when describing their mental capacity.

Without spite, or malice, or degradation.

I know many would use it as a schoolyard taunt, but that’s them just being shitty idiots.

Shitty Idiots

New band name.

Called it!

Airbus jets all have an automated voice calling out "Retard! Retard!" when landing.

I just think it was an ugly word. I grew up in the 80's when retarded was used as slang as well as a descriptor. I had a little sister who was born brain dead basically and I remember getting scolded for using retarded as a 3 year old, not related to her. Anyhow, I don't like that word or faggot. They are just not nice. I could also take a pass on queer.

I like purring “f****t” during nasty sex.

As others have said, the word retarded means slow. There is nothing wrong with slow. Slow implies either that you might catch up, or if you cannot, you are slower, mentally, at tasks that others do faster. As R10 notes, autistic is now meaningless. You have to say "severely autistic" to connote what retarded still means. Really the term should be reclaimed. Queer however must be banned.

R34, and the term "faggot" means gay. But it's considered a slur and so is "retarded"

There is nothing wrong with it, and it is a descriptor Lea Michele should wear proudly! It's not her fault she can't even read!

Do you think this is funny op?

Retards go full MARY when you call them out.

Sad!

WHEN WILL THE TEARS STOP?!

R35, it is more nuanced, though, for a number of reasons. First, people whom I would deem retarded -- whom we now call "severely autistic" -- cannot register the slur as such. Those who can should be called autistic. Second, retarded as a term (for you a slur) has no harsh meaning. It signifies as I argued in accurate indeed helpful ways.

Faggot on the other hand has nothing to do with same-sex sexual behavior. It can therefore be a slur in a way that "retarded" cannot be. If we simply argue that the fact that a word "is perceived" to be a slur, many terms will eventually have to be "cancelled" since anxieties, hatreds, etc will end up linked to them.

Best I think not to worry overmuch about the implications of words. Look at the current madness around the "n-word" which can be used by blacks but for whites is certain death. It is all a distraction, a form of rhetorical policing.

Autistics are just yesterday’s rebranded retards?! My mind is blown!!!!

I was trained to use the term mental retardation (MR). I still use "MR" clinically. The newer phrase is too long to write out or say, so pass.

"Axis II: Personality Disorders and Mental Retardation (now Intellectual Development Disorder)"

R10 only about a third of those with "real" autism (not just assholes with bad personalities) are MR. So most autistic children/adults are not MR.

Faggot

A bundle of sticks. If you are burning a witch or heretic what do you throw on the pyre to get the flames going? Faggots so ... Yes pejorative

I much prefer the term Moron as it refers to the angel Moroni. Kinda sweet don't you think

R40, it's certain death for whites to use the N-word? Huh, weird. That must be why Morgan Wallen has a bigger career than ever after using it. You Trumpers love rewarding racist people

Calling people "retarded" or "retards" as an insult is like people who say "That's so gay"

Only tweens and immature adults say stuff like that.

[quote]Axis II: Personality Disorders and Mental Retardation (now Intellectual Development Disorder)

so, what are you, retarded?

has been replaced with

what's wrong with you? you got IDD?

There are a lot of butt-hurt retards on this thread.

There are a lot of fourth grade bullies on this thread

IIRC the actual pronunciation is more RI-tard not REE-tard.

Like in flame retardant clothing.

And retard means to slow down as an intellectual development, slowing down food from being spoiled, or clothing from burning faster

My aunt who I grew up around was referred to as mentally retarded because as she was born in 1931 that is how people who were autistic or developmentally disabled were referred to . The word “retard “ is used as a cruel put down by people who are ignorant , cruel or unable to understand the depth of pain it causes . I cringe every time it’s used around me and mostly do not say anything as what’s the point arguing with people that invested in being wrong. It’s a cruel word just like Faggot and the N word are. Isn’t there enough pointless cruelty in this world ? why add to it ? The word needs to be retired already. I don’t deal with a person who uses the N word or tosses around homo etc. etc. it’s a tell at how low a person is OP but you do you OP keep on being obtuse.

It’s a wonderful word…rolls so easily off the tongue…retarded. I love it, and use it often, where appropriate.

[quote] Why do you want to advertise yourself as someone who treats other people like shit?

Why do you want to change the English language?

Why are you unable to face facts?

I prefer "mongoloid."

R53, does your mom let you stay up this late?

