Wikepedia states
“Much like today’s socially acceptable terms idiot and moron, which are also defined as some sort of mental disability, when the term retard is being used in its pejorative form, it is usually not being directed at people with mental disabilities. Instead, people use the term when teasing their friends or as a general insult.”
Is it only a slur if directed at soneone with mental disabilities? Is it a slur if durected at onself?
Whats lemmies take on this?
I’m retarded and I don’t find it offensive
It’s a slur now. Before it was an insult.
One day redneck and hillbilly will be considered slurs too, Mark my words.
The difference is the R word has connotations that are higher on the Allport Scale.
How did that happen? If it began as an insult how did it morph into a slur? I hate how the alt right goes on about wokism but it seems they have a point.
They changed the underlying medical term, ‘mental retardation’ to ‘developmentally disabled’ in a form of lingual whack-a-mole since the old term was being used as an insult.
Once it lost its meaning as a short form of the medical term, it became a slur, much like we don’t call black people the n-word anymore.
But a black man still has the right to use the N word, and they do. Why can’t I use the word retarded? I’m fucking retarded. Why can’t I say retarded?
Redneck should be a mark of pride if you know it’s origins.
Lookup “Battle of Blair Mountain”
So, actually in the south the term was ‘retargeted’ by the (sub) - urban elite to mean yeoman farmers who worked the fields and had suntan on their necks.
I respect the original term, but the colloquial has reverted to ‘ignorant, racist southerner’, for good or ill.
If you have a better term for it I’m all ears, but it’s not like there isn’t a need for a category given their behavior.
One day redneck and hillbilly will be considered slurs too. Mark my words.
They already are
Once again, I am proven correct!
Dictionary definition for a slur is: an insulting or disparaging remark or innuendo
Calling someone a retard definitely aint a compliment and even when used jokingly among friends, the meaning of the word itself still remains the same. I think everyone agrees that the n-word is a slur too despite black people calling eachother that without the intention to offend and no offence being taken. By this definition, I’d say retard counts as a slur too.
However, if someone takes issue with the word retard but doesn’t mind the use of words moron, idiot or imbecille, then they’re just being a hypocrite.
Fuck the people that pick and choose the words they get upset about. People happily useing the n-word and then getting insulted 10mins later when the r-word is mentioned are the worst.
Lol show me any example of some one using the n word then getting mad about the r word
So idiot, moron, cunt, fucker, bitch, slut, dick, cock, dickhead cockhead, cunthead, fuckhead, bitchface, shit, shithead, shitface etc etc
Are all slurs by the dictionary definition?
Yes, it’s a slur. Especially outside of the US (where mental conditions are less overtly stigmatised).
Supposedly it’s being “reclaimed” by the alt-right on Twitter. But obvously don’t listen to the alt-right’s views on social progressiveness.
Also, don’t call yourself “retarded”, you’re better than that. <3
Edit: I’m in the UK, and I find this list useful to figure out what’s offensive and what isn’t: https://www.ofcom.org.uk/tv-radio-and-on-demand/broadcast-standards/offensive-language
Supposedly it’s being “reclaimed” by the alt-right on Twitter.
omg I would love to see some examples! is it like when they claimed that, “We are all domestic terrorists”? I would pee my g-string if I saw that they seriously said, “We are all re******” 😆
I think “slur” also requires a component of direct offense for it mean anything. I don’t think it is valid to be offended for somebody else if that somebody else isn’t actually offended. If I make up a slur on the spot denigrating some aspect of your person that you do not find offensive (eg. Flumplenook - for a person who’s a bit clumsy), is it really a slur?
So if you call someone retarded, and they do not have the mental faculties to be offended, is it really a slur?
For slurs to have any meaning, any power, they need to be understood and internalized as offensive.
Many people who would be labelled “retarded” (as in, people with learning disabilities presenting external physical symptoms like Down’s Syndrome) find the term offensive and say it is a slur. It doesn’t matter what anyone else thinks, because they are not affected in the same way. It is a slur.
