Why we should all stop using "the R-word"

Derek Quenneville

When “retarded” is used as a pejorative, people should be able to tell from context that the insult is not directed at people who are actually retarded.

It’s got nothing to do with them – same way that calling someone or something “dumb” has nothing to do with mute people.

Oscar_Littlelad

Oh, please. All this is a bit rich coming from a multi-millionaire whose obscene fortune comes from a television career amounting to little more than a decade of belittling his fellow characters with ‘funny’ gender insults. The retard.

Baldhead

I vote for replacing “retard” with “Sarah Palin”

Anonymous

I usually say “that’s cracked out,” “that’s some crackhead shit.” As in, “your thinking is similar in quality to that of a person who is intoxicated on crack cocaine.”

Antinous / Moderator

Bringing up Hitler in a discussion about 20th Century European politics or the rise of the British National Party is not invoking Godwin’s Law. Referring to someone as a Nazi because you don’t like what they’re saying is the quintessence of Godwin.

timbearcub

Hmm as others have said retard isn’t used in the UK, and has other uses, I think unless you actually use it against someone with a disability then it’s fairly mild; the Spastics Society became MIND though for this very reason here but children are cruel and so pick up other things – like ‘gay’/'ghey’. Hard to stop; although polite gentle positive reinforcement & humour/mocking is good.

It does bother me slightly as a gay man if someone does that around me (I’m out, so I do find it a bit rude), but if I work somewhere and people keep dropping itderogatorily I just start saying ‘oh that’s SO Straight!’. They soon stop :-P

timbearcub

oh and +1 on the hating euphemisms – I had to read for ages to work out what R-word was. I was thinking Republican for a while :-P

I really hate it when people say ‘passed away’ ‘he’s asleep now’ ‘gone over to the other side’ (what to Tescos? eh?). Sorry, they are dead. I don’t even refer to my (long) dead mother as ‘passed away’. She’s dead. Don’t couch it, don’t fluffy it, words are not going to make me dissolve in a heap…I almost wish I could will people to have to refer to me as ‘kicked the bucket’ when I die as revenge ;-)

anansi133

Plenty of folks can recognize violent language when they hear it, and I wouldn’t associate with anyone who’d say “avttre” in talking about a black person, any more than I’d associate with someone who’d use “retard” to insult a Down’s kid.

But there’s another angle to this, the willingness for people within a minority group to invite themselves into victimhood when some kinds of slang are used. Any time someone uses the word “crazy” to describe a situation, I could choose to educate them about mental health issues, ot I can decide that the word simply doesn’t apply to me.

When the autistic kid in my family acts out, I will call him an “idiot child” sometimes- he matches the profile, after all… but I’d rather use a word that connects him with the people with Asperger’s that I know, and others on that spectrum. It’s not retarded behavior, but can be very irritating.

Retarded ejaculation seems to be increasing among males- I wonder if the day will come when calling someone a retard means that they can’t come very easily.

joeposts

The “R” word is just like the “N” word – don’t use it around people who are actually R’s and N’s and it’s ok, amirite? /sarcasm

Rectifier

Interesting… I read this purely because I missed the words “down syndrome” and thought the “R-word” in question was “racist”.

Unfortunately the post was entirely on the other side, the politically correct side.

Here I was hoping the world had grown out of PC and was starting to stop throwing the word “racist” around at anyone who gets in a fight with someone who also happens to be of a minority group…

The quote also perfectly describes the practice of calling “racist” on people – “”Verbally assaulting those who have done absolutely nothing wrong and cannot even begin to defend themselves, is an exponentially more egregious transgression” than using slurs against people who could, say, punch you right in the piehole for being a bigot.”

As it is impossible to stand and defend yourself against claims that you are being a “racist”, whereas if you are genuinely being bigoted to someone, the best response would indeed, be a punch in the face from the offended party themself!

Seriously, we’ve all heard enough about Canada’s “human rights commission” kangaroo courts, and their abuses of free speech rights.

With respect to this topic – Come on people – words are just words, especially in the internet age. If you have an issue with words – take it up with fists.

Anonymous

This whole debate is so Down’s Syndrome.

Antinous / Moderator

What a trisomy 21 comment.

Anonymous

Developmentally challenged people weren’t always called “retarded.” That word came to be used after a huge PR/Marketing/Educational campaign was launched nationwide to encourage the use of that word, rather than call developmentally challenged people such offending terms as “dumb” or “stupid”. I’m too lazy to look up when exactly this campaign happened, but I think it may have been in the 1960′s. (Before my time, and probably before the time of most of the readers of Boing Boing.) I’d love to see Boing Boing publish a history of the word “retard” and how it came to used in the United States, and throw a bit of illumination on this contentious subject instead of just more fuel for the flames.

Anonymous

I understand the concern, and don’t think it is appropriate. However, I believe the original re-use of the word was precisely because other, more-PC terms (mentally handicapped, etc.) had completely overtaken the R word’s reference to the handicapped. It was an abandoned word, and during the Bush years, sometimes a stronger word than backward or foolish is needed to describe the epic fail all around us. Alternatives, anyone?

_OM_

…After reading this tirade, all I’ve got to say is that I will continue to use the word “retard” when it is totally applicable. I.e, when someone acts like a retard, they will be called as such. As for the “n-word argument”, why use that word when “retard” happens to work just fine?

