# I Pit people who use the word "retarded" **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [January 2, 2011, 12:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-people-who-use-the-word-retarded/566091 "2011-01-02T00:02:32Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 7
**Author:** ![Biggirl](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/biggirl/32/3294_2.png) [@Biggirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biggirl)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2011, 1:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-people-who-use-the-word-retarded/566091/121 "2011-01-04T01:26:08Z")
> [@Lobot](#): > > Well, “retard” as a noun is pretty clearly a slur. I daresay calling a mentally retarded person a “retard” is akin to calling a black person “nigger” or a gay person “faggot”. The same thing is happening to the word ‘Jew’. I get nary a glance if I ask “Is Joe Jewish?” but people stop a little startled if I ask “Is Joe a Jew?”. It’s like the noun case sounds accusatory or something. ---
**Author:** ![Acsenray](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/acsenray/32/4519_2.png) [@Acsenray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Acsenray)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2011, 1:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-people-who-use-the-word-retarded/566091/122 "2011-01-04T01:31:38Z")
> [@Biggirl](#): > > The same thing is happening to the word ‘Jew’. I get nary a glance if I ask “Is Joe Jewish?” but people stop a little startled if I ask “Is Joe a Jew?”. It’s like the noun case sounds accusatory or something. That’s not new. I recall a Jewish friend of my dad’s explaining how he felt uncomfortable hearing “Jew” and preferred “Jewish.” that was probably 30 years ago. ---
**Author:** ![Lobot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/ce7236/32.png) [@Lobot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lobot)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2011, 1:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-people-who-use-the-word-retarded/566091/123 "2011-01-04T01:33:56Z")
> [@Biggirl](#): > > The same thing is happening to the word ‘Jew’. I get nary a glance if I ask “Is Joe Jewish?” but people stop a little startled if I ask “Is Joe a Jew?”. It’s like the noun case sounds accusatory or something. It has connotations of objectification, I suppose. ---
**Author:** ![Lobot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/ce7236/32.png) [@Lobot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lobot)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2011, 1:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-people-who-use-the-word-retarded/566091/124 "2011-01-04T01:36:08Z")
Note also that racists always talk about dirty Jews, not dirty Jewish people, because it classifies them as things rather than people. ---
**Author:** ![Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e99b99/32.png) [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diogenes_the_Cynic)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2011, 1:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-people-who-use-the-word-retarded/566091/125 "2011-01-04T01:46:01Z")
The adjective is descriptive and the noun sounds definitive - like it’s all the person is. A lot depends on tone, though. ---
**Author:** ![BellRungBookShut-CandleSnuffed](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/bcef8e/32.png) [@BellRungBookShut-CandleSnuffed](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BellRungBookShut-CandleSnuffed)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2011, 1:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-people-who-use-the-word-retarded/566091/126 "2011-01-04T01:58:02Z")
I live one town over from a “school for weak children.” Maybe that’ll catch on in the states! ---
**Author:** ![Biggirl](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/biggirl/32/3294_2.png) [@Biggirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biggirl)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2011, 2:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-people-who-use-the-word-retarded/566091/127 "2011-01-04T02:02:15Z")
> [@BellRungBookShut-CandleSnuffed](#): > > I live one town over from a “school for weak children.” Maybe that’ll catch on in the states! Me and my son are in disagreement. Are they easily tempted or really out of shape? ---
**Author:** ![elmwood](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/elmwood/32/3060_2.png) [@elmwood](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elmwood)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2011, 2:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-people-who-use-the-word-retarded/566091/128 "2011-01-04T02:05:45Z")
> [@Larry\_Borgia](#): > > This thread is totally developmentally delayed. It is, indeed, a special thread. ---
**Author:** ![Guinastasia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guinastasia/32/5751_2.png) [@Guinastasia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guinastasia)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2011, 3:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-people-who-use-the-word-retarded/566091/129 "2011-01-04T03:16:11Z")
> [@Hentor\_the\_Barbarian](#): > > Given that “berserk” means frenzied or crazy, why would you use such a derogatory term for the mentally ill to describe your own inability to control yourself? _My love for you is like a truck BERSERKER! Would you like some making fuck BERSERKER!_ Now, if you’ll excuse me, this spaz is going out to have a fit. ---