Slurs work like a treadmill. Technical terms start being used as slurs (“moron” and “idiot” are examples) and are replaced by new, neutral words, and the cycle begins again. We’ve had a few decades of “special” being used as a euphemism for mental disability, and that word is on its way to becoming a slur (in certain contexts, it can be used unambiguously as one).
But moron and idiot both come from simmillar backgrounds as retarted why is only retarded a slur and not the others?
They are slurs, but there’s so much distance between today and the original medical usage of these terms that people have forgotten. Both are still terms with a history based in describing someone with an intellectual or developmental disability
So hows retard any different?
Time.
Idiot is 14c Moron 1922 Retard 1950-1960
So all 3 are ages ago moron and retard are very simmillar why is it acceptabpe to say moron and not retard?
https://www.etymonline.com/word/retard https://www.etymonline.com/word/moron https://www.etymonline.com/word/idiot
Words like moron and idiot can be used as generalized insult. They can be offensive, but it doesn’t refer to a certain person or people. Moron and idiot are both defined as being stupid and stupid is defined of lack of intelligence or common sense. The word “retard” refers to people that have mental retardations. The individual person can control being stupid, but they can’t control being mentally retarded.
Welp ur half right here is what doctor duck duck go says :
moron /môr′ŏn″/
noun
A person who is considered foolish or stupid.
A person of mild mental retardation having a mental age of from 7 to 12 years and generally having communication and social skills enabling some degree of academic or vocational education. The term belongs to a classification system no longer in use and is now considered offensive.
idiot /ĭd′ē-ət/
noun
A person who is considered foolish or stupid.
A person of profound mental retardation having a mental age below three years and generally unable to learn connected speech or guard against common dangers. The term belongs to a classification system no longer in use and is now considered offensive.
I’ll take half right
But ull still give me a downvote for copy pasting the actuall definition cos u where incapable of fact checking urself.
Welp seems we can also use ur argument for retard as well, so not only are you half wrong you argument proves me full right.
retard
noun
Retardation; delay. Similar: retardation delay
A mentally retarded person.
A person who is stupid or inept, especially in social situations.
Whoa whoa whoa. Slowdown. I didn’t downvote you. I actually forgot to vote at all
And you’re insinuating that I’m a retard because I downvoted you? Take a day from lemmy friend. We all get worked up and I believe you’re worked up
Well if it wasnt u then i guess poor timing didnt bother to check so guess im retarded if anyone is. And no i was simply showing that your argument for why the other words are fine applies equally to “retard”.
As someone on the autism spectrum, I don’t mind using it or hearing people use it at all, as long as it’s being used as a synonym for “dumb” and not being used to specifically disparage someone with a disability. Just like “idiot”, words evolve over time from being specific words to refer to disabilities to just general words for someone being a dumbass.
Dumb is also to describe someone who is disabled. Like yourself, I’m ASD, and don’t really mind it, as long as it’s not being used in a nasty way.
Idiot I didn’t realise, thanks for the education.
I’m autistic and both me and my autistic friends call ourselves retarded all the time lol. I’d rather be called that than “neurodiverse” or whatever the euphemism treadmill has come up with.
(As an aside, it’s also an engineering term, for it’s original meaning, slow down)
the engineering term is a different word with different pronunciation. It’s not even a noun.
You have to differentiate. Calling your friends stuff is one thing, doing so to others is something different. It still is a slur, no matter what it has been years ago, and it will hurt somebody.
But yeah, we use it too from time to time. I am autistic myself and so are most of my friends. But my preferences or my condition doesn’t give me some special right to act like a jackass to others.
I mean, at the very least we can try.
