You’re colossally stupid, aren’t you? You thought #2 was what we objected to? “Retard” in this thread requires discussion only when used as a noun describing the mentally retarded. You really thought we wanted people to stop saying things like “flame retardant”? And #1 wasn’t the question. It was “retard,” as used in this fucking thread, you piece of shit. What a dope.
Emanuel didn’t say “retard,” he said “retarded.”
1.) The word nigger is, inherently, offensive.
2.) “Dark as a Black person” is again not exactly analogous. Race is a social construct; mental retardation is a clinical definition.
3.) That being said, “dark as a Black person” is not inherently offensive, except for where it sets up European coloring as the norm from which people of African heritage deviate.
Yes, yes, you’re terribly original. Seriously, for someone who thinks we should be able to come up with something more creative than “fucking retarded,” you’re not doing such a good job. Stretch a bit further if you want to actually try to offend me, please.
The exchange in this thread referenced several colorful uses of the word “retard,” whatever Emanuel said.
you’re a monumental retard.
re-read carefully:
which is why it’s not the same thing as using a “derogatory term” that has meaning and purpose other than the purported derogatory usage of it.
So is “retard” (the noun), by definition.
WTF does that mean? Why does that make a difference?
That’s offensive to drug users.
do you understand that “inherently” and “by definition” are not the same fucking concepts?
and, YET AGAIN, no one is quibbling with the fact that calling something “fucking retarded” is insulting (to the progenitor of the idea)
Yes, it is true, you are that stupid. No one cares whether “retard” has other acceptable meanings. That does not render its offensive manifestations somehow more acceptable. The nouns “retard” and “nigger” are absolutely analogous, which was always the point. Nothing you have said–NOTHING–has contradicted this point.
Yes, they are absolutely the same concept, except perhaps on your planet.
Not nearly as offensive as nigger.
It means, apparently, that you’re too ignorant to actually discuss this with. Sigh. I shall try my best.
Race is a social construct. Exactly who is “Black” (or, as you decided to put it with your lovely turn of phrase, “a nigger”) has no true, set definition. Someone can have seven great-grandparents from Europe and one from Africa, and they’re still Black. What defines being Black? Is it skin color? Facial features? Hair texture? Hair and eye color? Or is it cultural? There are no natural boundaries to race, just as there are no natural boundaries to countries–you don’t fly up in to the air and see the line between the U.S. and Canada, for example, that you’d see on a world map. Mental retardation, however, is a clinical term. We know exactly what it means–it is an actual category of people, a category of people who are defined by their cognitive disabilities. You can ascribe a universal set of characteristics to them (namely, being stupid or mentally slow) because it’s part of the definition of the class, in a way that you cannot ascribe a universal set of characteristics to a racial or ethnic group.
no, they aren’t.
nigger is solely used, it’s only meaning, is to disparage and insult people who originated from Africa by recalling their period as slaves who were considered subhuman.
retard is used to connote a clinical definition of mental retardation. the usage of the word in context is what drives whether or not the term is considered offensive or not.
this is not the same for nigger. you cannot utilize the word “nigger” in a sentence for any benign purpose (obviously not applicable to derivative sentences here, but hopefully you’d get the point).
Says you. How dare you impose your standards of language on me! Screw your PC tyranny.
The fact that you can’t assign a universal set of characteristic doesn’t mean the comparison suffers. It’s perfectly understandable. “Quick as a bunny” still works even though there are some slow rabbits in the world. Besides, you don’t like the comparison? Don’t use it. Who are you to impose on the rest of us who find it a perfectly serviceable way to describe dark things. [/sarcasm]
really. definitions are immutable and incapable of change?
“Retard” does not, no matter how much you repeat this. “Retarded” does. “Retard,” the noun, is a slur. That is all it is. You cannot use that noun “retard” in a sentence for any benign purpose.
I’m not sure why you feel this is exclusive to me. http://www.r-word.org is not my website. I see that Rahm has taken the pledge as well. I hope that his staff will still be able to discern his nuances without the use of “fucking retarded.”
I guess I did get it. I just couldn’t believe that you would use such a ridiculous analogy.
You’re picking nits. If we change the definition of “retard” to mean “vanilla ice cream,” then yes, it has changed. So would the definition of “nigger” if we changed it to mean “old sneaker.” But we both know that’s not really the point.
re⋅tard
/rɪˈtɑrd, for 1–3, 5; ˈritɑrd for 4/ Show Spelled Pronunciation [ri-tahrd, for 1–3, 5; ree-tahrd for 4] Show IPA
–verb (used with object)
- to make slow; delay the development or progress of (an action, process, etc.); hinder or impede.
–verb (used without object) - to be delayed.
–noun - a slowing down, diminution, or hindrance, as in a machine.
United States Patent #6932338
“Friction sheet feeding machine with reversible driven retard roller
William L. Popejoy et al”
and… done.
your comrade seems to think that calling an idea “fucking stupid” is acceptable because the definition no longer connotes a clinical diagnosis of people.
Stop it. I have never heard such a use as a noun. But let’s concede there are people somewhere in the world who say, “Wow, did you notice the retard in that machine?” when it slows down. So what? The use of “retard” as a noun and as a reference to a mentally retarded person is a slur. That’s the only usage we’re discussing. Your comment “retard is used to connote a clinical definition of mental retardation” is flat-out wrong. I notice you ignored the dictionary definition (I provided one) that actually is apropos to this particular discussion.
What point do you think this makes? Does it make “retard” unoffensive when it refers to the mentally retarded?