**Author:** ![BellRungBookShut-CandleSnuffed](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/bcef8e/32.png) [@BellRungBookShut-CandleSnuffed](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BellRungBookShut-CandleSnuffed)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2011, 5:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-people-who-use-the-word-retarded/566091/130 "2011-01-04T05:50:15Z")
> [@Biggirl](#): > > Me and my son are in disagreement. Are they easily tempted or really out of shape? Never been in. It’d be pretty interesting if it were a school to study how weak children’s willpower is. Like there’s a room for the fat kids with pastries all over the place, and a room for the procrastinators with a bunch of video games. Maybe they administer electric shocks in the upper grades. ---
**Author:** ![Max\_the\_Immortal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/6de8d8/32.png) [@Max\_the\_Immortal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Max_the_Immortal)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2011, 6:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-people-who-use-the-word-retarded/566091/131 "2011-01-04T06:42:18Z")
> [@etv78](#): > > IMO, the word is no different than “cripple”, “faggot”, or “nigger”. I see it as more akin to “blind” or “deaf”. Blindness and deafness are objectively undesirable traits. If they invented a pill that gives perfect vision to the blind, it’s perfectly fine to say, “Great! Let’s get this pill to as many blind people as possible.”. Likewise, it’s fine to want to distribute a hearing-granting pill to as many deaf people as possible. It’s not acceptable to mock a blind person for being blind or to mock a deaf person for being deaf, but saying “What are you, blind?” or “What are you, deaf?” to the unafflicted are acceptable because it is understood that the intention is not to disparage the blind or the deaf. In contrast, being black is not an objectively undesirable trait. Slurs like “nigger” carry with them the assertion that blackness is a bad thing. If they invented a pill that turns black people white, it is not at all okay to say, “Great! Let’s get this pill to as many black people as possible.”. The same rules apply for the word “faggot” and a pill that turns gay people straight. It is not acceptable to mock black people for being black or gay people for being gay. It is also unacceptable to use expressions like “That’s so gay.” in a sense that does not mean homosexual, because the statement still carries with it the assertion that homosexuality is a bad thing. Now let’s consider mental disabilities. Is a mental disability an objectively undesirable trait? If they invented a pill that grants normal mental faculties to the mentally disabled, would it be helpful or hateful to try to distribute this pill to as many mentally disabled people as possible? I think we all agree that it is not acceptable to mock a mentally disabled person for being mentally disabled, but does saying “What are you, retarded?” to a normally bright person when they fail to understand instructions or a joke also disparage people with mental disabilities? ---
**Author:** ![Stratocaster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/stratocaster/32/16393_2.png) [@Stratocaster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stratocaster)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2011, 11:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-people-who-use-the-word-retarded/566091/132 "2011-01-04T11:16:39Z")
> [@Biggirl](#): > > Not exactly. Calling a a mentally retarded person a retard to his face is like calling a black person black to his face. Nope. “Retard” in this usage is unambiguously a slur. ---
**Author:** ![Biggirl](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/biggirl/32/3294_2.png) [@Biggirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biggirl)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2011, 11:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-people-who-use-the-word-retarded/566091/133 "2011-01-04T11:52:30Z")
> [@Stratocaster](#): > > Nope. “Retard” in this usage is unambiguously a slur. Nope. Retard is not _unambiguously_ a slur. It is retarded in noun form. Tell me, **Stratocaster** (or anyone else who goes berserk when they hear any form of the word ‘retarded’) because I have asked this question repeatedly but have never gotten a direct answer: What would YOU call them? Particularly, what word would you have chosen in the sentence that started this thread in the first place: Dick Clark sounds retarded? Or, if you wish, Dick Clark sounds like a retard? I keep reading that there are _better_ terms. Please tell me how to express this thought without hurting your feelings. ---
