This post is about why your use of the word “retarded” actually makes you look stupid. his is not a post about being politically correct and if you say anything about “being pc” I will reach through the computer and sprinkle legos all over your floor in the middle of the night, so don’t say I didn’t warn you.
I was humming along my Facebook feed when I came upon what started off as a really funny post about texting messages with a tattoo artist. It started off as funny, but then got old real fast when they slid down the slope of saying “are you retarded?” when the person was being completely dense and stupid, and I was left shaking my head with my face in my palm. I wasn’t angry or anything, just blown away that someone is still equating “retarded” with “stupid”.
So I’m writing a short post about why you should quit saying it, and I’m going to list them because not only do I love lists, but it’s proven that listicles do better as blog posts, and as a blogger, I’d like to see this actually read.
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“Retarded” Does NOT Equal “Stupid”
First of all, if you are saying the word “retarded” the way you think you want to be using it – as a pejorative to someone’s intelligence, you are wrong. “Retarded” as it used to relate to someone intelligence means “delayed.” It never meant stupid. It only meant delayed.
But that’s not even used any more.
No-one even uses it anymore, because we’ve gone beyond all that (except for some stragglers apparently). So your use of an outdated word, and your incorrect use of an outdated word to boot, makes you just look…kind of stupid.
2. Learning Disabilities or Developmental Disabilities Do Not Equal Stupid Either
Learning disabilities do not equal stupid. Developmental disabilities do not equal stupid either. Good grief, I wish I had a dollar bill for every time someone said something like, “she doesn’t have a learning disability; she’s not stupid!” or “wow! your child [with the developmental disability] is actually pretty smart..”
I can’t believe we are having this conversation, or that anyone still says or thinks that a correlation between learning disabilities, developmental disabilities and stupidity exist.
I mean, we’ve watched all the movies. Forrest Gump comes immediately to mind, but there are a ton of movies (linked here) about disability. The common theme in them all is that of someone being misunderstood (and usually thought of as stupid) by dint of their disability, then the world is proven dead-wrong by the person with the disability. Amiright? I mean, this is a THING; this is a trope, a norm – it’s all over the place with eye-rolling amounts of regularity.
And I say “eye rolling” because:
a) it’s annoying to me when we with disabilities are just not allowed to fail in movies, or we are not allowed to just be people, flaws and all. We have to be the supercrips (or super-whatever) and inspire the non-disabled.
b) it’s obvious that the trope – even used as often as it is, for whatever reason it is – is a fail for disability acceptance because people are still equating learning disabilities and developmental disabilities with stupidity!!
3. Quit Saying “Retarded” At All!
Like I said already, most of us have moved on from saying “retarded” for any reason at all anymore. Have you heard of “Spread the Word to End the Word“? There is a whole organization dedicated to getting the “r-word” off the radar once and for all. This is directly because people with developmental disabilities – who have historically been called “retarded” have asked everyone else to.
They’ve asked. We need to respond and hold up our end and find better words to use, words that actually mean what they say and say what they mean.
And if we don’t, we’re just being… stupid.
Meriah Nichols is a counselor. Solo mom to 3 (one with Down syndrome, one on the spectrum). Deaf, and neurodiverse herself, she’s a gardening nerd who loves cats, Star Trek, and takes her coffee hot and black.
i think its incredibly ignorant to be so politically correct, to insult people over a word that doesnt even have it original meaning. the word retard is now used for stupid, as in when someone makes a stupid comment or does something stupid. a person should be ousted as discriminating against some imaginary person they have never met or against the disabled, when its usually used with a friend or someone they know. this country has gotten so politically incorrect that they cry and get insulted at EVERYTHING! i am sure this will get people upset and insulted too and get deleted. of course, because the only people who can post without being censored are liberals. thats whats destroying and separating our country, the party of hate seeing hate in everything they do and everywhere they go!
And here’s an example of a perfectly retarded statement by someone who hears her conservtive friends and associates claiming that liberals are destroying America by hating everything and everybody and so, not wanting to look like she disagrees with them, conforms to thst POV lest they think she’s (gasp!) a liberal! And ironically, believes it’s “them” (non-coneservatives, which they wrongly equate with “liberal”) who are tearing apart the social fabric of the country. Why? Because Limbaugh, Beck, Coulter and Malkin et al tell them so. How do I know this? Because anyone who really looked at the situation would quickly see that the “liberals” who are being accused of being “PC over everything” are in fact those people who attempt to correct someone who has used racist or bigoted language to describe someone based on a mistaken assumption about eg. the morality of homosexuals or a penchant for violence among those born with a different skin color than themselves.
IOW their objection has nothing to with hate. Quite the opposite; they are attempting to reduce the fear and hatred being expressed because they know that it is based on false information the person has acquired somewhere along the line. The thinking goes that…. if the person knew that it was not true, for instance, that homosexuality increases the likelihood of a person also engaging in pedophilia, then the person would no longer feel the same disgust and/or hostility toward homosexuals as when they thought it was true — assuming of course that the person they are attempting to correct is a rational individual.
