I can't tell if you're admitting to being a troll, but if you are, I'm not holding this discussion for your benefit. What I do on this site is public, and I'm making this argument for the fraction of readers that will legitimately reconsider their opinions on whether or not to call some-one/thing a retard/retarded. The word has lost its meaning. People who use retarded now use it as a general curse/insult, not as a word with definition. I disagree wholeheartedly. Stupid, idiot, and crazy are all now far enough removed from their original definitions that they're acceptable to use as insults (see my comment about the euphemism treadmill); but retarded is most definitely not used as a "general curse/insult". It has a very specific meaning as an insult that is very specifically related to its definition as mentally handicapped. As an example, I didn't even consider calling you retarded because you told me I could curse, and not because I don't use the word retarded. That reason was superseded by another, more obvious reason: the common definition of retarded as mentally handicapped or something similar (which you'll find is still very much in use) doesn't fit what I was trying to say at all. Of course people won't be as offended, but they would still be offended. You might even find that they would be more confused than offended, but again, they would still be offended, which was my point.Don't feed the trolls.
And in that way it is the same word as "stupid" or "idiot" or "crazy".
Not nearly as much as using the word nigger. In fact, AFAIK you'll get more a "why the heck are you using that word" reaction, so long as you aren't hostile in using the word.
I am stating an opinion that I stand behind. I was referencing your "dick" comment. I've long passed the point that I just laugh at insults. Where do you think retard will be ten years down the line? And you do realize people only use the word stupid to describe when someone is being stupid. It is the exact same workings and systems as the word retarded. You didn't call me stupid there either. The goal is not to avoid people being offended, it is to avoid insulting and portraying a group of people as inferior. The use of retard does not do such a thing due to previous terminology existing, and due to the fact that nobody is or has ever used the term to refer to those who are retarded as inferior or deserving-bad-treatment. Yes, it does consider people being retarded as people who do stupid things. However, isn't that the definition of being retarded? It's like the term "throw like a girl" being said to a guy. Or "you look like a man" being said to a girl. Saying "Are you retarded" or calling someone a retard when they aren't is an insult, where-as calling someone who is is simply describing their status, no ill-offense is meant in doing so. Nobody who uses the word retarded to describe or insult another does so because they dislike retarded people. They use it because being called retarded is insulting for those who are not. Using the word negro to insult a person is to say "if you were more like a black person you would be a worse person". There is definite insult to be derived from that. More importantly, people who would use the word in that way would also probably be fine with using it for actual black people. If you were to call a black person a negro, I doubt many would really take offense. The word doesn't have that inherent "slur" to it that the word nigger does. It makes you sound like you are 60 and out of touch, but doesn't imply dislike or hatred. If you used it to describe people acing badly, however, it would.Stupid, idiot, and crazy are all now far enough removed from their original definitions that they're acceptable to use as insults
Of course people won't be as offended, but they would still be offended.
Exactly where stupid, idiot, and crazy are, probably. But it's not there yet, that's my point. Stupid never had a definition directly associated with mental handicaps like retarded did/does. Its first use in English (in the 1540s) already meant essentially what it means now (lacking ordinary mental quickness). Actually, that's exactly what most people do. The use of the term as an insult implies that its former definition is inherently negative. If anything, your argument about the etymologies of stupid etc. would be better served as an argument for not using those words rather than using retarded. Nope. Yup, and those are just as bad. No, but in doing so they imply that the mentally handicapped are fundamentally inferior. They use it because they think being called retarded is insulting, implying that they think being mentally handicapped is fundamentally a bad thing. See my previous point. And using the word retarded to insult a person is to say "if you were more like a mentally handicapped person you would be a worse person." You're just making the same argument over and over again, but it won't make sense no mater how many times you repeat it. Well, now we're discussing pure hypotheticals with absolutely no evidence, so that's pretty much useless. I've stated my position, and you yours. I'm going to sleep now.Where do you think retard will be ten years down the line?
And you do realize people only use the word stupid to describe when someone is being stupid.
nobody is or has ever used the term to refer to those who are retarded as inferior or deserving-bad-treatment.
Yes, it does consider people being retarded as people who do stupid things. However, isn't that the definition of being retarded?
It's like the term "throw like a girl" being said to a guy. Or "you look like a man" being said to a girl.
Nobody who uses the word retarded to describe or insult another does so because they dislike retarded people.
They use it because being called retarded is insulting for those who are not.
Using the word negro to insult a person is to say "if you were more like a black person you would be a worse person".
If you were to call a black person a negro, I doubt many would really take offense.
In that case replace stupid with idiot, moron, or crazy. It implies the mentally handicapped are mentally handicapped. Nothing more, nothing less. If it was of that implication, than why isn't it used as in insult towards those who are mentally handicapped? Just as saying to a girl "you throw like a girl" doesn't really happen. being mentally handicapped IS a fundamentally bad thing. Do you think those are handicapped would like to not be? Do you not think they would chance in an instant if given the choice? There is NOTHING good about being mentally handicapped, and there never will be. (discounting when the handicap is a specialization rather than a handicap.) What they are saying is "you are acting as if you are mentally handicapped" which is an insult to those who are not. It is not meant as an insult to those who are. An analog would be to say "you run like a cheetah" or "slow like a turtle". The person isn't insulting the animal, they are making a comparison that leads to be insulting.
Again, you fail to see the disparity. If I were to go around calling people black if I don't like them, I am likely doing so because I view black people as bad. If I were to go around calling people retards, I would be doing so because comparing a person to being retarded is insulting when that person is normal. This does not imply a dislike or a hatred for those who are retarded, it implies a comparison of someone to who they do not want to be like. In type A, you relate a class of people to a bad thing. In class B, you relate a class of people to the definition of that class of people. Just as when you tell a man, post puberty, that he hits like a girl. You are saying the man is weak. This does not imply any dislike of women, and it doesn't imply that the person views women as inferior-in-general. It is an insult-by-comparison that doesn't apply to the groups who are a part of that definition. Now, if you started using "girl" as in insult in any context, for anyone you don't like, then you fall into insult-zones. To be fair though, a decent amount of the use of the word retarded does fall into this category. However, I don't see that being a big issue, because my guess is most using the word in this way will stop as they grow up. And, in the jon-tron example, the word was not being used as a "general insult" in that way.Stupid never had a definition directly associated with mental handicaps like retarded did/does. Its first use in English (in the 1540s) already meant essentially what it means now (lacking ordinary mental quickness).
No, but in doing so they imply that the mentally handicapped are fundamentally inferior.
implying that they think being mentally handicapped is fundamentally a bad thing. See my previous point.
"if you were more like a mentally handicapped person you would be a worse person."