# Can we get rid of "retard" next? **URL:** \ **Category:** About This Message Board\ **Created:** [May 20, 2022, 11:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-we-get-rid-of-retard-next/964755 "2022-05-20T11:27:58Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 18
**Author:** ![octopus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/octopus/32/3716_2.png) [@octopus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/octopus)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2022, 9:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-we-get-rid-of-retard-next/964755/342 "2022-05-22T21:52:54Z")
Wrong! Search the pit just a little bit better and you’ll see that the usage of the term predates my post by at least a decade. Hell, it’s even used in Cafe Society as late as 2021. So your post doesn’t reflect the truth. ---
**Author:** ![GreysonCarlisle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a87d85/32.png) [@GreysonCarlisle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GreysonCarlisle)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2022, 9:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-we-get-rid-of-retard-next/964755/343 "2022-05-22T21:57:03Z")
Nah. See, I reported your post with a comment of Are we cool with using “retard”, and @Miller responded that there is no rule against it. So now I intend for there to be a rule against it. Try to refrain from calling me a liar in the future. Thanks. ---
**Author:** ![octopus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/octopus/32/3716_2.png) [@octopus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/octopus)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2022, 9:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-we-get-rid-of-retard-next/964755/344 "2022-05-22T21:59:29Z")
Well, I stand corrected. However, I’ll characterize your _post(s)_ as I perceive them. ---
**Author:** ![GreysonCarlisle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a87d85/32.png) [@GreysonCarlisle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GreysonCarlisle)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2022, 10:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-we-get-rid-of-retard-next/964755/345 "2022-05-22T22:01:24Z")
I’m replying to this, even though I don’t have anything meaningful to add. But, y’know, I’m just characterizing your posts as I perceive them. ETA; I meant to add a link to a Pit thread, but I’m not sure if that’s legal under the current rules, so… ---
**Author:** ![D\_Anconia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/67e7ee/32.png) [@D\_Anconia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/D_Anconia)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2022, 10:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-we-get-rid-of-retard-next/964755/346 "2022-05-22T22:05:59Z")
> [@GreysonCarlisle](#): > > So now I intend for there to be a rule against it. So you’re the admin now? ---
**Author:** ![GreysonCarlisle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a87d85/32.png) [@GreysonCarlisle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GreysonCarlisle)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2022, 10:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-we-get-rid-of-retard-next/964755/347 "2022-05-22T22:06:58Z")
Did somebody say something stupid? Must have been my imagination. ---
**Author:** ![D\_Anconia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/67e7ee/32.png) [@D\_Anconia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/D_Anconia)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2022, 10:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-we-get-rid-of-retard-next/964755/348 "2022-05-22T22:16:29Z")
Yes, somebody did. In the post before mine. You intend to make a rule? ---
**Author:** ![DavidNRockies](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/davidnrockies/32/6279_2.png) [@DavidNRockies](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DavidNRockies)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2022, 10:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-we-get-rid-of-retard-next/964755/349 "2022-05-22T22:23:57Z")
[LONG] There was, and is, a cottage industry in Making Hate Cool Again. Much as Karl Rove stuck a toothpick into the gums of many of the cultural **[wedge issues](https://prospect.org/features/karl-rove-s-wedges/)** in order to get Bush 43 in power and keep him in power. Trump’s machinery invoked maybe the basest view of populism in this country in my lifetime. Demonizing nearly everything that MLK meant when he talked about “the arc or the moral universe is long but it bends toward justice.” Now, I’ll grant that the Democrats – particularly the Progressive Caucus – swung at pretty much every pitch, just adding fuel to the fire, because – sorrow of all sorrows – there were more uncouth, sociopathic (or nearly so), regressive, anachronistic troglodytes in the US than many of us thought. And they’re angrier and more broken than most of us would have guessed. Far more gullible, too. So the Trump machine set about to make being your most authentic asshole self ‘cool’ again. And they’re doubling down … in the hopes of crushing the midterms and 2024. But it is anomalous. The arc of the moral universe _is_ long, but – just as the **[DJIA](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dow_Jones_Industrial_Average)** _tends_ to go up over time, the lives of people who are not cis, straight, white, Christian, male, and affluent _generally tend_ to get better over time. Because many work damned hard to keep that momentum up. And by painting that dynamic as a perilous zero sum game, the Rs continue apace, ripping the country apart, pitting neighbor against neighbor. They need their base angry, mobile, vocal, and writing checks. They need them – and **only** them – voting. But if we put most of that aside for a moment, the bending of the “arc of the moral universe” over time has (pick one or more): - benefited us personally - benefited people we know - benefited people we don’t know but about whom we care And _this dynamic_ didn’t cost many of us much at all. You know what _did_ impoverish the MAGA voters ? Corporate greed. Entire industries moved offshore because Cletus and Clem wanted to be able to afford to buy a house. Bad Cletus. Bad Clem. If they couldn’t push your wages down far enough (Hell, even if they could), they took the first boat out of this country as soon as it was logistically viable to do so. And many/most/all of the people these MAGA types hate ? The suffered economic harm right along side the red hats. But divide and conquer … works as usual. Get them hating each other and they’ll never figure out that it was you all along. Why does this all matter on _this_ thread ? Because - It really is about bending the arc of the moral universe - It really is about quenching the fire of the culture of hate that Trump threw gasoline on - It really is about understanding that the Slippery Slope Argument, in this context, is the one being used by social conservatives and cognitively rigid ideologues since about 1776, and … yet … here we are, and we’re really (relatively) quite okay and (relatively) very, very free. I’d rather be excluded for being inclusive than to be included for being exclusive. I don’t think the SDMB’s survival is ensured by mining its narrowest demographic base further. I think it’s by broadening its appeal, and _that_ necessarily involves at least minimally protecting minorities and vulnerable populations from the promise of abuse and dehumanization. Last … Never forget that we had hate speech terms for every single “enemy” that we sent warfighters to kill – at least in modern times. I won’t list them. You all know what I mean. Why ? Because it worked. It works when we do it here, too, but in a far more insidious and subtle fashion. So … why use those words here ? ---