Now. How one gets from this perfectly rational, reasonable thing the so-called “liberal” would like to do for both society as well as the bigotted individual, into an expression of hatred for both is — to put it mildly, completely effin’ baffling! At least until one takes into account the way politicians and pundits gain followers by stoking fears among readers/viewers using misinformation that leads to hatred thery can capitalize on by now claiming to be among the few politicians or political pundits “who agrees with all you patriotic, God-fearing Americans”, hoping they are too retarded (yes, that was intentional) to realize that it was them that they got the mistaken belief from in the first place….so of course they “agree” with them!
Or, if that was too esoteric for you to follow, then how about this: The vast majority of the time someone complains about someone being “too PC”, the person is actually just trying to deflect attention away from their own racist statements onto the persons attempting to correct them. Period.
Perhaps the “liberals” concern with Political Correctness is born from good intentions, and initially are free from hate. Yet, they strive with such diligence to bring about change, and their focus tends to grow so narrow and time-consuming that they create a breeding ground for hatred, and what what was originally conjured from desire for improvement, tends to quickly turn to being fueled by hate. They may still possess good intentions, but they inevitably become enraged with hate. If you can not see that, then you have selective sight. I can sense quite a bit of hatred in your comment, and even more which you were striving to contain. Stop subscribing to the false left-right political paradigm. Each side believes they are the logical ones with the correct perspectives, allowing them to know what is best for everyone. Yet, both sides have been brainwashed to believe they are right and the other side is not only wrong, but ignorant, oblivious, illogical, and plain crazy. What everyone needs to do is to stop being brainwashed and manipulated into a perspective which only exists to divide us, maintain said division, and to increase hatred until it reaches the boiling point . . . we are extremely close to that point currently, and it is definitely something we do not want to reach, because when all is said and done, neither “side” will care for the results and both will yearn to return to a previous state which shall no longer be possible. Stop focusing on the differences, this only breeds hate, and begin to realize the similarities . . . only then shall we be able to unite to fight our true enemies, then conditions can and will improve for everyone. We must learn to recognize this systematic institution of divide and conquer, and free ourselves from the strings of the puppet-masters.
This article is retarded
truth
You literally brought racism and homophobia into a argument that had nothing to do with either, on a comment that barely insulted anyone, you fucking retard. i can’t wait until all you boomers keel over and have a heart attack.
Exactly
Periodt.
Exactly, this article is retarded.
This article is retarded.
Pure, 100%, no artificial flavors,
Autism
you are a retard
Yep. The Word Police have taken over. People don’t need to actually BE compassionate, accepting, and caring–they just have to use the right WORDS. Which means, there’s a lot of suppressed shittiness in the Woke population. It’s sneaky fuckery, imo, and engineered specifically to induce the low-vibration emotion of Guilt. Nor does it inspire people to pay attention to the energy of their thoughts and words.
Some days, I just hole up, and avoid speaking or listening altogether.
I’m tired of PC in ALL it’s forms. Including this one…..
I use the words retard and retarded from time to time to describe ignorance and stupid as the word has come to have these understandings with the general public in 2018.
I will not apologize for using my native tongue or the always changing American English language the way I see fit. You, Meriah Nichols have now called me stupid looking. I’m not happy with this, but you can be mean to me if you want to. You see, I was raised to have a tough skin and to know that regardless of what people call me, it’s up to me to make myself happy. (something many people in America have obviously missed out on)
Now perhaps you can go back and see how every angle of something can be turned into a PC problem or attack on another person.
I”m not being mean; I am simply stating a fact. Not using a word in the way it should be is simply ignorant and your refusal to educated yourself is your choice.
I think its rather ignorant to completely disregard lexical change within language. From the very start of language words and their meanings have changed. do you really think stupid actually used to mean stupid? – I partially agree with your defense (regarding Retarded meaning slow rather than stupid) but this also means you are disregarding the context in which the word is communicated (including body language etc) which could further alter its meaning within that specific context.
Basically language is a fluid creature in which both semantic and lexical change occurs – changing both meanings and potency of meaning of words (one such example would be the word ‘gay’.
I agree that we shouldn’t call those with mental disabilities retarded, that’s just a given. But I feel that using it out of context would help to dissociate it with its negative past. Have words not evolved in the past to mean different things? Gay used to mean happy, now it means homosexual. I mean, look at the n-word. That word has long been outlawed by social construct, but it’s been recently repopularized through black rap artists in a different light. From what I understand, they use it in certain contexts to alter the negative connotations and turn that negativity into empowerment. It hasn’t reach a point where it’s socially acceptable for a white man to use it, but you cannot deny that its part of our pop culture. It’s a similar story with the word faggot. I think Louis C.K. puts it best: “back when I was a kid, faggot didn’t mean gay, you’d call someone a faggot because they were being a faggot”. If that’s not enough, look to urban dictionary. That’s the epitome of word evolution.
