I like how a word starts as a technical/medical term for a disability, then it’s used as a slur, then they come up with a new term….repeat. It’s happening now with “learning disability” and “intellectually challenged”.
Also, as someone with a learning disability, ableism is a big part of my life but people using the word retard in stupid throwaway jokes really doesn’t even register as an issue.
It’s interesting how words change meaning. For instance the National Spastics Society changed their name to Scope when “spastic” started being used as a really bad slur. On the other hand words like “idiot”, “cretin”, and “moron” have really horrible historical uses as slurs against the disabled but they’re all understood to be pretty casual insults now.
I personally would prefer it not be used around here in general. I don’t delete it overall, but I will occasionally depending on its usage. I have known too many good people with intellectual disabilities who were abused by bullies calling them that word.
Well yeah, context derives meaning which is why words have multiple definitions. I’m not disparaging the differently abled but people’s surface level disdain for it is tedious. Barely a decade ago it was the polite way to characterize someone but we needlessly allow words themselves to be tainted rather than take the time to address the context and the meaning used with it.
Sir it was in a Disney show when I was growing up. Yes, it was the polite way to say it. - It quite literally means slow. Fire retardant, for example, slows fires.
Sorry… why does it matter that it was in a Disney show when you were growing up?
Again, ‘retarded’ has been an insult for a very long time. It hasn’t even been federally legal to use the term “mental retardation” since 2010 (more than “barely a decade”) and by that time, the only people using the term was the federal government. The same federal government that used ‘negro’ until the 2000s. Are you going to claim ‘negro’ was the polite way to refer to a person in 1995 next?
But sure, call it polite. People who are actually bullied by it would disagree with you.
… Because Disney after the whole Hitler era became sanitized and kid friendly and I don’t think they were throwing in slurs on their kid friendly shows.
Starting to think you’re making stuff up because it’s not illegal to use. They made legislation to change the terminology from “mental retardation” to “Intellectual disability” for the Federal Register but made no claims that to use it is illegal.
By the mere fact this exists means Federally it was the proper term to call someone “Mentally retarded”. The proper term. I don’t think the Federal government was using slurs in legal documents as instanced by the fact they changed it when it started being used for that.
I like how you ignored every link I posted and continue to insist it’s polite despite the Special Olympics and a person with Down Syndrome explaining exactly why it is offensive.
Basically you’re telling me that you know better about what offends “retards” than the “retards” do themselves.
I’ve had this a lot.
I guess it might be because in the delivery person’s app this option could be very similar to the one they meant to select:
Handed to Receptionist
Handed to Resident
And everyone knows that resident doesn’t necessarily mean a resident of your house either
Handed to resident package thief
Handed to random person standing near sidewalk.
Scruffy guy with shopping cart filled with odds and ends: huh? Yeah imma resident.
Handed doesn’t have to mean “give” either
Removed by mod
Yea, the word isn’t really used these days, and if it’s used, it’s frowned upon. Has a very bad ableist ring to it
I like how a word starts as a technical/medical term for a disability, then it’s used as a slur, then they come up with a new term….repeat. It’s happening now with “learning disability” and “intellectually challenged”.
Also, as someone with a learning disability, ableism is a big part of my life but people using the word retard in stupid throwaway jokes really doesn’t even register as an issue.
It’s interesting how words change meaning. For instance the National Spastics Society changed their name to Scope when “spastic” started being used as a really bad slur. On the other hand words like “idiot”, “cretin”, and “moron” have really horrible historical uses as slurs against the disabled but they’re all understood to be pretty casual insults now.
deleted by creator
I personally would prefer it not be used around here in general. I don’t delete it overall, but I will occasionally depending on its usage. I have known too many good people with intellectual disabilities who were abused by bullies calling them that word.
Well yeah, context derives meaning which is why words have multiple definitions. I’m not disparaging the differently abled but people’s surface level disdain for it is tedious. Barely a decade ago it was the polite way to characterize someone but we needlessly allow words themselves to be tainted rather than take the time to address the context and the meaning used with it.
I’m sorry, it was not “the polite way to characterize someone” barely a decade ago. It was a big insult when I was in school in the 80s and 90s.
Sir it was in a Disney show when I was growing up. Yes, it was the polite way to say it. - It quite literally means slow. Fire retardant, for example, slows fires.
Sorry… why does it matter that it was in a Disney show when you were growing up?
Again, ‘retarded’ has been an insult for a very long time. It hasn’t even been federally legal to use the term “mental retardation” since 2010 (more than “barely a decade”) and by that time, the only people using the term was the federal government. The same federal government that used ‘negro’ until the 2000s. Are you going to claim ‘negro’ was the polite way to refer to a person in 1995 next?
But sure, call it polite. People who are actually bullied by it would disagree with you.
https://www.specialolympics.org/stories/impact/why-the-r-word-is-the-r-slur
https://www.spreadtheword.global/resource-archive/r-word-effects
https://www.npr.org/2012/11/05/164342230/a-special-olympian-on-pundits-use-of-the-r-word
https://www.verywellfamily.com/what-is-the-r-word-3105651
… Because Disney after the whole Hitler era became sanitized and kid friendly and I don’t think they were throwing in slurs on their kid friendly shows.
Starting to think you’re making stuff up because it’s not illegal to use. They made legislation to change the terminology from “mental retardation” to “Intellectual disability” for the Federal Register but made no claims that to use it is illegal.
By the mere fact this exists means Federally it was the proper term to call someone “Mentally retarded”. The proper term. I don’t think the Federal government was using slurs in legal documents as instanced by the fact they changed it when it started being used for that.
I like how you ignored every link I posted and continue to insist it’s polite despite the Special Olympics and a person with Down Syndrome explaining exactly why it is offensive.
Basically you’re telling me that you know better about what offends “retards” than the “retards” do themselves.
There aren’t options for “I was running late so couldn’t be bothered”, “can’t find it in my pigsty of a van” or “looked valuable so I stole it”