Bottom Line: You know what “Political Correctness” is? It’s Orwell’s Newspeak in its first stages of implementation. Which is why it needs to be stopped dead in its tracks before it does doubleplusbad ungood.

Anonymous

Give me a fking break. Your speech isn’t being censored. You need to choose to be considerate and respectful. If you choose not to be, that says more about you than about anyone you are targeting intentionally, or otherwise. There is a reason 100,000 people signed the petition, because people they love are being discriminated against

shadowfirebird

I’m with those that don’t understand why it’s okay to call non-mentally-disabled people retarded.

If you call someone with mental problems retarded, that at least is an accurate description, if a rather insensitive one. If you call someone else retarded, you are insulting people with mental problems.

It’s not the *word*, folks, it’s the *idea* — that those with conditions that effect their mental state can only fuck up, that they are people who are fit for ridicule and abuse. *That’s* what is objectionable.

joeposts

“I’m with those that don’t understand why it’s okay to call non-mentally-disabled people retarded.”

Lets see if I can explain. According to 90% of posters, it’s acceptable because:

A) Comedians and comedy writers say it’s ok. They are the philospher kings of our generation.

B) It’s not like “avttre” or other old racial insults because being developmentally delayed is a bad thing. Those people ARE stupid ALL the time, right? So we use “retarded” to describe normal people who merely acting stupid.

C) Some people with disabilities use the word “retard” so it’s ok for the rest of us to use it; just like how some ethnic minorities use racial epithets makes it acceptable for the rest of us to use those words.

D) It’s ok to say “retard” as long as there are no actual retards around to hear it.

E) It’s the fault of people with disabilities that they get offended. They should toughen up, since people will hurt their feelings no matter what.

F) The PC Liberul Nazis are trying to CONTROL MY LANGUAGE AND THEY MUST BE TRAMPED OUT BEFORE IT BECOMES 1984!!!

G) “Retard” is no different than “disabled,” or “differently abled,” or “mentally challenged,” or “handicapped.” We should keep using “retard” to keep people from using those OTHER words as insults.

H) People who use the word “retard” to insult people are like the Nazis who misused the swastika (#36′s point). For example, it’s ok to draw swastikas on a synagogue, because it’s actually an ancient good-luck symbol, and obviously the person is just wishing the Jews good luck. If Jews get offended, they should stop acting like symbol-nazis. The word “retard” is older than the insult “retard,” so anyone who wants to stop me from saying it is a word nazi aiming to change the dictionary AND CONTROL MY MIND UNTIL IT’S LIKE 1984!!!!

I) “Retardation” is a medical term, still occasionally used in the field. It’s no different than “moron,” “idiot,” or “imbecile.” If people with disabilities identify with the word it’s their own fault for not changing with the times.

J) We use the word “gay” and “fag” all the time. Just because gay people occasionally get offended doesn’t mean the people using the insults are against gay people. It’s obvious because they usually use these words to denigrate straight people by comparing them to gays. Likewise, “retard” is only ok if we use it to denigrate people without disabilities. People with disabilities should know that nobody means to insult them when they compare a “normal” persons’ actions to their uncontrollable behaviour.

K) Saying “retard” is better than saying “avttre” (#47) because they mean the same thing.

L) Context is everything! Obviously if we’re using “retard” to describe normal people acting like retards, it’s ok because they’re not actually retarded.

M) It’s pointless to try to be polite or sensitive because people will always pick on people with disabilities.

N) Nobody in their right mind actually uses “retard” to describe “one of these people.” People with disabilities should show sympathy to the ones who do insult them, because they are truly retarded.

O) People never used “retard” or “retarded” to insult a person with a mental abnormality, and never will. But people do use it to insult idiots who clearly have all their faculties yet persist in egregiously atavistic, stupid behaviours. Behaviours that people with disabilities usually exhibit (#69).

P) “Everyone acts retarded on occasion” (#81). Just because we consider certain behaviours to be associated with people with disabilities doesn’t mean they have the right to get insulted because of our prejudices.

Q) 4chan users use it all the time.

Anonymous

When I speak of those with Downs syndrome I call them downs, or “special”, or mentally handicapped, or differently abled, or disabled…

When I speak of retarded idiots, or in other words, people of normal intellect and ability who act like retards, I call them retards.

Seriously who still calls “special” folks retards? (I mean other than that hilarious Family guy episode with the retarded girl who looked like Sarah Palin)

hijukal

The South Park episode “The F Word” already nailed this on its head.

The word has taken on a life of its own and depending on the context there is no reason anyone should stop using it. Calling someone with Down Syndrome–or other mental “disabilities”–is bad. Calling your friend a retard because he stepped on a nail is fine… unless he has a “disability” as I just mentioned.

Also, the word “retard” does have other meanings, so why stop using it altogether?

Anonymous

You know what is really fun? Being out in the community with someone who happens to have a cognitive disability and then seeing their face crash. You listen until you hear the group of girls saying “Oh, all your friends are retards!” “No, all of YOUR friends are retards!” Then you tell them to STFU. It’s unreal how often people use words just whenever without even thinking about who is around or who they could be hurting.

snakedart

I never use the r-word to refer to the developmentally disabled. I reserve it for the willfully stupid.