You can’t change the past, and you shouldn’t forget the past, but that doesn’t mean you can’t reinvent the past; give new meaning to old words. After all, it’s not like it’s going anywhere; ‘Ritardando’ has and will always be a musical dynamic marking, so if the goal is to eventually drown the word in total obscurity, that will simply never happen. That’s just my two cents on the whole thing. Words are words, some hurt, and others don’t. We need both in order to best articulate our thoughts and feelings. Again, I would never call a mentally challenged person retarded, but I will call someone who did something beyond stupid, (provided I know them well enough) because that’s what the word means now. Crap is to stupid as shit is to retard. And if you want to replace the r word with dumbass, well, that doesn’t really cut it either. Its too soft. The r word has the agressive t and d, dumbass has a regressive b. It’s not the same, and it doesn’t feel the same.
I’m not necessarily condoning the use of the word, but I feel removing it from our vocabulary is going too far. I don’t mean to start any beef, i’m just stating MY thoughts on the matter.
Are you actually using Louis C K as a ‘best practice’ reference point? Oh dear.
LOL, “not using the word the way it should be”, language is fluid and evolving. There are plenty of words that have changed meaning overtime. There are plenty of words that are of the same language that have different meaning because of culture, region, or some other factor. What a silly argument.
That’s one of the dumbest article and comment I have read in a long time…
You try to justify your point by stating wrong facts.
No, retard doesn’t ONLY mean delayed.
Yes, retard states for stupidity.
If you are delayed, you are stupid, end of point. Stupidity is not the action to do one dumb thing at a time, it’s a state of mind. When you are stupid, you are, the end. There is no difference between stupid and delayed, and the fact that you try to justify yourself using one of the most retard argument ever “educate yourself”, show hos much you don’t care about the disability you are talking about and just want to win some oney writing shitty articles for a random website…
I hope one day you’ll find a little bit of cleverness around you, it could be useful, really, really useful, for you especially.
ummmm you just misused the word educated… now who’s ignorant I’m in high school and i know better than that
Hear, hear!
The word “retard” as a verb means to hold back or to delay. The word as a noun refers to a child whose mental development is delayed (retarded mental development). The writer claims that “retarded” does not equate to “stupid”. Yet, referring to Dictionary.com, sense 1 of the definition of “stupid” is “lacking ordinary quickness and keenness of mind; dull.” Merriam-Webster’s definition as worded by sense 1a is “slow of mind.” By definition alone, “retarded” can mean “stupid”.
Unfortunately, people misuse words frequently. An overwhelming majority of people misuse words because they falsely believe the definitions of these words to be something other than what they actually are. Beyond these misused words, there are numerous words in our language of which most people are completely unaware. That’s a significant portion of our language which most people never utilize or rarely utilize correctly. That can, and does, create problems, but elimination is not an acceptable nor feasible solution. “Moron”, “Imbecile”, “Cretin”, and “idiot” were all medical terms until concerns regarding their potential offensiveness lead to their discontinuation. These “offensive” words were then replaced with the medical terms “retard” and “retarded”. Now, we are being informed that “retard” and “retarded” are offensive words which we should eliminate from our vocabulary. If we acted upon the author’s advice and ceased using offensive words (along with the words of which the majority are simply unaware), then we would effectively cut our potential vocabulary in half. I guess on the bright side, offensive words would then cease to exist, and no longer shall our quivers be filled with offensiveness to sling like arrows towards our enemies. As the only constant is change, this newly created state would lack permanence. Most assuredly with time, the roots of offensiveness will discover fertile ground in which to sprout, and in growth shall eventually infect our language, to replicate, and to spread its immaculate evil throughout. Once again, the result shall be a minority demanding that a verbal purge is imperative, Ultimately, our language shall be abridged, suffering another wound. Likewise, our ability to think analytically and to communicate effectively shall be diminished even further. This vicious cycle won’t end until our language has been reduced to tiny mounds of useless dreck.
People need to look in the mirror more often and point their finger less. It would appear as if the cognitive awareness of the author may be abnormally limited . . . or to utilize a more acceptable wording, thus allowing the pampered to avoid most of the sensitivity which often accompanies the digestion of reality: the author displays elements which suggest the presence of a learning disability. What other plausible explanation can exist for one who writes a preface to a persuasion article solely as an attempt to negate the article itself.
I will be damned if I would allow someone to dictate to me what I can or can not say. I would rather die on my feet!
Calling someone stupid/dumb/lame/etc isn’t PC either. In fact insulting someone with ANY insult is wrong, but that’s why we do it. We insult people to hurt them on purpose. Complaining about it just makes you sound retarded.
