Honestly, people are too worried about who might be insulted. The use of the word retard
-is not used as an insult when describing those who are retarted -does not result in a larger amount of dislike towards people who are retarted -is more often used by immature pre-teens as a general insult they use because they know it is taboo. Honestly, are we going to stop saying stupid, idiot, crazy? I don't plan on it, and those words came all from the same source retarded does. Anyone here ever say "God damn it"? Clearly an insult against christians, as you use god's name in vein. or calling someone an ass? Donkeys deserve better? Go on a vegan site, they will rave about specism, detesting the calling of police "pigs". There isn't an aspect of our language out there that isn't going to be found insulting to someone. So long as those words are not being used to cause actual damage, who gives a fuck about the language you use?