Comment on Well would you look at that...
rowansprig@leminal.space 1 day agoPeople are flawed. Education quality is also a systemic problem which has caused many to not reach the potential they might’ve had. But I don’t think using the R-slur will help?
ViceroTempus@lemmy.world 1 day ago
Do you complain about the two I-Slurs, the M-slurs, as well?
I’m just going to say. Retarded has the most right to exist out of all the words that have been malformed from medical diagnoses that mean “has diminished capacity”.
It has an actual function outside of being used as an insult, unlike Moron, Imbecile, and Idiot. And should not be censored or have people in favor of its censorship as we’ve already seen the nanny state corporations are happy to implement.
If you’re wondering why I say this it’s because of words like “Fire Retardent” Or saying something slows things down is to retard it(older usage I know, but it does pop up from time to time in technical documents for things). There are more uses, but admittedly I’m tired today and don’t have it in me to dredge up more examples.
And yeah sorry that you personally are getting the brunt of this rant, but I’m so tired of censorship on words in general, but especially on words that have uses outside of the insult. I also hate how inconsistent people are with it.
It’s a fucking word. It’s a fucking word that means the same as stupid, idiot, moron, imbecile, it just hits harder for most. It’s not a real slur, imo. And if you’re using it as a slur, that’s on you and you’re a fucking moron for it.
ElChinchilla@lemmy.world 13 hours ago
Our engines had engine retarders on them. My mechanic, Mike, said he was a retarded retarder. Self burns are the best. As a slur towards others, no bueno.
rowansprig@leminal.space 1 day ago
Not sure what your context and life story is. From my perspective it seemed like an aggressive and vitriolic choice where “stupid” would have sufficed. As an insult it seems to have a lot more cultural weight behind it which is why I called it a slur. Words are all just sounds, it’s the societal landscape which decides what they actually mean. My friends were telling me they’ve been hearing that word used a lot more frequently as an insult than they remembered from a couple of years ago, so I was particularly primed to make a comment on it.
I am not in favour of censorship of people’s words at the state level. Language is a community project which should be dealt with at a community level. Which is why I said something. I think we should try to be a bit kind in how we speak.
Now that I think about it I don’t think calling people stupid is helpful either. I feel like a lot of “stupidity”, especially as relates to politics, is about low quality schooling and a social media landscape which is designed to implant and further certain beliefs.
Yeah anyway, I guess, mostly I’m tired of watching the world crumble around me and would like to start building things so this mostly ended up as a pile of my random thoughts. I hope you’re having a less tiring day today 😊
ViceroTempus@lemmy.world 1 day ago
I do understand the perspective, I just feel like going after “Retarded” as a slur is dumb on multiple levels. One, it diminishes actual slurs and what they represent. Two(which I’ve already covered) has actual uses outside of just being an insult. Three the devolution of our language due to censorship is an issue as a whole and this bothers me(Grape, PDFile come to mind as well). Four, its inconsistent with the other words of the same tier and meaning. And Fifth, it only became designated as a “slur” relatively recently which wraps back around to point one.
And last but not a viable point, there just isn’t a word that is as succinct as “retarded” for something so incredulously dumb that it defies belief, in my opinion.
With that all said, I hope you understand I wasn’t coming after you personally, you just triggered something that’s been bothering me. Again, sorry you got the brunt of that rant. Even that last part wasn’t for you. Please have a lovely day.
rowansprig@leminal.space 16 hours ago
Yeah makes sense dude. I hope you have a lovely day!
BCsven@lemmy.ca 1 day ago
It no longer means the same though. Language changes, and the R word is used as an insult equating somebody to somebody with down syndrome (as an example) while Moron and Idiot don’t have a direct correlation to a group.
While all are still uses medically, there is context needed. Like the test might say your child is in the idiot, moron range. But a doctor will now say they have mental retardation or reduced mental capacity. They dont say hey parents your kid is ‘Re----"
People still using the R word (as non time related uses) are just behind the times, like when my mom called black people colored…at some point somebody has to confront you and say “hey, this is not how we do things now”
ViceroTempus@lemmy.world 23 hours ago
Moron and Idiot were the original correlations. People adopted those words as insults and the medical community adopted new words, and then those words got used as insults, and then the medical community adopted new words…
And on and on and on. Moron equates you to someone with diminished capacity like someone with down syndrome, to use your example. So does Idiot, and Imbecile. As again they were medical terms turned into insults lol.
So like by all means hate Retarded as word, but have some consistency.
BCsven@lemmy.ca 23 hours ago
The terms moron and idiot are still used on the test reports, but nobody nowawdays associates calling somebody an idiot/moron with a slur against the mentally challenged, but the R word is.
Like under your argument we can still call people gay as a slur because it used to mean happy.
We stopped calling people gay or R word in the early 90s dude.