This post is retarded
Are you actually trying to make the case based on the fact that there is no correlation between having a learning disability and a low IQ (i.e. being “stupid”)? There mpost certainly is a strong, positive correlation between the two traits. Why? Because it is a causal relationship; meaning the presence of one *causes* the other. To try and argue otherwise is, well….
….and besides, stupidity has a retarding effect on one’s I.Q. not to mention their social and emotional maturity when compared to others sharing the same chronological age/maturity. So there’s the use of terms “stupid” and “retard” using definitions as they are found in Webster’s.
This article was 100% posted by someone who is retarded or related to someone retarded (i.e. its in their genetics)
Whoever wrote this article is fucking retarded
Definition of idiot
1 : a foolish or stupid person
2 dated, now offensive : a person affected with extreme mental retardation
Definition of moron
1 : a very stupid person
They were acting like a bunch of morons.
2 dated, now offensive : a person affected with mild mental retardation
Why are these words acceptable? They can only be used negatively, unlike “retarded,” which does have an impartial meaning. How come we as a society, were able to move past the offensive connotations that come with “idiot” and “moron” but not “retard?”
All of those points were the same, you don’t have an argument
The lack of self-awareness in the comments section is incredible.
Jeez, your post stinks with bias. Typical perspective of a person, who had that sort of parents telling her ‘shhh this is rude’ all time. You don’t even care about doing analysis, you just call nice person not stupid ex: Forrest G. Yes, there is a correlation between stupidity and retarded state. I guess, you’re just one of them. I’ve seen those kids, I know that you’re just being an emotional hoe in here, but don’t try to teach people , because the truth doesn’t correlate with your emotions. Btw, smart person would never write this post. Try to give same task to a normal person and a retarded one that would involve political , social , ethical aspect, logical , math, verbal comprehension. Look at results and shut up
People who write articles like this end up pumping out alt-right children. I’m talking about the little boys whose mothers show constant disapproval of their so-called “mean humor.” I’m talking about the mothers who illustrate “alternatives” that aren’t funny because they’re delivered with the baggage of borrowing from her authority (at the expense of her credibility) to “prove” that jokes are “*always* funnier when no one’s feelings are hurt.” It’s in that moment when the little boy can’t summon a laugh for her unrelatable joke and he sees in his mother’s face that her love is conditional and based on his agreement with her. *That* is when his “mean humor” begins to morph into just – well – being mean.
With each passing stern look he gets for jokingly calling his friend a “fag” for sitting too close, with each bit of his allowance he is forced to put in the “r-word” jar, the resentment builds as the words he’s not allowed to say play in a silent loop in his head. Each loop is underlined with the feeling of rejection from his mother he knows he receive of he said them out loud – resulting in his transformation into a misogynistic incel who can’t imagine being loved by any woman for being himself.
Stop bitching lady
Sorry but all I read from this article was “Don’t use a word that I don’t like reeeeeeeeeeeeee-”
The word retarded has changed, just like the word gay has changed. I miss the days when we could say “fuck this, it’s fukken gay” or “fuck off retard” without the PC police like you descending like flies onto shit.
I will continue to call people who do dumb things “retard”, I will continue to say things like “political correctness is fucking retarded.and gay”
Just because YOU do not like the use of the word because YOU are “developmentally disabled” does not.mean you can play the superiority game when it comes to it’s use. You are not the majority of English speaking people. If you do not like the way that English is being used you can learn one of hundreds of other languages and use that instead; if the English language offends you so.
I could not care less about what you think: you sound like the quintessential privileged white guy who is squirming in discomfort over being asked to examine the way he frames things… related to the quintessential privileged white guy who is pissed off with the #MeToo movement.
Can’t defend your position? Try an ad-hominem. I know you can’t be that retarded to believe what you just said ?. Relax and breath. Try living life. Everything will be ok…
I could not care less about what you think: you sound like the quintessential overweight feminist who is LITERALLY SHAKING in rage over how other people communicate with each other… related to the quintessential social justice warrior who gets offended on behalf of every other group on earth when they themselves aren’t offended.
You are actually retarded. Legitimately. Actually. Seriously retarded. Your only counterargument was insulting another man’s viewpoint and possible lifestyle. And since you wanna indulge in ignorance, I hope your Downie kid isn’t as “developmentally disabled” as you are. Or stupid (retarded).
Well if you were considered retarded that meant you had an IQ score between 49 and 79 which is considerably lower than the normal or average person. Calling someone stupid or calling something they do stupid is how you refer to something that not a normal or average person would willingly do or find to be a good idea. so if your gonna find ones actions stupid, id say their actions were pretty retarded. Also a little tip, when you publicly post your opinions on an open platform maybe don’t get offended and “triggered’ when everyone uses their constitutional right to debate and discuss your ideas and opinions and why they believe your opinions are wrong or misguided.
u just brought race into this wtf
Great, another retarded PC-pusher telling us how we’re all awful human beings.
