Help Us End the R-Word

[Alex]

Originally Posted by Cadaverous Pallor

Thing is, you can't "let it be a word meaning "boneheaded" or "stupid"" because when people say retarded they don't mean boneheaded, they mean "you are acting like someone who was born mentally deficient."

No, I disagree. Most of the time I hear the word it is not at all used in the way you say. If I were to say "You retard, you forgot to DVR Kings" there is absolutely no sense in which I mean "hey, you might have a hidden case of Downs Syndrome." I just mean you did something stupid. Of course, I don't really call anybody a retard simply because it isn't in the slang dictionary for me childhood. I'm happy with "short busser."

But maybe you hang out with meaner people than I do.

But yes, we agree the cycle will continue. So why do it? Rather than worrying about what word gets used in contexts outside of the people we're worried about I'd rather focus on how they're treated.