Is Retarded just a word?

[Mrs.Slotz]

It is true, the word retarded can and does offend many people. Is it ever OK to use the word retarded?

http://firstread.msnbc.msn.com/archi...3/2193058.aspx

[nathandiehl]

Is it ever OK to use the word retarded?

Yes--provided that in context you aren't referring to a person or their actions.

Acceptable use would include a musical retard (when the beat slows).

[tallrob]

It is true, the word retarded can and does offend many people. Is it ever OK to use the word retarded?

http://firstread.msnbc.msn.com/archi...3/2193058.aspx

Unless your f--king Rahm Emanuel!

[Mrs.Slotz]

Unless your f--king Rahm Emanuel!

Will he get fired for this?

[tallrob]

Will he get fired for this?

No, he will not. Anybody else would of have.

[jennyk]

I generally don't use slang slurs like "retarded" or "gay" (for things that are stupid). They're pretty common, however, but they can be offensive, and they also are pretty stupid, lazy ways to describe things. (Though, my sister and I used to get a laugh when someone would say something like, "That book we read for English class was so gay!" and we'd say, "Oh yes, it was quite homosexual. That book really likes other books of the same gender," or "No, I think that book was heterosexual." It pointed out the absurdity of the offensive language while diffusing it with an attempt at humor instead of being so serious about things.)

I guess I figure it's better to try to be considerate of other people and their feelings. Apologizing is the correct course of action for somebody who says something like that and is called out on it, and unless they make a habit of it, I think it should be forgiven, as everybody slips up now and then.

[LuciusBeebe]

I love calling things tarded and gay. It is gay-tarded to be offended by it.

[Mrs.Slotz]

I have a handicapped "special needs" child. I have to say, I get offended when someone uses the word "retarded" to describe another person if they are using the word as an insult.

[matt_s]

I love calling things tarded and gay. It is gay-tarded to be offended by it.

Come on folks... Lucius loves these things. We should all get on the bandwagon now.

Is there an emoticon for Sarcasm? There really needs to be one.

[LuciusBeebe]

Is there an emoticon for Sarcasm? There really needs to be one.

If people can't tell you're kidding... yeesh.

[hideaway70]

Mental retardation is a clinical term used regularly in the mental health profession. This ridiculous PC crap is getting a little carried away. "Retarded" is not a slang term, though it can certainly be said with venom by nitwits (not a clinical term) like Rahm.

I have a son with autism, a condition with varying degrees of severity. A child can be autistic with or without mental retardation- my son happens to be without, but in his diagnosis the "offensive" term is actually written. Oddly, I wasn't offended that they didn't use the moronic terms "differently abled" or "special needs" in it's place.

We need to get over this persistent habit we have as a society to actively seek things to be offended by.

[LuciusBeebe]

\"Retarded\" is not a slang term

Yes it is. When a kid says a video game is retarded, he is not saying the game is a human being with chromosomal damage.

[hideaway70]

Yes it is. When a kid says a video game is retarded, he is not saying the game is a human being with chromosomal damage.

The intent and context in which the word is used certainly may affect it's impact, but it does not reassign to it a new definition. The word "retarded" is still used in the DSM-IV as a clinical term.

My point is that we need to knock it off with the "you hurt my feelings with your mean words" mentality. Rahm is a "jerk", but the amount of coverage it has gotten is way out of proportion to its importance.

All of us have been called a name at one time or another. Typically, we would write the person off as a jerk and move on. More and more often, that same situation is being handled now with this "let's get 'em" approach. Now we call for their heads, bring in the legal team and assemble the lynch mob.

The fact is, there is an unlimited supply of jerks in this world and we'd be better off just growing a little thicker hide than spending all of our time being offended and indignant.

As Denis Leary calls it, this is yet another example of the "wussification" of our country...

[LuciusBeebe]

My point is that we need to knock it off with the \"you hurt my feelings with your mean words\" mentality.

Amen to that. The "gay" thing really cracks me up, though. Wanda Sykes is in a commercial condemning the use of the word "gay". Wanda Sykes... the person that said Rush Limbaugh may have been the 20th hijacker. That's pretty gay, Wanda.

[hideaway70]

Amen to that. The \"gay\" thing really cracks me up, though. Wanda Sykes is in a commercial condemning the use of the word \"gay\". Wanda Sykes... the person that said Rush Limbaugh may have been the 20th hijacker. That's pretty gay, Wanda.

Good example. Even people that I considered somewhat admirable have become walking cartoons because of the ridiculous lenghts they go to in being professional victims. Rosie O'donnell comes to mind.

[Mrs.Slotz]

Amen to that. The \"gay\" thing really cracks me up, though. Wanda Sykes is in a commercial condemning the use of the word \"gay\". Wanda Sykes... the person that said Rush Limbaugh may have been the 20th hijacker. That's pretty gay, Wanda.

Does this mean we can't say "queer" anymore?

[hideaway70]

Does this mean we can't say \"queer\" anymore?

Not unless you're Archie Bunker.

[Mrs.Slotz]

Not unless you're Archie Bunker.

http://www.spike.com/video/archie-bunkers-place/2685613

[JoeHooker]

Yes it is. When a kid says a video game is retarded, he is not saying the game is a human being with chromosomal damage.

I think techniquely the word retard means to slow down. So depending on how the kid means it he COULD be right? Maybe the game is slowed down?

[HoosierHelen]

Palin wants her cake and to eat it too it seems?

Palin's anger over 'retarded' now an issue in Texas campaign
BY AMAN BATHEJA

FORT WORTH STAR-TELEGRAM
FORT WORTH — The flap between Sarah Palin and White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel over his use of the word "retarded" has spilled over into the Texas governor's race.
Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison's campaign has not been shy in recent days about letting media outlets know that Gov. Rick Perry's political consultant, David Carney, repeatedly used the word "retarded" in a conference call with Dallas television station KERA in advance of last month's television debate.
The incident, which the Perry campaign has confirmed, didn't get much attention.
But with Palin scheduled to campaign for Perry at a Houston-area rally on Sunday, news outlets are devoting time and energy to whether Palin is only offended when Democrats use the word inappropriately.
http://www.miamiherald.com/news/poli...y/1463133.html