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How do you feel about the word retard?

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sport
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09 Mar 2020, 9:49 am

They are somewhat accurate but still don't like the label.



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09 Mar 2020, 1:07 pm

I hate the word "retard". My aunt has severe down-syndrome and is unable to do most things herself. I know that word is meant to be a joke, but it's just poor taste. Surely there are better ways in which to take a jab at someone you think is acting silly or stupid.


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09 Mar 2020, 2:51 pm

sport wrote:
They are somewhat accurate but still don't like the label.


I might not like being labelled as mentally ill, developmentally disabled or obese, but they're objectively true whether I like it or not.



sport
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10 Mar 2020, 9:48 am

Sorry about you situation,but it still hurts when someone says retard or handicaped.



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10 Mar 2020, 8:01 pm

sport wrote:
Sorry about you situation,but it still hurts when someone says retard or handicaped.


At least personally the label isn't relevant to my daily existence, the problem it describes on the other hand...



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11 Mar 2020, 1:15 am

funeralxempire wrote:
sport wrote:
They are somewhat accurate but still don't like the label.


I might not like being labelled as mentally ill, developmentally disabled or obese, but they're objectively true whether I like it or not.


You do realise that labels are subjective and the ones you referred to are on a continuum/sliding scale.



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11 Mar 2020, 5:29 pm

cyberdad wrote:
funeralxempire wrote:
sport wrote:
They are somewhat accurate but still don't like the label.


I might not like being labelled as mentally ill, developmentally disabled or obese, but they're objectively true whether I like it or not.


You do realise that labels are subjective and the ones you referred to are on a continuum/sliding scale.


8O Really? I never considered the possibility. </sarcasm>



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21 Mar 2020, 5:00 pm

248RPA wrote:
When I was nine and ten, it was a trend among my peers to start substituting the word, "stupid" with "retarded". That was the age when kids started to use adult language to sound "cool". I thought it was too much of a bother to change my vocabulary just to sound "cool", so I never got around to using the word, "retarded". Now that I know how some people get very angry over that word, I'm kind of glad that I never developed that habit.

When someone asked me, "What are you, retarded?" I laughed. It's very hard to offend me. I never feel offended when people call me stupid, a freak, ask what's wrong with me, or make jokes about my ethnicity. I know that not everyone is like that, though.


In my experience in the UK it's not as common as spastic is (or was) when I was around the most young/ignorant people... I'm quite thick skinned and have been called a lot lot worse but as others say, it depends on the context. I can understand why people don't like it. I do use the suffix '-tards' to mean groups of annoying people sometimes but it's usually to do with their politics, not individual cognitive ability.



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21 Mar 2020, 6:05 pm

TheMikeFrom1980 wrote:
248RPA wrote:
When I was nine and ten, it was a trend among my peers to start substituting the word, "stupid" with "retarded". That was the age when kids started to use adult language to sound "cool". I thought it was too much of a bother to change my vocabulary just to sound "cool", so I never got around to using the word, "retarded". Now that I know how some people get very angry over that word, I'm kind of glad that I never developed that habit.

When someone asked me, "What are you, retarded?" I laughed. It's very hard to offend me. I never feel offended when people call me stupid, a freak, ask what's wrong with me, or make jokes about my ethnicity. I know that not everyone is like that, though.


In my experience in the UK it's not as common as spastic is (or was) when I was around the most young/ignorant people... I'm quite thick skinned and have been called a lot lot worse but as others say, it depends on the context. I can understand why people don't like it. I do use the suffix '-tards' to mean groups of annoying people sometimes but it's usually to do with their politics, not individual cognitive ability.


Spastic was the "acceptable" term used back in the 1970s in Australia until school kids used it as a slur. Nowadays it's covert (like the -tards) so you will hear "that guy spazzed out" which whatever the intention is effectively the same impact in stigmatising a vulnerable group who don't have anyone to defend them.



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21 Mar 2020, 6:06 pm

funeralxempire wrote:
cyberdad wrote:
funeralxempire wrote:
sport wrote:
They are somewhat accurate but still don't like the label.


I might not like being labelled as mentally ill, developmentally disabled or obese, but they're objectively true whether I like it or not.


You do realise that labels are subjective and the ones you referred to are on a continuum/sliding scale.


8O Really? I never considered the possibility. </sarcasm>


Ok no problem, I must brush up on my mind reading skills :roll:



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28 Mar 2020, 1:24 pm

kraftiekortie wrote:
It’s hardly ever used, these days, except as a noun-insult.

Occasionally I see it as a verb—as in “This retards its progress.”


And....in the phrase "flame retardant".



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28 Mar 2020, 2:09 pm

In America or other English speaking cultures,it's non pejorative use is limited but it still means slow or slowed down in many Latin based languages,and of coarse Latin.


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28 Mar 2020, 2:43 pm

vermontsavant wrote:
In America or other English speaking cultures,it's non pejorative use is limited but it still means slow or slowed down in many Latin based languages,and of coarse Latin.


It's a fancy French word, imported into English, by the English speaking American psychiatric community only a few decades ago, to replace words like "imbecile", and "moron".

Comes from the French word "retarder" which means to "restrain", or "hold back".

But since French is a Romance language the French word "retarder" is probably itself derived from Latin. Probably akin to "tardy" (late for school in English), and "tarde'" (late in modern Spanish).

Apparently the Spanish word for clinical condition that we call "retarded" is "retasado".



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28 Mar 2020, 2:47 pm

naturalplastic wrote:
vermontsavant wrote:
In America or other English speaking cultures,it's non pejorative use is limited but it still means slow or slowed down in many Latin based languages,and of coarse Latin.


It's a fancy French word, imported into English, by the English speaking American psychiatric community only a few decades ago, to replace words like "imbecile", and "moron".

Comes from the French word "retarder" which means to "restrain", or "hold back".

But since French is a Romance language the French word "retarder" is probably itself derived from Latin. Probably akin to "tardy" (late for school in English), and "tarde'" (late in modern Spanish).

Apparently the Spanish word for clinical condition that we call "retarded" is "retasado".
Also Italian "retardando" Italian being closer to Latin than French.


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05 Apr 2020, 5:10 am

It's the context of how it's used. There's actual persecution/abuse/exploitation ignored because people have cried wolf too many times over minor stuff. Learn to toughen up I've done so and give as good as I get it.


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05 Apr 2020, 5:13 pm

Not sure :? ?


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