So why is your use of the word stupid acceptable? I assume you deem it unacceptable to use “retard” as they have no control over it right? If such is the case you’re surely not so naive as to think everyone is born with the same level of intelligence, and thus some people are born stupid. Why is your use of a word describing people born with lower intellect any different from the use of retard – a word used to describe people of far lower intellect, psychologically defined as an IQ of less than 70? I’m sure my opinion is invalid after reading your responses as unfortunately my skin is white and I am also a man, woe is me. Nothing like a retard to give you a good laugh.
Me:
“Give it back, Kyle, you retarded Jew.”
Writer:
*Reads me her article*
Me:
“Oh I’m so sorry….Kyle! You stupid Jew!”
Writer:
*Walks away with a giant grin, knowing she just made the world a better place*
This is how South Park was started.
The guy who wrote this is a f u ck ing ret ard and EVERYTHING he said was so ridiculously retarded.
retarded means slow. its always meant that. thats how everyone uses it. it IS equivalent to stupid.
AND developmentally disabled people are stupid. and hence they are retarded. and anyone who is slow in any form is retarded
This article does not even make sense. Retard means delayed or slowed as in people learn slower, If you are Stupid, it also means that you don’t learn as quickly as others which generally means you are not as intelligent. How would being retarded not be the same as being stupid? Unless you think being stupid is a lack of knowledge instead of learning capabilities which would mean that all babies and children are stupid. But also there would be no way to have a standard for how much you would need to know to not be considered stupid so everyone would probably just be considered stupid. But hey, at least they would not be retarded right? I like how I found this dumb article by typing into google “Why is everyone retarded”
Full retard
ok retard
My mother is in a vegetative coma and your use of the word “stupid” is incredibly offensive.
Lmaooooo
Retarded and stupid are in fact similar. No, they do not have identical meaning but are in fact accurate descripters but for whatever reason have become dated terms. I can totally understand and accept that perhaps they are used more as insults and thereby became less desirable terms when referring to one’s learning issues. “Gay” and “Lame” went down that same path but these words ARE the words to describe. Abnormal needs or abnormal conditions shouldn’t be bubble-wrapped– it Is what it Is. They are outside the norm and need descripters. Simple as that. I couldn’t care less that someone uses them in an inappropriate way but to those in appropriate ways do not affect the truth of what the terms mean.
WoW i BeT tHaT yOu’Re GrEaT aT pArTiEs
So what I got from this is that saying “retarded” makes one sound… retarded. Got it
I’m offended by the word “stupid”. I want a public apology this instant.
No one is going to read this, but understand that this is something you can’t change. Actually, the more you let people know how “stupid” it makes us look (it doesn’t, it just makes us look like we don’t care what other people think about us), the more we want to use it. We KNOW it’s offensive, and that makes it powerful in a social context. Hence why you don’t call anyone “dumbo” if you’re seeing-red pissed at them.
So you can’t change it. How will it change? More offensive, hurtful words will come along to replace them. We are humans, when we are angered enough we will do horrible things. Using words is one of the least damaging, but still satisfying, things that we can do without actually whooping someone’s ass.
And before someone says that it’s disparaging to mentally disabled people, realize that when I hear “retard” I think of someone who is stupid, not mentally challenged. Word meanings change, despite their origin. The use of the n-word (with an a), for example, has gone from racial epithet to a edgier, more satisfying variant of “dude” for black people. Gay used to mean happy, then it meant homosexual, then it also meant unfortunate/sucks/lame, now it’s coming back to just meaning homosexual.
I retract my first statement – you CAN change this. If you actually refer to the mentally disabled as “retarded” again, we’ll think of the mentally disabled instead of thinking of a non-disabled person who is acting stupid. Right now, “retarded” is dumb, but with more of a punch to it. You can’t phase it out, you can only replace it with something stronger, or make it mean something else.
Sticks and stones may break my bones, but words will never hurt me. WTF happened to the world? Why is everyone such a sensitive little b!7ch? Last time I checked “retarded” meant slow…not delayed. So actually when you say “Are you retarded” You’re actually saying “Are you slow” which is very much close to saying “Stupid”, but hell either one is offensive so why even care? The point the person is trying to make is an offensive one, so their point is loud and clear. Maybe dumb@$$ is better??
Or maybe say “Damn, you’re really being a Meriah Nichols right now.
Hi Meriah,
I appreciate you voicing your opinion but do not agree with it. I am surprised by the venom in the comment section however. It appears you have touched a sore spot by trying to control others thoughts and speech and they are not happy about it. I understand your pain that your children are struggling but it would be better for them to accept their limitations and just do the best they can instead of pretending there are no issues. Even “normal” people have issues we all have to deal with. To expect everyone else to pretend your kids are normal is not reasonable. It is nice if others are considerate of your children’s feelings but you can not force them and trying to punish them for their opinions just makes them more angry just as it does you. I stumbled across your site trying to find some background info since I am trying to date a retard. She is cute but it has it’s challenges.
Never read something so retarded….. I think this article made me retarded. One thing I know for sure… The author IS retarded.
This article is retarded. Tl;dr for one. Two? Nobody fucking cares. People, including myself, will keep using the word. You’re so self entitled that you had to make a whole article about YOUR opinion. Stfu.
I’m a retard. You’re a retard. Everyone is retarded.
3. Quit Saying “Retarded” At All!
GREAT POINT – who T…. F….. do you teach? are they retarded? BET THEY ARE!!! Because they are ‘taught’ by a lady who couldn’t commit to using correct grammar on a pretty basic (but polarising) 3 point web rant!!!!! I love the word RETARDED – here is what it means – not what you think it should mean by the way….delay or hold back in terms of progress or development – whoop!!! there it is!!! and YOU are certainly helping to delay or hold back with grammar that bad (point 3 again – in case you drifted off watching ‘the big bang theory’). So go ahead- place ‘LEGO’ on my floor – the word is already both singular and plural – so its not ‘LEGOS’ by the way- you really aren’t doing that well here!!
Anyway I’ve had enough ‘authority-trolling with an education’ – that’s like normal trolling but it’s actually policing all the idiots who call themselves teachers when they failed to achieve learner status in the first place.
Have you read my rant about topics like this? No? that’s because I know where my limits are so I don’t tackle what is way over my head – and I am still learning – maybe you could too, or at the very least… you could re write this and clean up the internet just the tiniest bit? The internet is full or utter cr*p like this – it needs lots more work – and you know it.
Up to you.
Really? Don’t tell me what words I can and can’t use. I like using the word retard as an insult. I know a lot of people who are actually intellectually disabled, I refer to them as retards to my friends because that is what they are, I do not care what it technically means, I don’t care about politically correct, the people I’ve met who are intellectually disabled need a lot of assistance in life and to me, that makes them stupid or retarded and yeah, to me retarded does mean stupid or delayed because, guess what? They rely on other people and don’t have to work or anything because they are too stupid to understand how to work or how to find their way home. That isn’t intelligent, though it’s not their fault, they mentally cannot function without help and they cannot learn more, one of them is in their 40’s, the other in their 60’s, and the other is almost in their 50’s and they have the brains of little kids with damaged brains. Yes, that is retarded. And I do not care if someone gets offended, which they will. I do not care if Retarded is an old word or offensive to others. I don’t care. And if you were to tell me in person to pick another word, I’d laugh right in your face and deliberately call you a retard! I am an adult, don’t tell me what to do. I like to make fun of “retards” or intellectually disabled as well. Just today actually, a group of retards took a trip to Walgreens for some reason, they got uncomfortably close to other customers because their retarded brains don’t understand personal space, I literally had to shove two of the retards out of my way because they were just standing right behind me drooling on themselves because their brains don’t work correctly!! Just thinking about it makes me mad. And you can think you’re a “good person” a “considerate person” all you want. But I can just tell you now, from the article of yours I read, I really don’t like you. I do not. Retards/people with disabilities are burdens on society, that’s it. You should spend your time advocating for real people, not people with damaged brains.
If you look up the definition of retarded. It literally says stupid. So how can it not mean that if thats what it means? ??
Go ahead and look up the word retarded and tell everyone what the second definition says. How can it not mean what it actually means dumbass
u sound like a retarded liberal
Said the Retard herself.
Well i can certainly that most women are very retarded these days, the way they act with us men. Where are the Normal women?
Oddly enough my son had his RA at Penn State tell him “We don’t use the R word here” when he told someone a five minute penalty he was given during a hockey game was retarded since the player was obviosly embellishing from a legit offense that would be a minor- 2 minute penalty. Two majors is a 2 game suspension so he didn’t play the 3rd period to ensure his fate was out of this particular refs hands.
I’m wondering which word this global nomad (globally nomadic? doesn’t sound like a stable environment for special needs children – or a cat) would suggest.
So… our sentence needs to be a direct attack on the refs ability to quickly and objectively decide if a rule was violated along with the defined penalty in minutes while taking any llong term consequences that the player might incur. To do this, we need to make his juditiary prudence to something we would expect it from. We need a pejorative… Let’s list a few, cause lists are good ammaright?
1. Stupid. Hmm. Stupid isn’t tricky or innocent. A stupid person has a significant lack of intelligence, also associated with lack of common sense. Since there are people in this world who, at no fault of their own, fit into both categories the “S” word is out. Meriah, you should know better!! Stupid people cannot help they were not born with your intellect and it’s wrong of you to compare them to the ignorant people who use the R word. It’s hurtful, so just stop! Let’s work together to find something that works, ok?