**Author:** ![JKellyMap](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jkellymap/32/15880_2.png) [@JKellyMap](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JKellyMap)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2022, 10:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-we-get-rid-of-retard-next/964755/350 "2022-05-22T22:54:34Z")
Beautifully put, DavidNRockies. That sums up what’s important here — let’s just not use certain words, and “retarded” is one of them. No need to get all and bothered about not using it — just….don’t use it. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/the_other_waldo_pepper/32/12370_2.png) [@The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Other_Waldo_Pepper)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2022, 2:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-we-get-rid-of-retard-next/964755/351 "2022-05-23T02:20:50Z")
> [@DavidNRockies](#): > > there were more uncouth, sociopathic (or nearly so), regressive, anachronistic troglodytes in the US than many of us thought. That seems — what’s the word? — dehumanizing. ---
**Author:** ![Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/left_hand_of_dorkness/32/7156_2.png) [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Left_Hand_of_Dorkness)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2022, 2:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-we-get-rid-of-retard-next/964755/352 "2022-05-23T02:53:44Z")
> [@The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](#): > > That seems — what’s the word? — dehumanizing. For real, man, sometimes the desire to get in a clever gotcha can detract from having a real conversation. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/the_other_waldo_pepper/32/12370_2.png) [@The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Other_Waldo_Pepper)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2022, 3:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-we-get-rid-of-retard-next/964755/353 "2022-05-23T03:16:48Z")
> [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](#): > > For real, man, sometimes the desire to get in a clever gotcha can detract from having a real conversation. I’m looking to have a real conversation; I genuinely don’t get why ‘dehumanizing’ is the term of choice in the discussion that’s the subject of this very thread — that a given word should maybe be off-limits, because it’s used to liken various humans to other humans — when, AFAICT, the case would be at least as strong for a word that’s used to label various humans as something that isn’t human. ---
**Author:** ![crowmanyclouds](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/crowmanyclouds/32/19884_2.png) [@crowmanyclouds](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/crowmanyclouds)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2022, 3:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-we-get-rid-of-retard-next/964755/354 "2022-05-23T03:19:03Z")
I look forward to you advocating for the removal of the rule against racial slurs. That rule is double-plus ungood right? ---
**Author:** ![Tibby](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tibby/32/17030_2.png) [@Tibby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tibby)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2022, 3:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-we-get-rid-of-retard-next/964755/355 "2022-05-23T03:53:57Z")
I don’t use the word “_retard_” and I agree that it’s not a word that should be allowed on this board. As mentioned, it’s a more recent medical term for individuals with a cognitive disability and still understood by many people in that context. I think a warning is appropriate, but making it an instantly bannable offense is going too far IMO. Three strikes and you’re out would be appropriate. As far as more archaic words that long ago were associated with cognitive disability in medicine, like moron, idiot and imbecile, they have long ago evolved to become generic terms for people (perhaps even smart people) who say or do non-smart things. Those words should be allowed IMHO. I call non-cognitive impaired people idiots when they say or do dumb things. I would never call someone with a real disability an idiot. No one who’s not an ass would. Context. I believe that’s the way these terms are used and understood by the general population. ---
**Author:** ![MrDibble](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mrdibble/32/114_2.png) [@MrDibble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrDibble)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2022, 4:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-we-get-rid-of-retard-next/964755/356 "2022-05-23T04:29:23Z")
Troglodytes are still human. Just humans who **choose** to live in a cave. Emphasis on the choice part. ---
**Author:** ![crowmanyclouds](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/crowmanyclouds/32/19884_2.png) [@crowmanyclouds](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/crowmanyclouds)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2022, 4:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-we-get-rid-of-retard-next/964755/357 "2022-05-23T04:42:19Z")
How it could be possibly seen as any more complicated than this is _insert your favorite word here_! ---
**Author:** ![Tibby](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tibby/32/17030_2.png) [@Tibby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tibby)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2022, 4:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-we-get-rid-of-retard-next/964755/358 "2022-05-23T04:43:55Z")
Maybe I’m an idiot, but I don’t understand your question. ---
**Author:** ![crowmanyclouds](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/crowmanyclouds/32/19884_2.png) [@crowmanyclouds](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/crowmanyclouds)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2022, 4:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-we-get-rid-of-retard-next/964755/359 "2022-05-23T04:45:38Z")
A hearty endorsement of you typing out in full my position! ---
**Author:** ![Tibby](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tibby/32/17030_2.png) [@Tibby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tibby)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2022, 4:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-we-get-rid-of-retard-next/964755/360 "2022-05-23T04:48:04Z")
…and your position is? ---
**Author:** ![crowmanyclouds](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/crowmanyclouds/32/19884_2.png) [@crowmanyclouds](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/crowmanyclouds)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2022, 4:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-we-get-rid-of-retard-next/964755/361 "2022-05-23T04:49:44Z")
The same as yours. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-we-get-rid-of-retard-next/964755.md?page=17) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-we-get-rid-of-retard-next/964755.md?page=19)