Poll: use of the word 'retarded'
- Thread starter sirtunic
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They do, its just too many people lack the basic level of empathy needed to care.Erana said:
Its this disturbing attitude of "they are just words, nobody really cares, people take it too seriously, your just being overly PC about everything." I hate to say it but too many people today are able to shrug off anything and because they are thick skinned to that extent think that nothing they say or do in this regard should really have a major consequence.
Good point. But sadly, these kinds of annoyances are really just the footing for the evolution of language.sirtunic said:
Does anybody remember when the word "hella" was popular? Or when "stupid" was an adjective appropriate for any situation at hand? Example: "It's stupid dark in here." (8-bit Theater reference)
EDIT: Here's the comic. http://www.nuklearpower.com/daily.php?date=020704
I don't, I'm only 18. There have definitely been plenty of phrases that have come and gone though. Is retarded just another one of them? If history repeats, then the new generation will have something to replace it with, if not, will it just stick with our generation?joystickjunki3 said:
I think that most people have become so desensitized to the word that it's become just a figure of speech. I highly doubt most people actually use the phrase "that's retarded" as a direct insult to mentally handicapped people. My best friend's sister has Down Syndrome, but I don't get up tight when someone uses the word because I know they aren't referring to her, it's a figure of speech. It's the same way with profanity, it's been so overused that it has lost its effect. I don't think people should use it but I don't think anyone should get upset about it.
I'm not quite sure what the best answer is to that. Hopefully it will die out at some point, because even though I use the word sometimes when somebody says something really stupid (like "If this is the 'Chicken of the Sea,' am I eating chicken or fish?"), I don't use it out of context like [too] many people often do. And I do my best not to overuse it.sirtunic said:
And I suppose it doesn't really matter about all the PC stuff that everyone keeps mentioning, because if we were being PC to begin w/, then we'd be saying "mentally/physically challenged," right?
I don't think you'll ever break the popular venacular. it's the same as saying "gay" for that which is stupid, annoying or unfair. It's very clearly offensive but it has a way of sticking. Retardation is not exclusively referential the medical condition although I'm sure this is what many mean when they say it. I used to call people "Dave" all the time, not really sure the source of my Dave-based humour. It turns out there was a road awareness campaign where a biker has become a vegetable due to an accident. He gurgles and dribbles, his wife wipes his mouth and sighs, "Oh, Dave..."
A little knowledge goes a long way...
A little knowledge goes a long way...
I use it, fairly infrequently but used nonetheless. I wish I didn't, and I try my best not to, but it just pops out sometimes.
I can't stand it when people use it while talking about a person with Down Syndrome, or whatever. I don't know what the solution is, because I hate cushioning things with nicer sounding words(especialy when talking about genetalia), but I really wish people would stop refering to the mentally/physically handicapped as retarded. Nobody has the right to call anyone "unfinished", in my oppinion.
I can't stand it when people use it while talking about a person with Down Syndrome, or whatever. I don't know what the solution is, because I hate cushioning things with nicer sounding words(especialy when talking about genetalia), but I really wish people would stop refering to the mentally/physically handicapped as retarded. Nobody has the right to call anyone "unfinished", in my oppinion.
I definitely chuckled at that. Best part is that there is usually just a small group of people determining what the forbidden words are for the rest of us.GenHellspawn said:
I only use the world when I believe the person I am referring to has some sort of slight mental retardation. Case in point, I asked this woman I was talking to at the bank for the manager, this would be the bank manager I was asking for, and along comes the customer service manager. I ask 'Are you the bank manager?' to her twice and point out both times that her badge says 'Customer Service Manager'. She just brushes it of says that she is in fact the bank manager, later on that day I called the customer service line for that bank and when they asked who I talked to about my problem I told them her name and they told me she was acting Bank manager.
When I recounted this story to my mother I mentioned she must have been retarded. Is this an inappropriate use or not?
When I recounted this story to my mother I mentioned she must have been retarded. Is this an inappropriate use or not?
Exactly. And what's stopping them from adding to that list in the first place?joystickjunki3 said:
I definitely agree with you on the softening of words. (in congruence with my poll, I could sound hypocritical right now) But a dick is a dick, no matter which way you look at it. I don't think there's any real solution, because humanity is too diverse for that (thank God). I think we'll just have to wait until it gets replaced.Monkfish Acc. said:
