Nobody’s “associating” anything. Nobody who’s calling someone retarded has any thoughts in their head about people with the mental disorder. If you called them a downie, then you would probably have a point; as it’s specifically worded to relate to downs syndrome.
But “retard” has come to be an amplification of the word “idiot”. It’s like the words big, bigger, biggest.
It’s the “biggest” of “idiot”.
So if I’m gonna call someone an idiot, my levels of idiot are: Idiot, Dumb-ass, and Retard. I’m just calling them the word that corresponds to being a gargantuan idiot. You can’t use “gargantuan” because they don’t even know what the words mean; so you use retard.
hey I have a question: how does everyone feel about “fucktard”? is that acceptable? it’s not a direct insult to persons with developmental disabilities, but it does have a fairly specific connotation that could be useful in certain situations, plus it throws out an F-bomb to emphasize your anger.
but if that’s too offensive for some folks I guess I can just keep using “fuckmouth”, if that’s easier on the ears.
Nobody who’s calling someone retarded has any thoughts in their head about people with the mental disorder.
Right, except for the part where that’s the literal definition of the word. The literal definition.
The people who were diagnosed as ‘retarded’ as children and adults are still alive. It’s living memory. You think they don’t have any thoughts in their head about mental disorders?
Right, because it was being used as a slur. They stopped using that word to define those conditions because it was being used as a slur. Thanks for the good faith argument.
They stopped using that word because it wasn’t descriptive. The same reason they stopped diagnosing women as “hysterical”. That’s the cool thing about the sciences; they evolve and change over time to be more descriptive, not less.
And now, we use the word hysterical to describe certain things…kinda cool how that works, right? When I call something hysterical (extremely funny) - people don’t get offended and say I’m using a slur.
Or when someone is losing their shit, you say they’re acting hysterical. It’s become a descriptor.
Why are we changing the term “mental retardation” to “intellectual disability”?
The term “intellectual disability” is gradually replacing the term “mental retardation” nationwide. Advocates for individuals with intellectual disability have rightfully asserted that the term “mental retardation” has negative connotations, has become offensive to many people, and often results in misunderstandings about the nature of the disorder and those who have it.
Gradually?? I don’t think the r word has been directly related to mental disability the entire time I’ve been alive, and I’m not exactly young… You’re just choosing to take offense, which is white-knighting for the disabled when they’re not even being insulted… Kinda’ … extremely lame of you…
Oh wait, being lame used to be a health disorder! Guess I’m offending you again…
if someone is stupid, and making objectively stupid decisions, it would be fair to call them “developmentally challenged” especially if that person is donald trump, and the stupid decision is tariffs.
Would it also be fair to call him a retard? Yes.
should you? Probably not, would it be justified, yes.
It’s only really fucked up if you’re using it belittle and demean someone, though there are also situations where this is deserved. Morals and ethics aren’t really a solid ground to stand on, more so a floating mass of garbage in the ocean, that just sort of, showed up one day.
Right… we’re all here in this thread because Joe Rogan says we should say the word. That it’s good for our culture. I’m suggesting that we probably shouldn’t say the word. That it’s bad for our culture.
i don’t even necessarily disagree with that argument. I just don’t think it’s really all that relevant. I’m not even sure most people would disagree with it.
Obviously you should be nice to people, you probably shouldn’t be an asshole, and you should help them as much as possible, but like, how many of us actually do that?
It’s sort of like telling someone who smokes, that it’s bad for them, they know, you don’t need to remind them.
Maybe try to come up with a more creative way to insult people than by using a slur?
This is the same logic behind saying the f-slur is okay if you’re not using it to describe gay people, you’re just using it to insult a straight person… by comparing them to gay people. See the problem?
I don’t understand how so many people fail to see what you’re saying and have downvoted your comment so much. I think it’s a lot of millennials (I’m one) who have funny memories growing up calling things retarded and gay and they’re just… unwilling to give it up now. It’s not that hard to use other words.
I agree. It’s all emotional and irrational. Even if you’re making a good point, you get downvoted because it’s an emotional response. Similarly, someone saying something stupid but in line with the general sentiment gets upvoted. Sucks to see it here.
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Right. You’re calling ‘that fucker’, ‘retarded.’ You see ‘a fucker’, and you decide to call them ‘a person with developmental challenges’.
You’re associating ‘people with developmental challenges’, with ‘fuckers’. Don’t.
Nobody’s “associating” anything. Nobody who’s calling someone retarded has any thoughts in their head about people with the mental disorder. If you called them a downie, then you would probably have a point; as it’s specifically worded to relate to downs syndrome.
But “retard” has come to be an amplification of the word “idiot”. It’s like the words big, bigger, biggest.
It’s the “biggest” of “idiot”.