2. What about some old-school pejoratives my old man used? He said I was a Moron, imbecile and an idiot more times than I can fingers. But we have a problem: These are not subjective. The American Institution for Idiotic and Feeble-Minded Persons (yes, that is not a joke) created these terms themselves to describe very specific IQ ranges. Since IQ is a scale of intelligence and these categories are naming the lowest ranges. We’ve determined stupid also means lack of intelligence – the M and double I words have to go away – don’t say those Meriah. OK? Let’s move on.
3. Let’s try Retarded: Hmmm – we might be on to something here. Retard does indeed mean slow with no connotation both negative or positive. It’s nuetral. A fire extinguishers main ingredient is a fire retardant. Radiant Thermal Retardation will occur when used on a fire. Mental Retardation can occur from too many of whatever my son did to other players head. Wait – so retardation is clearly not the offensive word since we need to specify WHAT has been retarded. I think we are almost there!
Obviously my son was saying exactly what he meant. He felt the ref was making decisions he would expect if a slack jawed moron were officiating the game. He felt the ref was performing the job with the same degree of skill as a mentally retarded person. My son drives like I would expect a mentally retarded person to drive – hence I think that moron shouldn’t be driving in congested areas. He’s an 18yo with the common sense of a imbecile.
Both you and my son share a character defect: a foot-in-mouth disorder and a splash of social justice because ya know kEwL. It’s idotic to say a word was re-appropriated, is so totally over and be literally axed from the English language. I have some social advise for you. Don’t be stupid and call a retarded kid a retard. At the same time, please don’t let him drive or referee a hockey game either. Let’s not pretend that an person with the IQ of an idiot (official term for lowest IQ range) can be an ice hockey referee – it could yield terrible results and possibly penalties that do not exist at all. “Number battlebot go to the corner for 2 hour dollars because you didn’t hug me”. That would just be silly, we can agree on that, right? You and my son sometimes go full retard and it’s not your fault, but you should never go full retard.
I Have Spoken
when someone is called retarded. they are literally saying they are stupid and not in a good way and summing it up. thank you for thinking you have the social platform and ability to literally call anyone who disagrees with you a uneducated retard. slap yourself. retard.
I’ma GAY RETARD my privilege points are over 9000!!!!!
There is no God at all. And even if he did exist which he would be very severely mentally Retarded for creating a real messed up world like this to begin with.
This stupid page and everyone on it (except wonderful me) is ignorant,, illiterate, naive, and yes, RETARDED, starting with the ugly libtard p.c. joo tard sissy puke puddle who typed it all up!
“Liberals” do NOT ever attempt to do or “change” anything for the better for ANYONE, except THEMSELVES!
All they want are VOTES and they WILL stoop to ANY low to get them, even by letting/forcing us to take in filthy, WORTHLESS, useless, disease carrying/spreading moronic illiterate, inbred, ignorant, brainwashed minority dirtbag terrorists!
Democrap libertards ARE what IS wrong with the USA, Pelosi, Clinton, Sanders ARE all mentally deranged socialist/communistic morons who SHOULD be kicked out of the country ASAP, as should all of their little brainwashed illiterate inbred warped minded parroting followers who only seem to ever know how to repeat the total B.S. propaganda that CNN (Commie or Clinton “News” Network) spews out and tells them to repeat over and over!
The word RETARDED is ALSO used when referring to damaged or crossthreaded threads on a screw or bolt that you or someone else messed up, which I think is where the term “he/she has a screw loose” came from!
What else is RETARDED, are J.A.P. who misspell their stupid joo names thinking it sounds right!
“Meriah’s”(sic) mom is?/was? obviously illiterate, since the PROPER spellings are either Mariah or Marriah with a fucking A, not an E!
And I’m willing to bet it’s a man-hating J.A.P. dyke, too!
What NORMAL thinking White man could ever climb on top of that hideous mooseface and say to himself “Oh yeah, this giant dicknosed, humongous Jay Leno chinned, billboard sized Christina Ricci foreheaded libertard is soooo hot!”
Not I, that’s for one!
Using the word RETARDED i not only FUNNY, but it IS NORMAL in the REAL world, outside of the joo/hipster/preppie/sissy-pussy fagtard “world” where us REAL and NORMAL people reside!
I don’t know ANYONE who DOESN’T use the word at least once per day!
It fits so many things/places/people quite PERFECTLY and as such it WILL remain in use as long as the world exists!
My eldest brother has a retarded son, he knows his kid is retarded and IS the FIRST one to warn you “Hey! Watch out, you better run or brace for impact!, My adult son is RETARDED and WILL hug the shit outta you!”
Or when my “nephew” goes on one of it’s vocal tangents (NOBODY ha any clue WTF it’s trying to say), my bro will look at him, than at you, start laughing and go “Ha! He has no clue WTF he’s saying, he’s RETARDED!”
ANYONE who gets offended on behalf of some word you heard, than you just NEED to go eat a big giant bag of dicks, ASAP!