“Retarded” was one of my handicapped brother’s favorite terms for something he found dumb. (He had muscular dystrophy).

nosarembo

People. It’s spelt “ghey”, not “gay”.

zumdish

OK, spelling ‘gay’ as ‘ghey’ is f-wording r-worded.

moniker42

I used to say this all the time, specifically about the word retarded, that it was considerably more offensive than other derogtory remarks because people with down syndrome are uniquely unable to do anything about their status as specially abled. Later, after years of political correctness drove me insane, I redacted this position, but I suppose I will make a concerted effort to be more verbally sympathetic.

theawesomerobot

I have a mentally handicapped relative, so I can relate to the feeling behind this – though, I think vilifying a word so much just gives it more power, and well, that’s just retarded.

boxlightbox

this was little confusing. is this discussing the idea that we shouldn’t call special needs people retarded? or the idea of calling a non-handicapped person retarded?
cessation of the word at all ever? I don’t think that word should’ve ever been used to describe a special needs person at all. you don’t call someone slow.

and i agree it’s wrong as far as calling someone a ‘retard’ or ‘retarded’ but it doesnt strike the same chord as calling a thing or action retarded.

also, see Louis CK on the word fag in “chewed up”

Anonymous

I sort of feel the same way about using ‘gay’ as a term of derision (in spite of quite enjoying the South Park episode about it).

As a big, burly gay man I can, and probably will, punch someone in the face for bandying the term about in an offensive manner. However, the teen, tween–or hell, elementary school kid–who’s struggling with confusion about their own sexual identity isn’t in the same position.

And though they may someday become a big, burly gay man just like me, the association between ‘gay’ the flip term of derision, and ‘gay’ the identity they struggled with as a child, will surely last.

In conclusion: won’t somebody think of the children?

maitrix

“Handicapped” and “retarded” really mean the same thing in a utilitarian sense, as in “He was handicapped by …” can also mean “He was retarded by …” However, as a brown woman, I fully understand Connotation and Implication.

While it is impolite to refer to a mentally-handicapped person as retarded, how about using it on mentally-unhandicapped folks who do stupid things?

What about “lame,” while we are at it?

naamme

There was a good response article to this in the Chicago Reader a couple of weeks ago:

http://www.chicagoreader.com/chicago/rahm-emanuel-sarah-palin-family-guy-retard-disabilities/Content?oid=1467084

Ito Kagehisa

Thank you, naamme. I found McGinley’s article incomprehensible. The article you linked made vastly more sense.

Anonymous

Mental retardation and down syndrome are often comorbid. Mental retardation is defined as having an IQ that is more than 2 standard deviations under the average.
There is absolutely nothing wrong with using the word “retardation” in the clinical sense. However, as a pejorative it is so not cool. I hope people understand the relationship between context and semantics because ignorant PC policing just breeds more ignorance.

Anonymous

Joeposts, you are my favorite. But you forgot the “I don’t think the intellectually disabled are offended by it, despite this post linking to a website where many of them get offended by it.”

Anonymous

I cannot disagree with this blog post more.

‘Retard’ is in the dictionary as someone who is obtuse or socially/mentally inept. I’m not calling a politician mentally impaired when he does something stupid, I’m calling him a retard because he is being retarded and wasting my time.

You can start being offended by what people say when people start going around saying ‘Fool, you are totally Downsyndromed.’

This post is retarded.

wordtipping

I think this is taking things a bit far, but you know if you want to effect this change then suggest an alternate word.

I say this as someone who has participated and encouraged people to quit saying “gay”. How? I say “beat” instead and convince others to do the same. So, instead of saying, “That is so gay!”, I instead say “That is so beat”.

Its contrived and silly but I have gotten people to change their word usage and maybe as an extension their thoughts.

So how about it BB people, what should the new word be?

lasttide

That’s offensive to heroin addicted writers of the 50′s and 60′s.

In any case, I personally really like the “r” word in respect to things that are particularly stupid. I also wish the US was more accepting of the “c” word, but maybe I’ve just been watching too many British films. Anyone with me on that? I just really want to call a coworker a daft cu-t without getting fired.

Anonymous

I don’t think the word “retarded” refers to mentally challenged people anymore. For instance, nobody but a complete ass would call a Down’s Syndrome kid retarded. Rather the word retarded is specifically, almost exclusively, used against able-minded people who act and think like imbeciles (another term that used to refer to the mentally challenged and now just refers to folks like Glenn Beck).

I think our politics are retarded, our health care system is retarded, our financial system is retarded, our wars are retarded, our monumental cowardice is retarded, and Sarah Palin is, indeed, retarded. Is there a more apt word to describe our current situation?

Halloween Jack

I can’t believe that no one asked this question: is that the John Cusack whose Twitter you linked to?

freshacconci

Cusack and McGinley are best friends. Don’t know why I know that, but there you go.

Shay Guy

Ideally, political correctness is simply a subcategory of politeness. Problem is when you run into stuff like the euphemism treadmill, which shows that even “be polite” — certainly a good thing to do — has some severe Godelesque structural problems.

The question, I think, is how to prevent perjoration to begin with.

t3knomanser

I have to side with Lewis Black on this. Calling the mentally handicapped “retarded” is out of bounds. The term “retarded” is only to be used on normal people who do something fucking retarded.

Although the term “Palin-American” is catching on as a replacement.

Yamara

If Lewis Black has clarified its use, then so be it.

