this post was submitted on 22 Nov 2024
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[–] [email protected] 9 points 17 hours ago

I agree that 'retard' crossed the line when it started being used as an insult against legitimately disabled people

I remember using it here and there when I was younger, with no malice behind the words. I stopped using it after I learned that it had started to be used in a derogatory sense (or maybe there never was a time when it wasn't)

Thing is, the term 'retardation' just means to be slowing down, in a literal sense. In medicine, the term used is 'mental retardation' when somebody's mental thought process is reducing, which is what people think they're saying when they just say 'retarded'

I would even go so far as to say, if you allow one use of the word, that these people who paraphrase medical terms in derogatory ways are 'retarded'

If you're going to be offensive, at least be creative. When you use these words, among some other like the n word, you're just telling me you're an asshole with zero mental aptitude

For example, I think the original commenter has the thought capacity of a chicken