"retarded"

I don't tend to find any of these insults offensive (socially). Like, I heard a girl calling her friend a "donkey brain" the other day. Should she not use that because it implies donkey's brains are somewhat weaker than other brains?

Our admittedly "White Trash/Blue Collar" roommate uses words like "retard/retarded/fag/faggot/etc." just to get a reaction from anyone. This includes strangers, best friends and family members. She has told us she KNOWS better, but prefers to spend her life "pissing others off".

Maybe that's why she's alone each night and at age 30, has NEVER had a sexual relationship that's lasted longer than a condoms lifespan.

As time passes, every attempt to euphemise a harsh word into a gentler one fails, as the harsh connotations of the earlier word invariably migrate to the newer euphemism.

-- anthony (anthonyeasto...), March 10th, 2002 8:00 PM.

No, I'm 32 and a lady, you RETARD.

Is that your brother on the right?

I hate it when people use the term mongole here, instead of Down syndrom.

oaf is a good word imo, the etymology seems fairly unproblematic? (except for "deformed", I guess)

1620s, auf, oph (modern form from 1630s), "a changeling; a foolish child left by the fairies" [Johnson], from a Scandinavian source such as Norwegian alfr "silly person," in Old Norse "elf" (see elf). Hence, "a misbegotten, deformed idiot." Until recently, some dictionaries still gave the plural as oaves.

It's of a piece with the others imo

I believe that oaf is a better insult than idiot or moron because it suggests that not only is your target unintelligent but also ungainly and physically ridiculous

love 'a foolish child left by the fairies'

Kanye - better producer than mccartney, better singer tHan mccartney, better lyricist than mccartney, better performer than mccartney, more interesting person than mccartney. Other than that I'm sure 72 year old person will add so much to this record

― the fuckin catalina wine mixer (sleepingbag), Sunday, January 25, 2015 1:25 PM Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

can't believe sleepingbag voted for trump

Naw bro, im with hurrrrrr, shrillakillary, clinty dirty emails, actually I'm with bornie, I'm with orthodontistless Larry david, lumpy potato white cab hailer, Burlington scrot factory....

Neanderthal.. I stand by that lol

don't really care broooooo

how about "afflicted"?

that one was pretty big when i was in jr high. pronounced "'flicted"

― constitutional crises they fly at u face (will), Thursday, August 3, 2017 4:43 PM (yesterday) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

lol at "flicted" -- that must be a Mississippi thing, I heard it a lot at my middle and high school

― I can see by the look on your face, you've got ring worm. (WilliamC), Thursday, August 3, 2017 6:07 PM (yesterday) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

My in-laws told me about "flickos" to describe handicapped people. They mostly only bring it up as Baltimore slang that people "used to say", although during a bad Ravens game, they might call Joe Flacco "Joe Flicko". We have both mentally and physically handicapped people in the family, which may have led them to tone things down a little.

'afflicted' just sounds like i dunno a cool irish way of talking about epileptics or something

i miss the days where usenet flamewars involved somebody else calling you "retarted".

2 scoops just makes me crave ice cream

'afflicted' just sounds like i dunno a cool irish way of talking about epileptics or something

― j., Friday, 4 August 2017 13:29 (one hour ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

Suicide iirc

Yo here was where we were talking about "pejoratives for stupidity started out as descriptors of mental disability," right

I was thinking about "short bus" recently. You ride the short bus, your mom puts you on the short bus, whatsamatterwithyou did you just get off the special ed bus? Common in my mid-70s Midwest/mid-Atlantic childhood.

Further, I remember that in college, I knew some people who had a habit of using it a lot, including about objects that were perceived as defective or ill-conceived or misshapen: "Those are some short-bus pancakes." "Damn, my stereo rides the short bus."

When my son went to his first day of special ed pre-K, I remember being a little disappointed to see a normal-sized bus pull up.

lol at that last sentence

saw a that 70's show rerun in which 'retarded' was bleeped

is this common? i don't disapprove, just surprised

political correctness gone good imo.

Although didn't the Second Amendment give folk the right to bear shitty words that reduce disabled people too less than human?

FWIW, my kids call it "the R word," and put in on more on par with "the N word" than with any other conventional profanity. Schools, I think, even more than society, have done a good job drumming it out of usage.

not even sure that my kids have even heard the word, think maybe it really is dying out as an insult in the uk? not that it was used that often in the first place maybe

the R word is RESPECT

Yeah in my experience it's completely vanished in the last 3-4 years. Some of the posts at the beginning of this thread are so jarring now.

I accidentally used the word last year in conversation with some of my friends and apologized (though no one said anything). Don't like it when people use this word, but when my brain was searching for a synonym for "stupid", it dug back into my childhood, I guess

I used to work with individuals with Down syndrome in high school. They were awesome. Retarded to me is these alt right scumbags who are intellectually and morally stupid as fuck. I would never call one of my hs peers this, they were not emotionally stunted and slow. But the word is loaded, it should really be associated with dumb
Asses and not individuals with learning disabilities.

A bit off topic but not alone in that respect, in this thread. Great one too. So sorry if its been asked, and I missed it but, howzabout the song SPAZZ! Classic or Dud??

based on ilx interactions, 'spaz(z)' seems to be considered much more offensive in the uk than the us, but the us is definitely moving in that direction

i'm not in tune with modern kids' lingo, tho

yeah I had no idea my former username was offensive in the UK. 'spazz' isn't even in usage in the USA, at least not in my lifetime. I got the name from a song title.