Mocking the afflicted is pitiless, and there’s no excuse for it. But calling the proudly ignorant on their willful stupidity is important, and there are only so many words that can still hope to make them understand. If they are retarding themselves or the society around them, surely this accurate and efficacious word cannot be discarded.

Mike Scott

This is obviously well-intentioned, but it’s pointless. It’s putting the cart before the horse. Descriptive terms become abusive because of social attitudes; the attitudes aren’t determined by the vocabulary. If “the R-word” were to be stamped out, a different word would quickly replace it as a term of abuse. But if attitudes were to change, then it would cease to be seen as abusive. We’ve seen multiple cycles of “neutral” words to describe mental handicaps becoming terms of abuse and having to be replaced with new words.

Of course, changing vocabulary, while difficult, is a lot easier than changing attitudes. However, it’s like the drunk who looks for his lost wallet under the lamp post because it’s easier to look there than where he actually dropped the wallet.

Anonymous

Don’t let a word own you…The retarded don’t.

Anonymous

The thing is no one calls people with down syndrome retarded anymore. No one who is differently abled is labeled retarded anymore. We say “My car is retarded” “That was retarded” “Sarah Palin is fucking retarded”. Let’s ask Andrea Fay Friedman if she feels defenseless: http://artsbeat.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/02/18/family-guy-voice-actor-says-palin-does-not-have-a-sense-of-humor/

funkyderek

It’s unclear from the article whether the author’s issue is with the use of the “R-word” when used to refer to “members of the special needs community” or with the more casual use of the word to describe anything bad – or both. Whichever angle he’s coming from, there are a couple of problems. Firstly he equates “retard” (the noun) with “retarded”. They are not the same. The noun “retard” defines the person by their disability in a way that the adjective “retarded” does not. While the term may have fallen out of favour, it merely means “delayed” and it is a fact that the development of the minds of some individuals is delayed. There is a medical diagnosis for this and it is called “mental retardation”. Someone who has such a condition can rightly be referred to as “mentally retarded”.
The reason this word has fallen out of favour in politically correct circles is precisely because it has been used as an insult. “Moron”, “idiot” and “imbecile” are all words that used to have a similar medical meaning but survive only as insults. So I see no reason to abandon the word altogether. If the special needs community are done with it then it can be recycled as a purely perjorative term. So Sarah Palin’s son is developmentally disabled but her policies are retarded.

Anonymous

Personally, if someone decides that THEY think a word is wrong because they choose to interpret it in a different way or context will not stop me using this.

As an example; a person who is challenged in some way whether physically, socially, mentally, or otherwise IS retarded. I will use it in the correct sense and not have someone accuse me of a thought ‘crime’ just because I use it.

Most dictionaries define ‘retard’ as:

A verb (used with an object) – to make slow; delay the development or progress of (an action, process, etc.); hinder or impede.

A noun (used with an object) – slowing down, diminution, or hindrance, as in a machine.

A verb (without an object) – to delay or be delayed

IF someone THINKS that I use it in a disparaging way then it is their social ability that is retarded.

In fact, anyone expending energy on this is retarding their activities elsewhere. Ergo, I am retarded…

Derek C. F. Pegritz

Oh, I’ll use it again. And again and again and again and again. The thing is…I’ve never used “retard” or “retarded” to insult a person with a mental abnormality, and never will. But to insult idiots who clearly have all their faculties yet persist in egregiously atavistic, stupid, clearly retarded behaviours…? Ohyes. Oh. Yes.

Anonymous

Ten years later people will start saying “you have Down Syndrome”, and some PC guy will argue that that term is unacceptable.

Gloria

I thought the point was calling out regular people who do stupid things, as that is what the word actually means, instead of merely being a word co-opted for derogatory reasons (e.g. “gay” to mean stupid or undesirable).

So can we still call them “stupid”? Or “morons”? Or “idiots”?

What about “dumb”?

quantax

Let me be the first to say that this is gay as well as retarded.

If you find this that offensive, I would posit that any effort spent trying to clean my mouth with soap would be better invested protecting these peoples rights from actual violations.

No Imagination

Hold on, folks! the word “retarded” was originally a medical term. ANY WORD, TERM, OR PHRASE that is adopted will eventually be co-opted by those who abuse it by applying it to people who acting stupidly in the opinion of those using the term. The abuse will become widespread, and ultimately the term will be vilified and a new slur will be on the social scene. This happens continually.

lolbrandon

But how easy is it to completely remove a word from your vocabulary? I grew up with “gay” being an insulting term often used around me by friends and I decided long ago to stop using it. But it’s not easy. It still slips out, especially when I’m frustrated, but also in the presence of friends when joking and laughing. And while I always regret the usage, it’s been one of those things I grew up knowing and haven’t been able to kick.

I think you’re awesome, Xeni, for deciding to quit using a word that you feel is insulting and wrong, but I’d love to see you start an R-Jar. If it slips out, toss a buck in, and keep us updated on how rich that jar is in 6 months or a year. It’s a very long process, I think, to drop a word from your vocab, and overnight I don’t think it’s very possible.

