"Retarded" is not an insult, amirite?

Depends on the context it's used in. Inherently it's not an insult, but it can be.

by Anonymous 11 years ago

Wait seriously people? You think it's ok to call someone retarded? I can't even...

by Anonymous 11 years ago

Nobody's saying that it's an okay insult, just that it is one.

by Anonymous 11 years ago

I don't think it's okay to call people many insults.

by Anonymous 11 years ago

I understand what you guys mean. I didn't mean for the post to be literal like that. See the comment below this...

by Anonymous 11 years ago

See this post could be interpreted one of two ways. 1. The word "retarded" refers to a kind of mental illness and therefore shouldn't be used as an insult. OR: 2. Calling something/someone retarded isn't insulting. So I don't know how to vote. :S

by Anonymous 11 years ago

THANK YOU! I tried to get this post deleted for this very reason and they homepaged it instead...

by Anonymous 11 years ago

I meant for it to be interpreted the first way. Ugh it sucks when everyone down-votes but they didn't get what I meant

by Anonymous 11 years ago

I think it is an insult. When someone calls anybody retarded. The kids in the DC (developmentally challenged) class at our school made a big impact video on the use of the word "retarded" in casual conversation and society and how it hurts they're feelings even if it's not directed at them.

by Anonymous 11 years ago

If it's in the context, "What's wrong with your cousin? "She's retarded", no. If it's in the context, "That's retarded" or "Hahaha you're so retarded", yes. It's annoying when you use it in a non-insulting, descriptive way and people get butthurt. Normally it's like calling a white person white, a black person black or a gay person gay.

by Anonymous 11 years ago

No you didn't get what I meant. Please see the comment before this

by Anonymous 11 years ago

You say you meant for it to interpreted the first way, about mental illness, which is exactly what I meant in the "what's wrong with your cousin?" context.

by Anonymous 11 years ago

Not literally. It's wrong for someone to say "you're retarded" when said person is not retarded and they mean for it to be insulting

by Anonymous 11 years ago

Anon is saying the cousin part in a literal way. Like 'Your cousin is twitching and chewing on a chair is she ok?' 'Shes retarded' 'I'm sorry to hear that'. Anons first example is in the context you were trying to get this post I interpreted as.

by Anonymous 11 years ago

"retarded" people don't like being called retarded. They're still people.

by Anonymous 11 years ago

People whose development is, literally, retarded. The only reason anyone thinks "retarded" is offensive is because people started using it as an insult. The same could happen to the phrase "mentally challenged" or whatever the current PC term is. Then how are we going to describe people who are born with severely sub-average mental faculties?

by Anonymous 11 years ago

A lot of black people don't like being called black, they prefer African American. They're still black and they're still people, just like retarded people.

by Anonymous 11 years ago

By calling them people with the actual condition they have. As in instead of calling a kid with down syndrome "retarded" you'd call the kid " the person that has down syndrome." Retarded is not an accepted word anymore. At school do they refer to them as the retarded class? No.

by Anonymous 11 years ago

You described them in another way anyway it's not that hard to not use the word retarded. "severely sub-average mental faculties." Just go with the flow and call then what ever they want to be called. Which is not retarded.

by Anonymous 11 years ago

The term is DC (developmentally challenged). DC kids are not retarded. When you call them the retarded kids it's horrible. Times have changed. You don't call Chinese people "chinks" or Black people (or African American) "niggers" so don't call DC kids "retarded."

by Anonymous 11 years ago

You're right, they would probably rather be called by their names. I just feel kinda bad for the word, because it's not inherently negative, you know? I mean, I don't use it, I just wish it didn't have a bad rep. ...That might not make any sense.

by Anonymous 11 years ago

See, the difference there is that "chink" and "nigger" both have derogatory origins. "Retarded" doesn't. It literally describes the condition, but at some point it became a "bad" word. I'm not going to go around using it, because I know it would offend people and I don't want to do that, but I do kind of wonder what made it so horrible in the first place.

by Anonymous 11 years ago

Probably someone said "you're acting like a retard" and said persons got offended because they thought it was an insult... I don't know.

by Anonymous 11 years ago