That's funny, I know I've used "spazz" before, but it's been a while since I've used/heard it. Once I used it in something I wrote, and an editor asked to take it out for fear of offending "spastics." Which my pop-up dictionary tells me was once an offensive term for people with cerebral palsy? Which is indeed disgusting and horrifying. I guess I'd always heard or used it in the generic second sense, "an incompetent or uncoordinated person," and didn't even realize it might be offensive.

I think I knew not to say "spaz" before I figured out why and how not to say "retarded."

Most recent and remarkable use of the R-word, for me, was on a conference call with our general counsel, the assistant secretary for cybersecurity, and a few of us staffers. I think the GC representative explained another agency's position on the issue, and then the assistant secretary, who holds a Ph.D from LSE, btw, just blurted out "well, that's retarded." At the time, I think I thought of his transgression as subversive / non-PC, not so much being a dick about disabled people.

Nowadays I've determined he's always been a dick who likes punching down and a total incompetent besides. The world is better because he has a sinecure at a giant bank now, he can only fuck over himself and his shareholders (and anybody stupid enough to put their money in ***)

Was amazed when I saw it used quite casually/frequently in the US, in newspaper columns etc, in the context of "I'm such a spaz".

Over here people just associate "spaz" with muscle spasms, which is something that everybody gets.

the "spaz" thing is definitely a us/uk cultural difference - the word has become less common in the states in the internet age, though, and i expect it will eventually die out entirely/become grossly offensive here based on its uk usage.

i'm not sorry to see "retarded" go, but i will miss "retarted".

"Retarded" is coming back imo. I've heard it a bunch of time over the past year, exclusively among people with advanced degrees and stuff who definitely know better. It's a subtle anti-PC thing I think.

But the people I am thinking of aren't conservatives/ideologivally anti-PC either. Just "edgy" and in need of a stronger term for stupid.

How about “not very smart”

I'm not excusing it, it's just something I observed

"Mental retardation" is still a recognized term in scientific and medical circles for what my son has, and I don't mind it when used in that context.

The "-tard-" bit just means "late" (as in "tardy"). Personally I get annoyed at people who say "he's not retarded, just developmentally delayed." Yo, people, those words mean exactly the same thing. I don't fight about it, but that's what I'm muttering under my breath.

Me, I prefer "intellectual disability," because the whole "delayed" thing implies that stuff is definitely going to get better later. Maybe it will, maybe it won't, and that's okay! He is still worthy of love and dignity. As are we all.

"Retarded" is coming back imo. I've heard it a bunch of time over the past year, exclusively among people with advanced degrees and stuff who definitely know better. It's a subtle anti-PC thing I think.

― Treeship

do they also rock the matt taylor fashion collection

https://www.theguardian.com/science/2014/nov/14/rosetta-comet-dr-matt-taylor-apology-sexist-shirt

"The controversy follows the revelations from the scientist’s sister Maxine that he could be “useless” in everyday life. Portraying her tattooed sibling as absent-minded, unable to find his car in the car park, and sometimes lacking in common sense, she told the Evening Standard, he didn’t like making decisions."

you don't say, maxine

it's pretty much a bad word in the context of used by anybody not in the scientific medical circles. surely if you mean someone is being an idiot there are other words to use. just since the internet we have perfected a million ways to point this out.

I've heard it a bunch of time over the past year, exclusively among people with advanced degrees and stuff who definitely know better

disabaphobia is a very real thing even among advanced paper holders

People in the scientific and medical communities don't even use the word anymore

i heard a pediatrician -- who is also a bioethicist -- use the word in a medical context recently. i was really shocked by it. but then again this guy is old

Me, I prefer "intellectual disability," because the whole "delayed" thing implies that stuff is definitely going to get better later. Maybe it will, maybe it won't, and that's okay! He is still worthy of love and dignity. As are we all.

― P as in pterodactyl (Ye Mad Puffin), Sunday, October 8, 2017 8:48 AM (two hours ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

fwiw the special ed world has changed the MR designation to ID for a few years now due to the pejorative use of the r-word

I think this is lingering around in the back of my head as a slur and I hope it disappears completely. I think “intellectual disabilities” is a relatively decent term in that it seems broad enough to use as shorthand for a variety of conditions without delving into specifics. If someone says “physical disabilites” it means I’d want to make sure I can accommodate someone with decreased mobility, I just think of it as a sort of mental mobility.

I think I misapply it, or do so ironically (although not verbally, just in my internal monologue) when dealing with people who have retrograde or offensive ways of thinking, though. It makes me be a little more patient when dealing with people who don’t understand how to deal with others if I think of them as disabled in some way. It’s a misapplication, but reminds me to be a little patient and give subtle reminders rather than yell at people.

People in the scientific and medical communities don't even use the word anymore

― fuck you, your hat is horrible (Neanderthal)

yeah this is not true

if you're taking it literally to mean "nobody ever says it under any circumstances ever", sure, but the terms are not used liberally anymore like they once were, intellectual disability is far more common.

I mean "Rosa's Law" was passed in 09 as well.

at the school i work at we have a designation of “severe developmental disability” but the county regional center (which provides social services and external supports to families) designates / diagnoses these students as “mentally retarded”

i think you’re right that it is definitely going out of style but you don’t have to look hard to find govt offices and medical professionals that still use it, at least in my southern californian neck of the woods

sorry i don’t really know why i even brought it up

well actually i do, just on thursday i was meeting with the family of an autistic student (and his support team) and we found out he’d been misdiagnosed by the county as “mentally retarded” and i was quite surprised to hear the term

interestingly we were also translating back and forth from spanish and while there were some other raised eyebrows when we saw the paperwork the mom (who is a Spanish speaker and recent immigrant from Mexico) seemed not to bat an eye