Of course, the bigger question is, what do you plan to say in place of the R-word? (What about “quarterback”? Just tossing that out there.)

freshacconci

For those who do insist on the right to use the word in any context, it really does help to substitute it for the n-word and see how comfortable you are using it. I think McGinley makes a fair argument and if it really comes down to what word to use, I ask this: why is it that we need one collective word for people with myriad medical conditions in the first place? To label both someone with Down Syndrome and someone with a low-IQ as “retarded” is to place them within the same category with the same condition, which is not correct. And I do need to add that words and word-usage change. The word retarded in this context has become anachronistic and so why not stop using it? What purpose does using it serve?

I can only speak from personal experience, but I have an uncle, now in his late 50s, who has a severe speech impairment. Because that part of the family lived in a small mining town in northern Quebec with poor schooling (not to mention that my grandparents were recent immigrants who spoke little or no English), that uncle was labeled retarded as a child. He was always my “retarded uncle”. I talked to a doctor a few years ago: my uncle plays chess and reads Stephen King novels. A “retarded” person could do neither of those things. My uncle has a normal intelligence but was raised as someone who is retarded and to this day lives with my grandparents. Obviously education and medical science have advanced since the early 1950s and someone like my uncle would not be labeled as slow for having speech problems, but this label, “retarded” is powerful and using it as such does have serious repercussions.

In the end, I guess I just say why not avoid using the word. Terminology changes with the times and we adapt. I don’s see threats to civil liberties coming from this. The fact is, we’re not talking about a government banning a word. We’re talking about rethinking the use of a word as a society. We did it for the n-word and I cannot think of another word that would have less defenders than that.

wurp

Mentally retarded simply means someone’s mental abilities are less than their age would imply. It was not meant as a slur, just a description.

It is sad that we take words like that and use them hurtfully, but any new term you invented for retarded people would get turned into a slur as soon as it came into common usage.

Anonymous

I totally agree that common usage–and specifically the metaphorical value that comes with it–is the key. It’s why it’s so hard to make up a pejorative term for someone’s incompetence.

However, there are a few good ones that are relatively abstract, and shouldn’t offend anyone but the target and the easily-offended (and screw them, anyway), to wit: knucklehead, chucklehead, chowderhead, jellyhead, dunderhead, dumbass, jackass, jerkass (thanks, Homer Simpson!), oatmeal-brain, shit-for-brains, brainless, mindless, hopeless, gormless, useless, etc.

I personally like the term “kelp,” short for “sea kelp,” which is a play on “seek help.”
joeposts

“Mentally retarded simply means someone’s mental abilities are less than their age would imply. It was not meant as a slur, just a description.”

And ‘negro’ just means ‘black,’ doesn’t it? It’s just a description. :-)

wylkyn

Words don’t hurt people. People hurt people. You can prune away all the words you want, but jerks will still find a way to mock and hurt other people. John McGinley even admits that most people probably have no intention to hurt when they use the R-word. If that is the case, then don’t you think the problem is with those who do intend to hurt? And that banning a single word is not a realistic solution to that problem? But I think his article is more about his own feelings than his son’s. I get that, and I sympathize. But I don’t agree with him.

I worked with multiply-handicapped adults, and I can testify to the fact that, while they all were mentally-retarded, they also all were gifted in many different ways, just like everyone else. We are all retarded in one way or another. The person who yells “retard!” at someone with Down syndrome is emotionally retarded. Banning the word is not going to cure him anymore than it is going to cure Downs. The solution is not to rant at a word, or even at the person using it to hurt. The solution is to rise above it.

grimc

The only time people bring up Political Correctness is to provide cover for their own assholery, and make being a jerk into a moral imperative.

freshacconci

Thank you, thank you, thank you.

shadowfirebird

Thank the gods for the comments! I would have no idea what “the R word” was, otherwise. It’s certainly not in common usage in the UK.

I think there is a general understanding here that it is an insult-word, now. I remember “spastic” and “retarded” being (ab)used at school, and as a result I would never use these words myself.

And anyone that does is a moron. ;)

Naberius

“I remember “spastic” and “retarded” being (ab)used at school”

Spastic is a specifically UK thing that doesn’t have the same negative connotations for Americans. A couple years ago, Tiger Woods used it to British media to describe how he had screwed up and played badly in a tournament round and was surprised to find himself getting pilloried for it.

I guess he misses those days, huh?

dalesd

My car’s engine was knocking, so my mechanic R-worded the timing. Now it’s running well again.

Anonymous

There is NO possibility that we will ever come up with a term to describe those that are less capable that will NOT be used as an insult. By definition, you’re describing them as less than you are, in other words word, you’re insulting them. Certainly SPECIAL came to have condesention associated with it never intended by those who created the terms special needs or special education. No matter what term we choose, it will be perceived as demeaning to those it legitimately applies to and used to insult those it doesn’t.

cans

Being socially normative for the purpose of being socially normative is retarded.

kickdrive

Putting myself in the shoes of the various parties involved, I imagine that the mentally disabled person would not be too upset about this, and the the persons that are vested in the well being of a mentally disabled person would cringe only from embracing a term that seems very antiquated. The history and origin of the word “retard” seems more offensive than calling someone a retard today, as most would never use it to describe someone who was actually mentally disabled. Offensive because it was used to classify such a diverse group of people with varying conditions.

All language evolves, and from one of the linked articles, apparently idiot and moron were once used in the same capacity. I imagine many more would find it absurd if someone were to say ban the M-word. It seems to me that the more the word is used to describe idiots and morons, the more it would be distanced from the mentally disabled… Unless they want to claim it, which to me seems absurd.

