Do you find the word "retard(ed)" offensive?

[136368]

I don't know if I can explain this well but I'll try. I'm not offended by the term. The reason I'm not is because IMHO it's a term for being or doing something stupid. Really really dumb.

In my life, with several relatives and friends having down syndrome and/or other major and minor learning disabilities no one thinks of them being ********. We never did. They're actually smart, funny and do a great job at most things they try! We also don't look at other people with disabilities and think "********"....we think, oh, disabled, learning difficulties, handicapped, whatever.
Calling learning disabled or handicapped folks ******** doesn't make sense in the way people use the word these days.

I think the word is now used more in the way of "oh gawd what a stupid stupid thing he did!!"

Maybe I'm just desensitized to the word or something but it doesn't bother me to hear it aimed at someone doing something stupid or at a stupid situation.
I just don't see my handicapped friends or relatives as stupid so there's really a disconnect from the word retard. LOL

Boy this is hard to explain. LOL

I see where you are coming from

 

[ChrisFL]

Yes, I hate that expression too.

Jennifer Aniston saying ''********" on national TV just shows how much of a dip she is. She should have known better,

I'm offended by your use of the term "dip"

IMO, it's a neverending cycle, there will always be words that offend,it just depends on who you ask

 

[DisMN]

I see where you are coming from

Thanks. Some do get what I'm saying and others don't. Being hypersensitive about certain words is a choice. I don't USE the words but I don't become angry, hurt or defensive when someone else uses them. For me it really depends on the way someone is using the term.

I guess I'm just insensitive. LOL

 

[lacrosse_lady72]

Thanks. Some do get what I'm saying and others don't. Being hypersensitive about certain words is a choice. I don't USE the words but I don't become angry, hurt or defensive when someone else uses them. For me it really depends on the way someone is using the term.

I guess I'm just insensitive. LOL

The bolded part is EXACTLY how I feel. And I don't think you're insensitive, you're practical and realistic.

 

[A_Princess'_Daddy]

Thanks. Some do get what I'm saying and others don't. Being hypersensitive about certain words is a choice. I don't USE the words but I don't become angry, hurt or defensive when someone else uses them. For me it really depends on the way someone is using the term.

I guess I'm just insensitive. LOL

Yes, you are insensitive. And not caring that you are insensitive makes you mean. Why would you choose to be mean, knowing that it hurts the feelings of others? The only reason I can see is that you're a bully.

It's not a matter of hypersensitivity. It's actually the antithesis. It's a matter of not endorsing the use of a word that you know hurts others, and that even you apparently acknowledge is hurtful to others.

Again, use it or don't. I don't care. Our paths will never cross, so our opinions are really irrelevant to each other. But don't pretend it's not insensitive and mean and then hide behind a "LOL" to make it all cute. You insult the intelligence of all of us.

 

[hookedondizney]

i use it all the time....so what!!!

 

[Holly]

The bolded part is EXACTLY how I feel. And I don't think you're insensitive, you're practical and realistic.

and classy!

 

[DisMN]

Yes, you are insensitive. And not caring that you are insensitive makes you mean. Why would you choose to be mean, knowing that it hurts the feelings of others? The only reason I can see is that you're a bully.

It's not a matter of hypersensitivity. It's actually the antithesis. It's a matter of not endorsing the use of a word that you know hurts others, and that even you apparently acknowledge is hurtful to others.

Again, use it or don't. I don't care. Our paths will never cross, so our opinions are really irrelevant to each other. But don't pretend it's not insensitive and mean and then hide behind a "LOL" to make it all cute. You insult the intelligence of all of us.

So because I choose not to be offended I'm mean? Because I don't ask or require certain words be censored or not spoken I'm insensitive? Why did you bother posting if, as you say, you don't care?

And I'll put LOL wherever I want, whenever I want, during any kind of discussion if I want, even ....and especially in discussions where I would actually chuckle out loud when dealing with over the top hypersensitive politically correct people. EL OH EL

 

[hookedondizney]

ooooh, I love a little bit of cyber-fighting.....you can always find it here on the DeBATE Dis.....LOL

 

[DisMN]

ooooh, I love a little bit of cyber-fighting.....you can always find it here on the DeBATE Dis.....LOL

LOL Sorry for the sass in my replies. I'm in a mood tonite I guess. LOL Dang, I keep using those LOLs. LOL There I go again trying to be cute! LOL LOL

 

[cm8]

I know that word was in my vernacular and one point and I did not think once of it offending someone. I don't use it any more since it is very insensitive and derogatory.

 

[PrincessMomto2]

I don't use the word because I do find it offensive.

I voted "yes".

 

[Eeyores Butterfly]

I'll admit, when I was younger I used it. Untiil I met a boy whose sister had MR and he found it very offensive. Why? Because you were using his sister's diagnosis as an insult.

I see it like this: You wouldn't walk around saying, "that's so diabetic" or "that's so AIDS". Both are medical diagnoses, just like ********. So why is it okay to refer to somebody that way. All the kids in my class have MR (although we normally call it intellectually disabled.) That is their diagnosis. By using that word as an insult, you are saying that their diagnosis is bad. That it is bad to have MR. That is hurtful to a lot of people.

