[rawr_imma_kitten]

NOTE: Yes i know retard has many different meanings, so please don't start "hate posting" this thread saying there's more meanings.

Controversy Object:

So when people are insulting others they often use phrases such as "your/that's so retarded". Now do know this is actually an often used (although not scientifical) term for people with a mental disability. This also means slow, or to slow down. Now what do you guys think of using retard in a phrase such as above? For me and some relatives its a sensitive subject since I (and my mother) volunteer[ed] at a theraputic riding center, and have since I was 8. So please state your opinion about this and how you feel when retard is used as an insult.

Definitions:

• Verb (used with object)

to make slow; delay the development or progress of (an action, process, etc.); hinder or impede

• Verb (used without object)

to be delayed

• Noun

a slowing down, diminution, or hindrance, as in a machine.

Slang: Disparaging.
A .a mentally retarded person.

B. a person who is stupid, obtuse, or ineffective in some way: a hopeless social retard.

Automotive, Machinery. An adjustment made in the setting of the distributor of an internal-combustion engine so that the spark for ignition in each cylinder is generated later in the cycle.

[-jillian]

I don't like when people call others a retard. I've done it myself. But it doesn't bother me as much as with other terms.

[marley_asaur]

For me, it slips out naturally despite my tries to stop it.
It's mean, that it is. But people see it as like a kidding around type of joke.
It's not like they are actually meaning it or whatever.

[trans-precious]

I couldn't care less and I don't see why I should care.

[ohscrewthename]

Calling someone a retard is the same as calling someone or something gay. "that's so retarded...that's so gay."

I'm sorta mixed on whether to say it or not. It all depends on the situation in which you say it.

[how2party101]

ohscrewthename wrote: Calling someone a retard is the same as calling someone or something gay. "that's so retarded...that's so gay." I'm sorta mixed on whether to say it or not. It all depends on the situation in which you say it.

This.

[deepfriedeyelash]

I use it tactfully. Even if I don't really mean the mentally-challenged definition when I say it, I am aware that it could still get me in trouble if I use it in front of certain people. In front of friends or people I'm fairly familiar with, I will use it whenever I feel necessary. In front of professors and those much higher than me, I will not use it unless they use it a fair amount.

[mia_so_sassy]

I really dont care becaues i use alot and only mean it as a joke and by the way i say it u know i mean it as a joke many people say it and mean it as a joke

[supershrimp]

Personally, I don't use it around people who I know don't like it. And I won't use it when I'm around people I just met. I also don't really like calling people retarded, but I'll say things like "Wow, that movie was retarded" or "That commercial was retarded"

[kuni200]

I don't like to use the word because I have an autistic cousin and I've heard that word directed at him. I find it as derogatory as an racial (or otherwise) slur. And it's just as bad as using the phrase "That's gay." I'm thinking of starting a "Give-Everyone-In-America-A-Frickin'-Thesaurus" campaign.

What's wrong with saying stupid, ignorant, pointless, dumb, etc. Etc?