Didn’t the beginning of 1984 have a select group of people trying to control the path that language took and what words people were to use? As opposed to letting the masses of people that were speaking it decide what words were necessary to convey their sentiments.

Antinous / Moderator

I imagine that the mentally disabled person would not be too upset about this

Are we basing our arguments on imagination now?

nas097

It’s often said that the only group that can really reclaim a negative epithet is the group against whom it is directed. “Retard” and “retarded” are loaded words, and I applaud any decision to try to stop using them. “Ironic” usage, or use against people of average-ish intelligence acting “truly retarded” still invokes all the negative baggage.

That said, the overgeneralization that people with developmental disabilities “cannot even begin to defend themselves” is demeaning and dehumanizing. I’m sure a lot of activists who fall lower on the IQ scale would be a bit annoyed to have their efforts so dismissed.

Stumpadoodle

Agreed on not vilifying the word itself. Why on earth would you want to reserve the word “retard” for politically correct usage, while eliminating it from every day jargon? That’s completely backwards. I don’t even think the gay/fag comparison fits in this case, since “retardation” was simply a misnomer in the first place and wasn’t even originally meant to be derogatory. The word itself has simply changed its meaning within our society. No use trying to take us back 60 years.

slgalt

I know animation writer who was not allowed to use the word “moron,” in a TV show, because for some folks it is just as offensive (since outdated term no one remembers it’s offensive).

ArimasuKa

As kmoser said before, all the word “retarded” means is “late” or “delayed”. A Francophone person says “Je suis en retard” to say they’re late, not to say they’re actually mentally retarded. It’s called “mental retardation” because there are other kinds of retardation.

The word “retard(ed)” used as an insult probably did originate from describing people who are mentally retarded. But no one in their right mind would EVER use it to actually insult one of these people.

I think that Sarah Palin is retarded (originality!) not because she has some kind of handicap, or even because she has a low IQ, but because she is very childish — delayed, not there yet, late, RETARDED — in her thinking. When you think about it, it’s probably the most descriptive insult in the English language. By comparison, it makes way more sense than “shithead” (His head is made of fecal matter!) or “dick” (This man is acting like a penis!)

Andrea Fay Friedman, who played the character with Down Syndrome on Family Guy and actually has DS, is not retarded. I don’t say this because I know that her measured IQ is above 80, but because she is a humble, down-to-earth person who can take a joke and can tell Sarah Palin that she doesn’t need anyone else to defend her. I think this is one of the defining qualities of a mature, rational, advanced person.

I’m in the “gifted” program at my school, but I could never come up with anything as awesome as:

“My mother did not carry me around under her arm like a loaf of French bread the way former Governor Palin carries her son Trig around looking for sympathy and votes.”

Friedman has worked at a law firm for 20 years, and I wouldn’t trust myself to work a cash register properly. So who’s the retarded one?

Mechalith

I use ‘retarded’ to mean “extremely and/or irreparably stupid” and will cheerfully apply it to anyone or anything I feel deserves it.

People trying to say that I should see how well “You’re a giant avttre…” (as opposed to retard) works should probably think their argument out a little better, as being black is not an actual impairment. Stupidity is a bad thing, just like being paralyzed is a bad thing. Call someone in a wheelchair ‘differently abled’ all you like, but unless they can fly or something it’s just a polite lie.

Calling someone who actually IS retarded a retard is insensitive, but I’d say that it’s the cruelty toward someone who can’t help their condition more than the term that is the problem.

wakka

This is why I prefer Dan Savage’s variation, “leotarded.”

Anonymous

I grew up going to “retarded” classes at school and got called a retard all the time (usually by people who were about to beat me up for wanting to play with the “normal” kids) and this word banning is stupid.(if a word was to be banned for innacuarcy how bout starting with “normal”) As an adult I understand that what is wrong with me is small compared to what some people have to live with but please, I would not have thought twice about the word retarded (or accelerated or invigorated or relaxed…)People obviously have too much time on their hands and no real problems (if I’m hungry call me whatever you want just call me for dinner)Being ridiculed and attacked as a child has made being an adult easier. People need to nut up.(and I’m not talking about crazy)

lalo

Do mentally disabled people give a damn if I call a law or TV show retarded? I’m yet to meet one who does, and I don’t see how it hurts them. I’m completely against calling *them* retarded, exactly because the word has a bad connotation and there are more precise terms. But using the word for other things hurts them a lot less than being patronized in the way this article does (and I’ve met a number of mentally disabled people who hate being patronized).

Grow up, people.

Micheal Kelly

I agree – let’s not use the word “retarded” to describe someone with mental or physical disabilities, or who are otherwise “different”.

*BUT* I refuse to refer to it as the “R-word”. I’m a physicist, and retard is commonly used in science when describing the motion of objects, eg: “the motion of the block was retarded by friction”

col_pogo

Literary scholar and disability studician Michael BÃ©rubÃ© has an excellent take on the issue:
“[N]ext time youâ€™re fed up with someone and you want to call his or her intelligence or judgment into question, remember: you might be better off with insults that speak to the performance of intelligence or judgment rather than to capacity. This isnâ€™t just a matter of politeness; itâ€™s also a matter of proper English usage. Many, many morons and retards have very good judgment about some matters, whereas many, many ostensibly intelligent people make bafflingly, excruciatingly bad decisions. Why? Because some of them are knaves, and others gulls, and still others hoodlums and miscreants. Thatâ€™s why.”

mgfarrelly

While I think the author has the best of intentions, protecting his child, I think there’s something dangerous about giving a word that much power, so much so as to call it “The R Word” as if it’s Voldemort or something.