I would be happy if OP was gang raped and left for dead.

How am I not surprised r55 you managed to spell it wrong. .

Gee, r58, how am I supposed to have spelled it?

Please clarify the correct spelling.

I don’t call anyone but myself retarded - one must draw a line somewhere.

[quote]I AM NOT RETARDED!!!!

Of course she's retarded. She has the face of an old woman.

I think the word has changed meaning. It now means stupid fucking moron in everyday usage. People that used to be called retarded are now mentally challenged. I'm sure that is now probably off limits though and they have to be called mentally differently abled or some meaningless mouthful of bullshit like that. And, no, you can't just call them all autistic or severely autistic. Not every mentally challenged or ill person is autistic. I'm sure you'll piss off the autistic community by calling all the former tards autistics.

In other words, fuck the language police.

Retard = intellectually challenged

Retread= plastic surgery victim

If the word is a word you would think twice about using in public then that is all you need to know. Some of you just don’t get it. The word is vile In any context . Remember when the Black Eyed Pease had to change let’s get retarded I’m here to Let’s get it started In here. That was how many years ago ?

Yes I’m aware I spelled peas wrong so go on and have your fun.

R65, what happens when all the words are forbidden by someone? What do you call people who were formerly referred to as 'mentally retarded' because I'm 100% sure someone will find whatever word you use to be insulting to them.

[quote]What do you call people who were formerly referred to as 'mentally retarded'

Non-binary

[quote] What do you call people who were formerly referred to as 'mentally retarded'

Trans

I guess it’s my fault for not explaining my take on things more clearly but no one is asking for words to be banned, I firmly believe in the concept of free speech unless it’s speech that encourages violence. In the case of retard go ahead but you use it knowing that it really is a nasty word and stop referring to the usage of words a quarter of a century ago . Words and language evolve so should some of you.

R70 is Thomas Bowdler.

News readers are no longer allowed to report "fire retardant" drops from aircraft fighting wildfires. Now they have to say "special needs water drops" or some alternative that avoids the "R"-word.

I just don’t like ‘fucking retarded” and “completely retarded”. Because they signify malicious intent.

I don’t like tardy because it’s making fun of the retarded.

I do not think of the wonderful people I've known with Down Syndrome as retarded. They were all happy, artistic and friendly. Just pure, innocent good people.

I think of people like Marjorie Taylor Green, My Pillow Degenerate, Lauren Boebert, etc. as retarded tard retards.

Even that hot little bottom gimp Madison Cawthorn, but not people born different than me.

Up here, we say ‘wicked retarded.’

Exacty R75. The meaning of the word has changed. All of you talking about the evolution of language need to acknowledge that if you want to be honest. But, honesty is not the goal with the thought police.

Well, nothing when it's used in reference to you, dear OP.

As if the tards are going to read in the first place. Who cares? And to hell with anyone getting offended on someone else's behalf. You get it wrong about 90 percent of the time.

Butt out, Gladys Kravitz.

Don’t be a fucking retard, OP. It’s obvious.

“You don’t call retarded people retards. It’s bad taste. You call your friends retards when they are acting retarded.”

The problem here is that retarded is a word that serves as excellent onomatopoeia. It really serves well as an insult for somebody who is slow and dumb and you want to insult them. I wish we could keep the word without hurting people's feelings, but there you have it.

So I don't use it in mixed company, just when I'm in the car by myself. I typically call myself that when I mess up, or I say it to another driver who cannot hear me. It's a good release word on its own merits.

W&W, r66.

This thread is wall-to-wall fraucunts.

RETARDED HIPPO FRAUCUNTS

I do love it in a New England accent.

ree tadded

.....

I know, it's so retarded.

The more you know

There is a big difference between the adjective (which originated in clinical circles) 'retarded,' and the non-clinical noun commonly used as a hateful epithet, 'retard.' There's no excuse for using the term 'retard' as a noun.

In fact, the latter word has become so toxic that it's no longer really acceptable to use the descriptor 'retarded,' even in clinical settings, which is why 'mentally challenged' is now typically used.

My 51-year-old younger brother is mentally challenged, and is more or less permanently under my care.

In my day, we used SCIENTIFIC terms like mongoloid idiot or waterhead.

The scientific word would have been hydrocephalic.

you forgot the classic: Pinhead

There was even a cartoon:

Zippy, The Nation of Pinheads.

