How do you feel about the word ret*d?

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Terms like retardation, moron, imbecile and idiot all once had legitimate uses in serious discussions, while the terms were all broader than current medical terminology, so was the general understanding of intellectual disabilities, developmental disabilities, mental health and related topics so it's no surprise the terminology was broader - you need to understand red before you can understand the difference between crimson, scarlet and vermillion.

Those terms inspired insults that continue to be used as insults, but people also use contemporary medical terminology as inspiration for insults, and they'll continue to do so in the future. The attitude remains the same even in the noises the animal makes to express it change.

That's probably the healthiest attitude to have. If people are hostile or disrespectful, it doesn't matter what euphemism they use because that phrase will end up tainted by their attitude too, in time.

ret*d is a verb: "The pain will ret*d his progress in physical therapy".

It's also a french word, meaning late: "en ret*d".

I have no problem with the word used properly, like any other word.

When it's used as a noun or an insult, I find it offensive.

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

Occasionally I see it as a verb—as in “This ret*ds its progress.”

it's basicly just Latin for slowed down or modern Italian "retardando"

Ok so if I'm a structural or environmental engineer and I'm talking "boffin" about a "flood retarding basin" to my colleagues then yes...ok that's legit

If I have the choice of saying "slowed progress" or "ret*d progress" I would probably choose the former. I would prefer to use a less inflammatory word to describe the same thing.

I care about both...its not rocket science to remove the r-word from your vocabluary

I agree. If I tell you not to use it, and you continue to, I'll be upset.

I'm saying that I'd rather a respectful, openminded person who uses the word without really thinking than a judgmental jerk who knows how to act "PC" but doesn't actually treat us well.

agreed

It's not, but I won't and if you don't like it that'll be your problem and not mine - especially if at the moment I'm using it in a self-referential way.

I guess folks don't like their 1st amendment rights compromised

Reminds me of the racist "N word" used frequently in music and movies by black people.

The word has different meanings depending on who's using it against or about who.

Its often used to reffer to a slave like existance, regardless of skin colour.

When a white person uses it its quite rightly very offensive.

Given many autistic people are unable to live independently and get bossed around by NT's a slave like existance is not far from the truth, although i wouldnt use the N word.

Words migrate anyway if you ban the word ret*d people will simply use autistic to mean the same thing. "Stop being so autistic!" Ive heard mentioned just like the word gay is sometimes used to say something is rubbish here in the UK.

It is all about context.
I discuss the “ret*d” stereotype of autism. I find this an acceptable usage because the word is being used as an insult and used intentionally to not sugarcoat how bad the stereotype is. Similarly I find this acceptable usage of a slur “John Doe was fired after an old tweet surfaced where he used “n****r”. Saying he used “the N-Word” would be literally false. Saying he used ”a slur” is wishy washy.


“Autistic” has been used as an pejorative for a few years now so it is probably only a matter of time until using “autistic” is verboten. The replacement word will become an insult and the cycle will go on. Why should we let bullies dictate what we call ourselves?

Last edited by ASPartOfMe on 23 Jan 2020, 1:55 pm, edited 2 times in total.

Remember, I'm from Canada. I have Charter Rights, but not 1st Amendment rights. How are those rights protected in Australia? I assume there's something analogous to the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms.

You're really only scraping the surface of how it gets used. It's a greeting, a term of endearment, a synonym of comrade/compatriot/buddy and sometimes even a slur (but milder than the other slur usage).

It's used to address an entire room, it's used to address only the black people in a room, it's used to refer to friends of any racial background if they're close enough, if you're from Bronx or Brooklyn or Queens you can probably get away with using it on a mixtape, even if you're white, but otherwise I wouldn't try it. People sometimes talk about 'passes' or 'privilege' but that's kind of an absurd concept since how can you get permission from an entire demographic?

There's black people who are hostile to all uses, there's others who are more tolerant of it when used by PoC, and then there's Leakaveli:

Australia does not have explicit freedom of speech in any constitutional or statutory declaration of rights, with the exception of political speech which is protected from criminal prosecution under common law

Under Australia's anti-discrimination law it is unlawful to discriminate on the basis of a number of protected attributes including age, disability, race, sex, intersex status, gender identity and sexual orientation in certain areas of public life, including education and employment.

In Australia there is an active campaign to remove the r-word
https://probonoaustralia.com.au/news/20 ... rd-retard/

There is a precedence in this country for people being charged with hate crime for using the r-word (although not soley for using the word) to attack others

There is well established literature that suggests disability hate crimes often get primed from using the r-word
https://www.theguardian.com/society/joe ... rime-abuse