Sarah Palin started this whole silly nonsense because she was insulted about something she was told about in an article she did not read describing a quote she did not hear from a meeting she did not attend.

This is not about protecting her child from harm or enlightening others. It’s about someone who needs attention and does so by professionally taking offense.

greermahoney

“so much so as to call it “The R Word” as if it’s Voldemort or something.”

How you worked Voldemort into this conversation was nothing short of genius. Well played, sir!

Beelzebuddy

To declare a word verboten is to acknowledge its power. If no one uses the r-word it doesn’t go away. It will always be there, hanging, spoken or not. There will always be that divide between the euphemism du jour and the “normal” people. Both sides will establish and patrol this divide, daring each other to even so much as hint at the concept.

Don’t believe me? “avttre.” Take a step back and examine your reaction to that. It’s a word. Say it to yourself. Just a word. But at the same time it’s more than that because, honky that you are, it’s not your word. The people who can use it are not your people, and can never, ever be.

And yes, I’m aware that the preceding paragraph may be completely lost on you if you’re black. Cultural guilt is a strange thing to describe to those outside the culture.

“The R-Word” is a thinly veiled attempt to tap into that guilt. It’s powerful shit, I’ll grant you, but ultimately unproductive and potentially self-destructive. Put in more succinct internet jargon, it’s fucking retarded.

The real solution is dilution. I welcome the use of the word “retard” to apply to as many things as the kids these days, god bless ‘em, can stretch their limited vocabulary to cover. Everyone acts retarded on occasion. Everyone has at least one friend who acts retarded often; the difference between this and someone who actually is retarded? Not so much. You’re more inclined to view them as an actual person and less as a stereotype whose ego rests on eggshells.

Don’t believe me? Look at what the internet is doing to “fag.” Over at 4chan (that virulent cesspool of creative juvenilia) it’s used as a term of endearment or mild rebuke, but mostly as a descriptive suffix equivalent to using “geek” as an adjective: eurofag, metalfag, etc, and never a strongly pejorative sense a la that “god hates fags” guy. You’re welcome to get your panties in a bunch over its use as a negative term at all (seriously, do so, they feed off tears over there. Then browse /y/, it’s the gay porn board), but there’s no denying that the term itself has been fully defanged.

Haters: My brother is in fact alternately cognitive, which makes me just as much of an expert on the subject as ya’ll are. He also, on occasion, acts like a total retard.

Vidya108

“the word “retarded” was originally a medical term. ANY WORD, TERM, OR PHRASE that is adopted will eventually be co-opted by those who abuse it by applying it to people who acting stupidly in the opinion of those using the term.”

The creation of medical terminology and taxonomies is not an ‘innocent’ act. You seem to be suggesting that the use of this term in medical circles was/is acceptable, until other sectors adopted it and used it in specific ways. But words like ‘retarded’, ‘invert’, ‘obese’, and the like were brought into existence specifically to brand certain embodied subjects as ‘wrong’ and in need of ‘fixing’. Those of us who are part of the non-neurotypical/gay/fat/etc. communities (or allies to them) recognize that this is not acceptable regardless of what cultural circles it occurs within.

Also, I’m pretty surprised to see people using the word ‘handicapped’ in the comments here. Is it still acceptable in educated circles in the US to refer to people with physical, psychiatric, or developmental disabilities as ‘handicapped’? (As in, is it acceptable to those people who identify themselves as having such disabilities, not just whether many presently able-bodied people still use the word?) It sure isn’t in Canada.

Anonymous

The euphemism cycle is ridiculous. “Retarded” was a medical euphemism for mentally disabled: as with “developmentally delayed” in its imprecise use, “retarded” suggests a possibility of catching up that simply does not exist. It got converted into an insult, like certain other less frankly euphemistic former medical terms, such as “moron.” Now too I occasionally hear “mentally challenged” as an insult.

Now, too, from somewhere the idea has appeared that the term “handicapped” should be replaced with “disabled.” “Handicapped” is slightly euphemistic applied to a person with serious disabilities, but the only really accurate term for someone with problems that can be overcome; “disabled” ought to seem altogether inappropriate for someone like Oscar Pistorius, the double amputee sprinter. But because someone got a hold of a piece of false etymology (“handicap” = “cap in hand” = begging), or because the standard word was seen as insulting simply as a result of its meaning we end up replacing a good word with one that suggests incapacity even for those who are quite capable.

–Beryl

kmoser

It’s not the word that’s the problem. It’s the meaning behind the word. In French, “retard” still means “slow” or “late” and is (generally) not an insult.

Sagodjur

What I don’t like about this word-nazism is that he seems to be suggesting that we shouldn’t use the word at all, even in circumstances where it might be the appropriate word to use.

By that I mean, retard isn’t only an antiquated medical term for a person with a particular condition. It’s also a verb and it means, “to make slow; delay the development or progress of (an action, process, etc.); hinder or impede.”

So if the progress of health care reform is retarded by conservatives, we can legitimately say, “this is retarded.” The fact that these word-nazi’s think that the word can only be insulting to special needs people is like the historical revisionism that the swastika was invented by the Nazi’s and can only represent racism and genocide, rather than the good luck symbol that the Nazi’s later usurped.