Find a sack as big as Meriah’s dickschnoz!
ANYONE who gets bent over some affliction or disease which THEY themselves DO NOT EVEN HAVE needs to go eat aids filled dicks ASAP while jumping off the tallest building around!
So go cry to your mama who can’t spell back in Israel, ya mentally RETARDED Snorlax lookin butchtard!!!!
I am amazed at the lengths that you have gone to get this comment out there. Truly. And spelling my name correctly: thank you!
how bout ignore those people and go on about your life, your just butt hurt that someone hates something and you liked it. Have ya ever heard of the 1st amendment bud? That also applies to the people.
Actually retarded reasons… as expected…
Well it is real fact that we have so many very severely mentally retarded women all over the place these days, and they really are very extremely dangerous as well. MGTOW is a real lifesaver today.
bruh, words change meaning. Did you not know this? Words mean different things, and we give words new meanings? It makes you look stupid to judge others intelligence by a word they use. Take the word gay, it used to mean happy, still does, but no one uses it like that anymore. Stop living in the past. (Also, there is correlation between stupid, and retarded)
Okay, old post but the word is still used as a descriptor of a learning impaired person. Look up “mentally retarded” in Merriam Webster, it’s there, with the meaning. Yes, there may be newer more P.C. terms, but lets face the fact, pc is an opinion. Fat is fat, blind is blind and retarded is retarded, just because it hurts some people feelings does not make any of these untrue. I happen to resemble the “fat” description, myself, and someone saying “no, your just a little over-weight” does not make it any less true. If your IQ is 65, you may be a little slow, disabled, or whatever word doesn’t make you feel as bad, but you are still retarded in comparison to a person with average capabilities, and if you get hurt because of a word, well that just proves my point.
This is retarded.
I’ve never read a dumber article. Why the hell would anyone publish this trash? I’d fucking kill myself if a wrote this, because I understand shame.
@Gethelplady, this is the greatest thing i have read today and yes, i know it was a year ago. well done sir.
Yikes..
Contrary to most of the comments here, i do greatly appreciate this article.
I’m sorry for all of the hate you’ve received- it is not deserved in the slightest.
lol simply retarded political correctness is just like the stupidity of this dumb ass article
The real reason: It hurts your feelings. But you don't want to appear weak even though you bash Hollywood for not "allowing you to be human." Which is completely hypocritical.
Just look how very retarded Jesus was, and still is today.
This article is retarded and so is it’s author.
@Kerr Avon, Then they wonder why the aliens don’t come to earth.
This article is retarded. Haha
Stupid is derogatory while retard is accurate. If I retard my engine it means to slow it down, if you are retarded it means you are slower than most people. People who have learning disabilities are generally retarded. So to call them stupid would just be mean, and derogatory. To call them retards would be proper English.
kinda disagree with point 1. The word isnt outdated it never was because it’s still in use in many countries by many people. So, meriah this makes you also……kinda stupid
I am offended by the word taking the Lord’s name in vain, but people still use it!! So when will you write an article about that…..hmmmmm? When will it be wrong to curse my God?
When will you?
If it was important, you would…
All of the comments I have read, have intentionally left out the elephant in the room. The word is associated most frequently with the mentally disabled, as an extremely negative description of them or others. It has been mainly used to hurt and belittle others.
Anyone stating it is a medical term, is missing the bigger picture and stretching for a reason to continue to use it. There are other medical terms that can be used in place of the word, as is the case for the other non-medical areas that it is used in. The use of it as a medical term by those that are not using it in a medical environment, is not an answer, but instead only a poor excuse.
As has been stated previously, the N-Word has been historically used in a similar manner, mainly to hurt and belittle others and society has finally recognized it as such. One African American saying it to another African American is significantly different than another race saying it to an African American and if one doesn’t understand the difference, then you have to seriously ask yourself why you don’t. Why one couldn’t understand the pain and suffering associated with that word, during times of slavery and how that pain and suffering has echoed throughout their generations and will to come.
While the mentally disabled didn’t suffer the same atrocities as African Americans, the mentally disabled has suffered their own throughout history, as have many other groups and while this cannot be erased or forgotten, we as a society recognize and change all that we can, to give all the respect and honor, equal to that of all.
It isn’t about how you can justify the use of a word here and there but what it represents overall.
On getting a thick skin, I am absolutely sure that there are words that if pushed upon you, long and hard enough, they would get a reaction from you too. What would be your answer? Fight? Call the other person something rude and belittling in return? Or educate that other person?
Some here are just immature, looking for a reaction. So deprived of attention that they create a venue to receive whatever attention they can and find it entertaining. A lack of parenting, a lack of social interactions, not good or bad, just a lack of… I am not here for name calling, quite the opposite in fact.
When a mental disability has hit home, then one usually opens their eyes to it and what all it entails. Its the people with the least amount of personal knowledge that have the least amount of understanding.