It's Time to stop using the word 'Retard'

https://medium.com/the-cauldron/its-time-to-stop-using-the-word-retard-7389f4fbaeed

by iKenshu • 11 years ago

6 9 11 years ago

DanBC• 11 years ago

I sometimes wonder whether Americans realise that "retard" is pretty much hate-speech in England.

If you're the kind of person who doesn't say things like "I was Jewed on that deal" you should probably avoid using the word "retard" unless you're talking about watch mechanisms.

acheron• 11 years ago

And the euphemism treadmill continues...

undersuit• 11 years ago

If only we could retard the process.

hashberry2• 11 years ago

idiot -> moron -> retard -> special -> mentally challenged -> person with learning difficulties

gretful• 11 years ago

Pretty soon all descriptive words are going to be deemed bad and banned.

Whatever happened to "sticks and stones may break my bones but words will never hurt me"?

dalke• 11 years ago

Other than it being untrue? Words have definitely hurt me. Words have made me cry. Words have made me yell out in frustration and anger. Words have also made me smile, and laugh, and cheered me up.

hashberry2• 11 years ago

As a boy, the word "retard" was part of my vocabulary. I used it to describe concepts that were dumb or irrational. I continued to use it into adulthood without thinking. I did not realize how offensive it was until my girlfriend called me out on it. So now I just use the word "dumb." I hope I am not offending any groups now.

anthay• 11 years ago

Surely you will be upsetting people who, for whatever reason, are unable to speak?

A_COMPUTER• 11 years ago

It is hard to argue against this article, but I feel a lot of social capital to accomplish these things was burned up on freaking out about terms like flipbook, chink in armor, niggardly, master-slave IDE interface, black hole, etc. It has now become a regular occurrence among my friends to say "that's racist" when something even refers to race, _or sounds like it does_ for instance.

It's Time to stop using the word 'Retard'

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