Antinous / Moderator

What I don’t like about this word-nazism

Because writing an op-ed about usage is EXACTLY like the holocaust.
- Sagodjur
  
  No, op-ed pieces about usage aren’t the same as the Holocaust. But then, I didn’t say it was.
  
  Calling someone a _____-Nazi doesn’t necessarily induce Godwin’s Law. What I said doesn’t compare usage to the Holocaust anymore than calling a food service worker who refuses to serve certain customers a soup-Nazi does.
  
  The Nazi’s perpetrated more than the Holocaust. Nazi’s were authoritarians. They told people what to do in aspects of daily life that you and I might think is absurdly strict (like not being able to marry a person of a certain ethnicity). That’s the aspect of Nazism that I was drawing a comparison with.

DamnitDani

I think any sensible “retard” who isn’t completely retarded would know the multiple connotations the word holds.

My fat friends know they’re fat. I don’t go out of my way to acknowledge that fact, but if we’re walking around campus and pass someone who is clearly morbidly obese, nobody cares if someone says “What a fat ass.” Words are words. They’re hurtful only because you allow them to be.

I have yet to see a clinically retarded child take offense at “retard” when it knows the word is not directed at it. I see the father’s point, but for fuck’s sake chill out with all the PC mantra.

arborman

I don’t know how you all can think that just because you wouldn’t use the word to refer to an actual person with a disability then it is OK to use it when describing the personalities or actions of others.

You wouldn’t say about a non-scottish person who was being cheap that he was being ‘fucking scottish’. There are tons of other examples of much more vulnerable groups.

It isn’t like the word is actually separated from its very recent history of association with Downs Syndrome and other developmental challenges. It’s not a different word.

If you say someone is ‘being retarded’ you are effectively saying they are being a stupid/slow as a person with Downs. Offensive and inappropriate. And just because you refuse to grasp that fucking obvious connection between the word and the vulnerable people doesn’t mean it doesn’t exist.

ASIFA-Hollywood Animation Archive

I’m sick of people insisting on becoming offended at casual speech. If they are going to make such a big deal about little stuff, I’m just going to cease caring whether they are offended or not. I don’t need an “appropriateness officer” handing out infraction tickets when I’m just goofing around with my friends. If someone tries that on me, I’m likely to upgrade my misdemeanor to a felony just so they can have something to REALLY be offended at.

Words don’t matter. Everyone uses words carelessly each and every day of their lives. Actions are what really count. Judge me by my actions, not my chit chat.

DataShade

Words have meaning, but that meaning changes according to context. If we ignore the context, then we ignore the meaning, and we’re simply projecting our own values onto others.

Anonymous

Oh please,
The word Retard is not used as a compliment because it isn’t one. The condition itself is considered to be pejorative – whether you name it Retarded (simply meaning delayed. as in, developmentally delayed) or Special Needs (a nondescript euphemism that does not describe the trait it’s pretending to describe).

You can substitute Special Needs for Retard in day-to-day speech all you want. Within a generation you’ll have another concerned parent telling us how bad and offensive using the S-word is.

McGinley used the word avttre to emphasize his point. That word was also used in a pejorative way, so a new ‘safer’ official word was invented – Negro. And Negro became Black and Black became African-American (and that too settled on a nondescript and rather ambiguous word, I might add).

The reason all these words were pejorative is because just BEING black was considered an insult. Just being a Jew was enough of an insult. And yes, just being retarded is considered insulting.

I come from Romania, where the word for Jew used to be Jidan. That word meant just that – Jew. It’s a dirty word nowadays. The non-offensive term is Ebreu (a Hebrew). Not only is that word also used as a slur against Jews but it is also does not describe its subject correctly. It speaks of an ancient ethnicity, not the religion.

Do you see what all these words have in common?
They ALL describe something a person cannot change about himself. A retard will always stay a retard. A black man will always be black. And a Jew will always be a Jew (I guess religion is trickier but it traditionally falls under the heading of unchangeable).

ANY unchangeable trait is a great insult – because there’s not much you can do about it.

And what do these words have in common – African-American, Special-Needs?
They don’t describe the trait they’re supposed to describe.
African-American does not mean an American from Africa. It means Black – whether he be American or European. And it doesn’t mean a White American citizen from Africa either.
Special Needs does not describe someone who needs something special. It describes someone who is developmentally retarded. Their needs are immaterial to describing them. In fact there would be quite a few parents out there saying their developmentally delayed children DO NOT need special treatment.

I could not disagree any more vehemently with EVERYTHING Mr.McGinley had to say. The words used mean nothing. Their underlying meaning is what matters.
Saying N-word instead of avttre is meaningless. That’s because the N-word means avttre.
And if we would insult someone for being a Jew, it doesn’t matter what word we use to describe his Jewry when we do it. Whether we say Kike, Hebe, Jesus-Killer or simply Jew.

Don’t sign the R-Word pledge!
That’s just pushing the problem around. It’s a form of consensual NewSpeak. Making up new words to describe the same things.
Let’s instead make our conversations honest. Let us not invent new words so we can keep concealing our prejudices and fears of the Other.

Let’s face our fears and prejudices head on.

Why we should all stop using "the R-word"

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