So if I’m gonna call someone an idiot, my levels of idiot are: Idiot, Dumb-ass, and Retard. I’m just calling them the word that corresponds to being a gargantuan idiot. You can’t use “gargantuan” because they don’t even know what the words mean; so you use retard.
hey I have a question: how does everyone feel about “fucktard”? is that acceptable? it’s not a direct insult to persons with developmental disabilities, but it does have a fairly specific connotation that could be useful in certain situations, plus it throws out an F-bomb to emphasize your anger.
but if that’s too offensive for some folks I guess I can just keep using “fuckmouth”, if that’s easier on the ears.
fuck mouth might be too insensitive for those of us who have or don’t have sex, so basically all of humanity actually.
I’m rolling dude! haha
Right, except for the part where that’s the literal definition of the word. The literal definition.
The people who were diagnosed as ‘retarded’ as children and adults are still alive. It’s living memory. You think they don’t have any thoughts in their head about mental disorders?
“Retarded” isn’t a medical definition under IDC-11, so they aren’t retarded, as the medical definitions have changed.
Also Retarded has another standard definition – Being held back or stunted of which applies here.
Right, because it was being used as a slur. They stopped using that word to define those conditions because it was being used as a slur. Thanks for the good faith argument.
They stopped using that word because it wasn’t descriptive. The same reason they stopped diagnosing women as “hysterical”. That’s the cool thing about the sciences; they evolve and change over time to be more descriptive, not less.
And now, we use the word hysterical to describe certain things…kinda cool how that works, right? When I call something hysterical (extremely funny) - people don’t get offended and say I’m using a slur.
Or when someone is losing their shit, you say they’re acting hysterical. It’s become a descriptor.
Hey hey hey, let’s not use incontinence as an insult my dude.
Fuck. Foiled again.
Thanks for the totally good faith argument.
Gradually?? I don’t think the r word has been directly related to mental disability the entire time I’ve been alive, and I’m not exactly young… You’re just choosing to take offense, which is white-knighting for the disabled when they’re not even being insulted… Kinda’ … extremely lame of you…
Oh wait, being lame used to be a health disorder! Guess I’m offending you again…
if someone is stupid, and making objectively stupid decisions, it would be fair to call them “developmentally challenged” especially if that person is donald trump, and the stupid decision is tariffs.
Would it also be fair to call him a retard? Yes.
should you? Probably not, would it be justified, yes.
It’s only really fucked up if you’re using it belittle and demean someone, though there are also situations where this is deserved. Morals and ethics aren’t really a solid ground to stand on, more so a floating mass of garbage in the ocean, that just sort of, showed up one day.
So, we agree that you probably shouldn’t use the word?
yeah, probably shouldn’t doesn’t mean you can’t though.
Just because you probably shouldn’t yell at people, or swear at them, doesn’t mean you can’t or won’t.
Not everything in this world is a binary, sometimes it’s situationally appropriate, sometimes it’s not, sometimes it’s in between.
Right… we’re all here in this thread because Joe Rogan says we should say the word. That it’s good for our culture. I’m suggesting that we probably shouldn’t say the word. That it’s bad for our culture.
i don’t even necessarily disagree with that argument. I just don’t think it’s really all that relevant. I’m not even sure most people would disagree with it.
Obviously you should be nice to people, you probably shouldn’t be an asshole, and you should help them as much as possible, but like, how many of us actually do that?
It’s sort of like telling someone who smokes, that it’s bad for them, they know, you don’t need to remind them.
If a famous celebrity tells people that smoking is good for them, should that go unchallenged?
that’s factually incorrect and misinformation, so yes, it should be challenged.
I’m not saying that the word retard is a good thing for society though.
Lmao, that’s a stretch.
Maybe try to come up with a more creative way to insult people than by using a slur?
This is the same logic behind saying the f-slur is okay if you’re not using it to describe gay people, you’re just using it to insult a straight person… by comparing them to gay people. See the problem?
No, because I’m not calling anybody a faggot.
Just so you know. (I’m guessing you weren’t removing it yourself for a joke.)
So you understand why it’s bad to use a slur that way?
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Reclaiming a slur to describe oneself is a very, very different matter from using it to insult others.
i dont always use it to insult others, and nothing would stop me from using the f slur with my friend group either, gay or not.
You could make the argument that it is offensive to use the word, but that’s kind of the point. (not to any specific group of people though)
I don’t understand how so many people fail to see what you’re saying and have downvoted your comment so much. I think it’s a lot of millennials (I’m one) who have funny memories growing up calling things retarded and gay and they’re just… unwilling to give it up now. It’s not that hard to use other words.
It’s honestly very disappointing to see this here on Lemmy. I’d expect this from Reddit, but I thought people here were better than this.
Yes. This place and this post in particular is in dire need of mod action.
I agree. It’s all emotional and irrational. Even if you’re making a good point, you get downvoted because it’s an emotional response. Similarly, someone saying something stupid but in line with the general sentiment gets upvoted. Sucks to see it here.