Removed by mod
It means you are not afraid. Because most people are really worried about someone telling them that they are being racist, insulting, or whatever they come up with. The definition of being these things is up to the person, not you. So you are a racist if you are being called a racist by someone, appearently. :)
Maybe you can tell that im mostly laughing at the politically correct movement of today… :)
I love how people are dictating to you how you are allowed to use a word that describes yourself. Its like telling a black man he cant say the n-word (i would type it and put it in " but can almost guarantee ill be banned for doing that) because its racist.
Reading your comments ITT it’s obvious you’re bringing no good faith here. Not sure why so many people are letting you off the hook
Good faith doesnt imply neutrality. It simply implies civility and an agreement to engage in civil competition in the marketplace of ideas.
You’re pretending to really want to know what the consensus is, but in fact you know what it is and just want to argue against that. Good faith means you’re honest about your intentions whereas you aren’t
Im not pretending i want a consensus. Im here for the discussion so we can all talk out our sides and see where we come to. And if we where to only include the opinions of the retards themselves (those brave enough to identify themselves in this comment thread) then the consensus would be that its fine to say it.
if we where to only include the opinions of the retards themselves (those brave enough to identify themselves in this comment thread)
I saw you make that claim and doubted it but when I gave you the benefit of doubt and read the entire thread, I found one person claiming to be this and two autistic people. I’ve never ever heard this word used for them unless in an extremely derogatory manner. No doctor would’ve ever said that except before autism was a term and they only did it then out of confusion.
Your comments in this thread kind of say it all. Others should pay more attention to them.
Let’s go through examples:
“He’s retarded” - that’s a slur, unless it’s ironic.
“That was retarded” - not a slur, cause it’s kinda taking a dig at an action, not a person.
“I’m retarded” - technically a slur but almost always used with a hint of irony, therefore usually not a slur.
That’s how I use the word with my friends. And I have autism, so technically 100 years ago I would have been the resident retard ;)
Utterly incorrect. Irony does not affect whether a thing is a slur or not. It doesn’t matter what you use the slur towards, it remains a slur. Any excuse you use to explain why you can use a slur is exactly that: an excuse.
Youre right that irony doesnt stopbit being a slur, but usage absolutely matters. Unless you think its inexcusable black people using the n word with each other? Context is incredibly important.
Just to make it clear, I am white, so take my opinion on this with a grain of salt.
From what I understand, there isn’t a universal consensus among black communities that the n-word is okay between black people. Some people get just as offended no matter who says it.
Of course, some people are perfectly fine with it, but that doesn’t mean it isn’t a slur. It’s still a slur, it’s just not offending anyone at that moment. It’s like an empty gun: it won’t harm anyone, but it’s still a gun.
Any excuse you use to explain why you can use a slur is exactly that: an excuse.
I guess that is what I take issue with, that statement makes it sounds like any use of a slur is always wrong regardless of context and that any reason for using it is just to wiggle out of you being a bad person.
I mean, it might be a good excuse. Doesn’t change the slur.
In Blazing Saddles, the actors playing the racists apologised to their co-stars after every take. They had a damn good excuse to say what they said, but they still apologised for saying it.
What’s wrong with someone having cognitive difficulties? Why do you feel the need to use the word as a descriptor for negative things?
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nothing. I have autism. There’s nothing wrong with me, but I’m obviously a little bit different like other people, which in itself is neither good nor bad.
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because we need a descriptor and that’s just what my friends use; we know what we mean with it and what we don’t.
Also I’m gonna take those questions at face value, but I’m just gonna note the first question is a bit out out of left field, as no one implied that something’s wrong with that.
But I don’t wanna assume you are an asshole, so I’m gonna take it as a misunderstanding.
The way I usually see it playing out is that people usually call things are negative “reatarded” (e.g. “This app is retarded!”, “Wow, I thought that tomato was a fruit, lmao I’m still retarded!”). It just pushes the negative stereotypes associated with it. I don’t know if that’s what you are doing, but that’s how I see a lot of “stop being sensitive bros” do it.