So I guess I will use pinhead, instead of tard, here on out.

I use retarded to describe situations; never to describe people:

This entire thread is retarded, but the posters in it are mentally challenged.

r95, are you a pinhead?

I had an uncle, my Dad's younger brother, wh had mental retardation, as it was then diagnosed. He was very much part of the family. He was able to hold a job and live on his own, although we saw him on a near-daily basis. Growing up, "Retard" was a slur you would throw at other kids. The slur's sting began to hit home, when I began to think about what my Dad would often say to us about his brother..."He didn't ask to be that way." Then, it sunk in. I occasionally here "Retard" said by kids. It stings. My uncle was a very kindhearted person. We should say refer to people like him as persons "with intellectual disabilities." It's kinder.

How dare you, R96.

Just don’t use it. There are plenty of other words and phrases if you are trying to describe someone with intellectual disabilities. And more creative ways to insult someone. So, just don’t.

[quote]We should say refer to people like him as persons "with intellectual disabilities." It's kinder.

Kinder is not the point. It is shorthand for people who should know better.

Loren Boebert is retarded.

MTG is retarded.

Mark Meadows MUST have been retarded to think he would get away with Trump's plans.

RETARDED!

It's because that isn't a term that is respectable and polite, such as identifying someone born with multiple ethncities as being "mixed," OP!

Well, mixed has been replaced with multicultural.

No problem there.

I only use retarded, retard or tard for people who who should know better, and demonstrate a surprising level of retardation. In fact, if you wish you may consider me a tard on the issue.

It's a better term than "Developmentally Delayed", which is currently in fashion.

"Delayed" implies catching up at some point, which isn't happening.

Calling someone developmentally delayed takes too many letters on Twitler. UaTard. Is co.compact..

I am thinking about using... t*rd.

Keep em guessing.

In music we use the word ritard all the time - because it's written in practically every score of classical music composed in the past 2 centuries. Rit and ritard. are abbreviations for ritardando - slowing down in Italian. For a human being that is slow, I tend to say that he has a cognitive deficit or has trouble grasping complex concepts. As a slur, retard was seldom used in my childhood about people who were actually mentally retarded. Instead, it was just a generic term for someone who was out of one's favor that day.

My grandfather had the thickest Southern accent in the world. Almost unintelligible.

We were at a restaurant and a waitress asked him what he did for a living and he said “I’m retired”. And she said “oh honey. You’re retarded?”

She thought he said “I‘m a retard”

I hate that word. I have an older cousin with Down Syndrome. So I grew up knowing that’s some people were intellectually disabled and making fun of them wasn’t right. If my parents ever had to explain explain it to me, I was too young to remember. It just was a fact of life and I always knew that some people like my cousin were different.

That's a great story about your grandfather R106.

The story itself was retarded. R107.

Go fuck yourself, r108. I’m not opposed to saying that to someone with an intellectual disability such as you.

This made me wonder why the term ‘juvenile delinquent’ is no longer used.

Thank you R106. I do believe that southerners with thick southern accents are rhetahded, boy. Was your granpappy the descendant of plantation owanahs?

R119, because Juvenile Delinquents were white. They have been supplanted by thugs.

Tant pis pour les retardataires !

[quote]Was your granpappy the descendant of plantation owanahs?

No, but good guess with the name. He was Poppy, not Granpappy. And he grew up on a dirt farm as poor as you could possibly imagine. His family was French and English who were also extremely poor and moved to the US after the Civil War, so poor me. I didn’t get to inherit a plantation.

[quote]It's a better term than "Developmentally Delayed", which is currently in fashion. "Delayed" implies catching up at some point, which isn't happening.

My mother taught children with intellectual disabilities. I haven’t heard anybody use the term “developmentally delayed“ unless they were talking about someone who was actually developmentally delayed. For exactly the reasons you mentioned. They were delayed. Then they caught up. It’s a totally different thing from an intellectual disability.

But I don’t doubt that there are people that use the terms interchangeably and incorrectly.

[quote]R13 "American English slang, probably from earlier contemptuous term for ‘woman’ (1590s), especially an old and unpleasant one”

The NERVE!

I look younger!

One prefers the more accurate : Mongoloid

It’s offensive when you pronounce it as ‘We Tall Did.’

r116, I thought that, that word was Molly?