**Author:** ![DianaG](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/7ab992/32.png) [@DianaG](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DianaG)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2011, 12:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-people-who-use-the-word-retarded/566091/134 "2011-01-04T12:04:22Z")
It’s just amusing to me that we’re still stuck on “retarded” when “special”, “delayed”, and “differently abled” are already widely used as insults. There’s no word or combination of words that you can devise to describe “stupid” that won’t shortly and inevitably be used as an insult. ---
**Author:** ![Hal\_Briston](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/a9a28c/32.png) [@Hal\_Briston](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hal_Briston)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2011, 12:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-people-who-use-the-word-retarded/566091/135 "2011-01-04T12:43:47Z")
Did she just say “making fuck”? ---
**Author:** ![Hentor\_the\_Barbarian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/8edcca/32.png) [@Hentor\_the\_Barbarian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hentor_the_Barbarian)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2011, 12:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-people-who-use-the-word-retarded/566091/136 "2011-01-04T12:50:36Z")
> [@Hal\_Briston](#): > > Did she just say “making fuck”? Yes, and it seemed like an offer, too. I’ll have to give it some thought. ---
**Author:** ![Stoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/stoid/32/272_2.png) [@Stoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stoid)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2011, 9:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-people-who-use-the-word-retarded/566091/137 "2011-01-04T21:23:31Z")
> [@DianaG](#): > > It’s just amusing to me that we’re still stuck on “retarded” when “special”, “delayed”, and “differently abled” are already widely used as insults. There’s no word or combination of words that you can devise to describe “stupid” that won’t shortly and inevitably be used as an insult. Exactly, precisely, and there ya have what the fundamental problem is with constantly reinventing ways to say things to avoid being insulting. ---
**Author:** ![Cagey\_Drifter](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/b2d939/32.png) [@Cagey\_Drifter](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cagey_Drifter)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2011, 10:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-people-who-use-the-word-retarded/566091/138 "2011-01-04T22:12:03Z")
Let’s all read this fascinating article on Wikipedia, which addresses the use of this particular word over time: [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Euphemism\_treadmill#Euphemism\_treadmill](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Euphemism_treadmill#Euphemism_treadmill) ---
**Author:** ![Stratocaster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/stratocaster/32/16393_2.png) [@Stratocaster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stratocaster)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2011, 11:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-people-who-use-the-word-retarded/566091/139 "2011-01-04T23:32:16Z")
> [@Biggirl](#): > > Nope. Retard is not _unambiguously_ a slur. It is retarded in noun form. Tell me, **Stratocaster** (or anyone else who goes berserk when they hear any form of the word ‘retarded’) because I have asked this question repeatedly but have never gotten a direct answer: What would YOU call them? I don’t go beserk, but I’ll answer anyway. I would say “mentally retarded” to refer to the mentally retarded. But sorry, you’re wrong, “retard” (used as noun, as I noted) is to “mentally retarded person” as “nigger” is to “black person.” It’s a [slur](http://www.thefreedictionary.com/retard): > [@](#): > > re·tard 2 (rtärd) > n. Offensive Slang > > 1. Used as a disparaging term for a mentally retarded person. > 2. A person considered to be foolish or socially inept. You can say, “well, I don’t mean it that way,” and so could someone saying, “nigger.” But that won’t change the fact that it is by definition a derogatory term. ---
**Author:** ![Stratocaster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/stratocaster/32/16393_2.png) [@Stratocaster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stratocaster)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2011, 11:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-people-who-use-the-word-retarded/566091/140 "2011-01-04T23:39:27Z")
> [@Biggirl](#): > > Particularly, what word would you have chosen in the sentence that started this thread in the first place: Dick Clark sounds retarded? Or, if you wish, Dick Clark sounds like a retard? I keep reading that there are _better_ terms. Please tell me how to express this thought without hurting your feelings. Missed the edit window. My feelings weren’t hurt, though I’d point out that the mentally retarded do not all act and sound the same. My reaction in this thread is less to the OP–I don’t think “mentally retarded” is a slur by itself–and more to the predictable chorus that follows, including the clever, clever insults directed at people who self-identify as having loved ones who are mentally retarded. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-people-who-use-the-word-retarded/566091.md?page=6) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-people-who-use-the-word-retarded/566091.md?page=8)