How do you feel about the word ret*d?

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MaxE
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09 Feb 2020, 7:15 pm

funeralxempire wrote:

Would the term 'intellectually impaired' count as some sort of overblown circumlocution?

It doesn't seem any more respectful, just more verbose. But I don't suppose I would consider it "overblown". Is that the generally accepted term now?

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funeralxempire
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09 Feb 2020, 7:59 pm

MaxE wrote:

funeralxempire wrote:

Would the term 'intellectually impaired' count as some sort of overblown circumlocution?

It doesn't seem any more respectful, just more verbose. But I don't suppose I would consider it "overblown". Is that the generally accepted term now?

No idea, but it certainly strikes a good balance between being precise and concise and means exactly what it says.

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10 Feb 2020, 12:46 am

ASPartOfMe wrote:

My personal Facebook posts rarely get political for just that reason. When I do go there I will opine on a subject very few would be offended by. Another reason since I am not wedded to a "team" if I posted my opinions I would alienate everybody. I have friends, family, acquaintances, and old classmates whose political beliefs range from Bernie socialists to "f**k Sensitivity" full-on Trumpers.

Ok boomer moment here but it really did not used to be that way. I am sure you think I am way too conservative if only you knew what I thought back in the 70s

. In college I was the outlier most people who were into politics were liberal, this was right after Vietnam and Watergate. We got along and political discussions did not usually end with people walking off or throwing punches despite people being saying more actually offensive things most certainly including ret*d in that pre politically correct era.

I also don't get actively involved in politics but vote left wing or green mostly because I am concerned about the environment and avoid ever voting for parties that espouse backward policies on the right.

The right also overuse the popular slur "liberal"...

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10 Feb 2020, 12:49 am

And So It Goes wrote:

I left an online group out of frustration, after I was persistently pestered to amend posts and fix a Trigger Warning alert strapline to my content. My argument was that life doesn't have a trigger warning.

I am aware others aren't as desensitised as me, but I don't like the idea of being mollycoddled in a safe space. Each to their own, I guess.

Yes it's funny about that...sometimes policy get enacted to remove people of forums

cyberdad
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10 Feb 2020, 12:53 am

MaxE wrote:

I haven't read all 16 pages of this thread, but has somebody made a distinction between the word "ret*d" as an epithet vs. "ret*d" as an adjective? Until fairly recently, it was considered perfectly acceptable to describe somebody whose primary disability is to have a low intellectual capacity, usually to the extent they cannot succeed in "regular" public school etc. Having a son in Special Olympics, I could identify a number of people I know who, it you look at them, would seem perfectly normal except you will sooner or later recognize their intellect is too far "below normal" for them to every be completely independent. In my state, there is a non-profit called "The Arc" and its name was originally an abbreviation for "The Association for ret*d Citizens" until 1992 when they dropped that. The only problem I have, is that nobody has yet come up with a simple but acceptable term to replace that. So 30 years ago, you could legitimately say a person was "ret*d" and it simply meant they had a primarily intellectual (as opposed to neurological, etc.) disability. Nowadays I wouldn't know a straightforward way to communicate the same thing except with some sort of overblown circumlocution.

To be fair the n-word was also perfectly acceptable to the point that Mark Twain's classics like Huckelberry Finn used it often. People evolve and times change.

MaxE
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10 Feb 2020, 5:39 am

cyberdad wrote:

To be fair the n-word was also perfectly acceptable to the point that Mark Twain's classics like Huckelberry Finn used it often. People evolve and times change.

Perfectly valid point. However, the "n-word" has been intentionally used as a hurtful epithet for many decades, whereas the term "ret*d" or describing a person as "ret*d" were not supposed to be, although it has always depended on context. Consider the well-known Black Eyed Peas song for which the "original" lyrics may or may not have been "let's get ret*d". I should also point out though, that I believe the original point of this thread (which I may have derailed) was people on the spectrum being called "ret*ds" although, according to the usual definition of the term, are not actually "ret*d". If my comments caused confusion, then I apologize.

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cyberdad
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11 Feb 2020, 1:05 am

MaxE wrote:

[ Consider the well-known Black Eyed Peas song for which the "original" lyrics may or may not have been "let's get ret*d". .

I think stigma toward disability is universal (autism included) and crosses national and cultural boundaries. The r-word is liberally used by young black men so had entered the language of hip-hop and street talk (common in the Black eyed peas music). Culturally Afro-American culture is ambivalent at best toward LGBTQI and toward disability and this unfortunately is lost on many whom fight tooth and nail about civil rights but then happily express prejudice toward gays and the disabled.

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26 Feb 2020, 10:44 am

I often use the word on my self a lot. Like when I get something wrong in school. It doesn't offend me because it is just a word IMO.

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blooiejagwa
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26 Feb 2020, 9:20 pm

That sentence makes no logical sense. You need to reword it. Same with all your other posts.

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cyberdad
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27 Feb 2020, 1:10 am

AspenL wrote:

I often use the word on my self a lot. Like when I get something wrong in school. It doesn't offend me because it is just a word IMO.

If you are somebody who has been labelled the r-word then using it yourself is like taking ownership of the word.

If you are uttering it our aloud so your classmates can have a giggle then that is offensive

funeralxempire
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27 Feb 2020, 2:49 am

blooiejagwa wrote:

That sentence makes no logical sense. You need to reword it. Same with all your other posts.

You mean AspenL? They seem pretty straightforward and comprehensible to me.

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27 Feb 2020, 2:52 am

i think blooie's response was directed to the neonazi troll who i just banned and had their posts removed.

non sequiturs can happen...

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funeralxempire
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27 Feb 2020, 2:58 am

Kiprobalhato wrote:

i think blooie's response was directed to the neonazi troll who i just banned and had their posts removed.

non sequiturs can happen...

Boo-urns. How am I supposed to laugh at the idiocy of reichwingers when you delete their posts so promptly. Now I've got something for the 'what made you UNHAPPY today' thread. :lol:

sport
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05 Mar 2020, 12:34 pm

I always hated labels like me being called autistic or incontinent.

funeralxempire
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05 Mar 2020, 8:55 pm

sport wrote:

I always hated labels like me being called autistic or incontinent.

Are they accurate medical diagnosis? If so that's really not like the imprecise and generally demeaning way ret*d tends to get used in contemporary slang.

cyberdad
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06 Mar 2020, 12:51 am

Kiprobalhato wrote:

i think blooie's response was directed to the neonazi troll who i just banned and had their posts removed.

non sequiturs can happen...

Oh dear, that will annoy the Trump faithful

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How do you feel about the word ret*d?