I know its easy to say that every one who hears you talk fully understands precisely what you mean, but do they? I’ve seen stories of people who “ironically” use racial slurs and didn’t realise that it resulted in most of their friends turning out to be actual racists. Likewise, are you pushing away would-be friends who don’t want to associate with people who casually throw out slurs? That’s ignoring the impact of saying it in a public place, where victims of abuse can hear it.
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I think you answered your own question. You asked about “retard”, not about R-word. Some snowflakes will get offended on behalf other people but normal people will just acknowledge rude language and move on.
That is the r word… It is a slut because you are saying that person has a mental disability and is therefore bad. But you wont read this anyways or give a shit.
Well i got a comment deleted from calling myself retared not sure if thats what did it or the providing of facts counter to popular narrative tho.
Mentally unstable mods are all around. I wouldn’t read too much into it unless youw are going around harassing people directly.
Language policing on online message board is 🤡 exercise but we got a crew on it
Man u got no idea. Apparently the mods think its ok to advocate for violence as long as its towards elon musk but nobody else.
mods are not uniform unless you are talking about clown in charge of politics and news subs.
so their modding is generally just reflection of poor reading skills and personal bias.
It was enough musk spam those comments are wild with full on people calling for his death.
All slurs should be “acceptable”. Words only have the power attributed to them by humans. (Other) humans can choose to wield that power, to change it, or to leave it be. But policing language is never the answer; people will always find ways around it anyway, and 1984 warned us of the results of having language policed to an extensive degree.
I’m sure some cunt will take issue with this stance, so to them I say in advance: suck my goddamn dick from balls to shaft and then go die in a ditch, bitch.
Well, yeah, you’re technically right. Humanity will never have the default restraint and compassion to stop turning words into slurs, though. So we have to police it. Same reason we have… The police at all. People can’t police themselves. We need systems and rules to do that for us.
Im sure they are lining up to suck your dick already.
Ok.
Say the N word then.
Go yell it at people.
Do it.
Go on.
People never use the N word, especially black people… NEVER. They would never make YOU uncomfortable when they chat privately 🤡
Ayn Rand here ain’t black
To me, it’s no different from idiot and moron. I’ve been watching how the politically correct movement have been making people afraid to use retard. I’m sure they are coming for the words idiot and moron also at some point, and they are going to argue that there is no need to ever use words like that.
Good for you that you are privileged enough to say such bullshit. Try making your friends use your name as an insult and see how it feels
Are you retared by the medical definition or are you getting offended on behalf of people who are. Cos the actually retarded people in this thread who have commented have all said they are fine with it.
Think about this for a second. What if I am offended by the word “trumpet” because it reminds me of Trump? Shall we ban that word as well?
You guys who are into banning words don’t seem to realize that there used it be book burnings by the Germans, because they felt what the books said was against their own beliefs. I rather not go down that route because someone is feeling sad about a word.
If you ban retard, they will come up with another word. Don’t you realize that?
Had a reddit post deleted for using retard as a verb, as in, “Have you tried retarding the action, maybe it’s too fast?”
Because people today don’t question what they are being told. Is it a good idea to ban words? I don’t think so.
Most mods don’t have much of reading comprehensive beyond 10th grade tbh.
Everything is a slur. It’s not about the word, it’s about intention and usage. Everyone who is fine with idiot but gets karen-y at retard does not care about people of reduced intelligence but only about oppressing those around him and making himself feel superior.
So calling oneself retarted is fine?
I would argue that it’s not ok due to the context of the word and self-deprication creates negative feedback loops
If you can’t even spell the slur, that’s another reason not to use it
Only if you have a condition which could fall under the umbrella of mentally retarded. Otherwise you’re just trying to illustrate a depreciation of self-worth, by insinuating that those with said disabilities are somehow worth less because of it.
It’s that last part that’s shitty.
One could make the point the word is rigged against lighthearted contexts.