Nobody is talking about legislating away the R-word. The campaign is to spread awareness so people voluntarily stop using it.

 

[A_Princess'_Daddy]

So because I choose not to be offended I'm mean? Because I don't ask or require certain words be censored or not spoken I'm insensitive? Why did you bother posting if, as you say, you don't care?

And I'll put LOL wherever I want, whenever I want, during any kind of discussion if I want, even ....and especially in discussions where I would actually chuckle out loud when dealing with over the top hypersensitive politically correct people. EL OH EL

No. You are mean because you know it hurts people but yet you don't think it's wrong to hurt them. How is that not mean? What would you call it? I understand that you and others think you're being "realistic" and "practical", but you're misunderstanding what those words mean (just as you misunderstand the power of the word ********). I am actually the realistic and practical one in this conversation, because I know that I am not going to change the minds of insensitive and mean-spirited people.

You don't have to be offended, but pretending it isn't a mean word is ignorant, classless and mean-spirited. Again, you can hide behind your self-satisfied little LOL words and pretend it's not. The great thing about the Internet is that anybody can have an opinion and post it as if it has value or substance. But I'll keep pointing out that you are wrong.

Lastly, I post because I dislike bullies and I like to point out the ignorance of others. It's kind of a hobby of mine. Like your feelings towards me, I don't care about you, because you're irrelevant to my life. But clearly I'm hitting a nerve because you keep coming back to defend yourself.

 

[A_Princess'_Daddy]

Nobody is talking about legislating away the R-word. The campaign is to spread awareness so people voluntarily stop using it.

Precisely! Very good post.

 

[jamimb]

If the word "apple" was offensive to others would you stop using it? No, come on people. Words only have the power you give them. I would never call a person ******** but to think it's offensive to call inanimate objects ******** is dumb!
What do I know I let my children use the word stupid. Don't get me wrong they are NOT allowed to call people stupid but there are many many things in this world that are stupid. Stupid and ******** both are only bad words when referring to people!

 

[penn19]

If the word "apple" was offensive to others would you stop using it? No, come on people. Words only have the power you give them. I would never call a person ******** but to think it's offensive to call inanimate objects ******** is dumb!
What do I know I let my children use the word stupid. Don't get me wrong they are NOT allowed to call people stupid but there are many many things in this world that are stupid. Stupid and ******** both are only bad words when referring to people!

And some people find the word stupid offensive. I don't, but I have heard kids say "we can't say the S word. Stupid".

I don't think it is right to call a person who is MR, ********. That would be mean. But have I ever said the word ******** as in, "that is so ********"? Yes.

Like a pp said, there are many other offensive words, so I guess maybe it is all in your point of view.

 

[A_Princess'_Daddy]

If the word "apple" was offensive to others would you stop using it? No, come on people. Words only have the power you give them. I would never call a person ******** but to think it's offensive to call inanimate objects ******** is dumb!
What do I know I let my children use the word stupid. Don't get me wrong they are NOT allowed to call people stupid but there are many many things in this world that are stupid. Stupid and ******** both are only bad words when referring to people!

But "apple" is not used as a hurtful word. It is not accepted as a hurtful word. That's a false analogy. A better analogy is would you use the "N" word for a person of African heritage. That is a word that is commonly accepted as hurtful, but yet is still used. Does that word have power? Does that word mean something, or is it just a random assemblage of letters?

To say that words do not have power is to deny the power of language. Of course they have power, that's precisely WHY we use them. We use language to convey meaning and to express our feelings. That's precisely why people don't say "that's so apple, I can't believe you just did that!" That wouldn't MEAN anything. They say "that's so ********" because they know what that word means, and they want to convey THAT meaning. And that meaning is hurtful to many people. If words have no power, then they have no meaning. If they have no meaning, then we have no language.

Retard, as a word, has many meanings. Many have no hurtful connotation (meaning "to slow" or "to delay" or "to hold back"). But using the word in the context we are debating is hurtful to many people. So to knowingly use it is mean-spirited.

BTW, "apple shaped" is a way to describe a body shape that is viewed as being rotund. Would you walk up to a person who is overweight and call them "apple shaped"? Probably not...

 

[phorsenuf]

A better analogy is would you use the "N" word for a person of African heritage. That is a word that is commonly accepted as hurtful, but yet is still used. Does that word have power? Does that word mean something, or is it just a random assemblage of letters?

But, as far as the N word, many black people use it. They use it in comedy, they use it towards each other, but it's not taken as bad within that heritage if they are using it towards each other.
It's when someone outside of their race uses it is when it becomes the issue.
Why is that?

 

[A_Princess'_Daddy]

But, as far as the N word, many black people use it. They use it in comedy, they use it towards each other, but it's not taken as bad within that heritage if they are using it towards each other.
It's when someone outside of their race uses it is when it becomes the issue.
Why is that?

I don't know. That's a legitimate question, and I don't know the answer. I also know that the analogy isn't complete, because the people defending the use of the R word are not, as far as anybody has yet claimed, mentally ********.

But, knowing that both are loaded words and likely to offend when used out of context and as an insult, would you use either? If you'd use one, and not the other, why? If you use both, then I suspect we are finished with this conversation because it will go nowhere.