this post was submitted on 14 Apr 2025
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who is saying that an intellectual disability is a bad thing? You're the one arguing it's a problematic discussion. A lot of people are intellectually challenged, is that also rude? Or is that one fine, is it ok to say uneducated, or is that questioning the socioeconomic status of a person, and therefore, also rude.
Just because something is defined in a rather terse/blunt way, doesn't necessitate it being a negative thing, that was the problem with "retard" and "retardation" being used, it turned into an insult, and as a result, fell out of favor, because it fucked up the medical definition, which is now "intellectually disabled/disability"
Sometimes weird deformities happen, sometimes people get physically disabled, or are physically disabled, sometimes people are cognitively, or developmentally disabled, both are fair depending on the context, because neurology is fucking weird. I mean we call certain things "disfigurements" because it's not normal. If they sound bad it's because you've negatively associated these words to concepts that bother you.
yeah but who uses it like that? I don't. I just use it because i think it's a funny word and i think it has situational comedy potential.
I'm not going to seek out people with mental disorders and call them retarded, that'd be evil.
You're basically arguing because one person is a terrible person, that we should change to accommodate against them.
lets say for example, you left your car outside, and it rained, and after the storm passed you realized you left the windows down. I would say that it would be a pretty "retarded situation" my response would probably be something along the lines of "well that was retarded" both literally, and on my end.
If i'm using it to insult people, i'm referring to people who have a functional neurology, and aren't actively using it, for whatever reason. As opposed to people who are intellectually/developmentally disabled/challenged whatever you want to use works, who cannot function on that level. There's nothing inherently wrong with having a lowered level of neurological function. There is something inherently wrong with being so obtuse you obscure your own intelligence in stupidity, and be a retard in the process.
If i'm referring to something stupid i did and it's not a person. Something like the previous car example. I might design or build something, and in the process i realize i've made a significant mistake, misplaced some key component, and done something irreversible that needs to be undone, that would be retarded.
I mean, if you literally google the definition of retard it says: "to stay back" "put off, post pone, or delay" Of course the perjorative version was historically used to insult people, specifically those of a lower intelligence. But just because it was once used that way, doesn't necessarily mean i'm using it that way now.
whenever i say it, i'm almost exclusively not referencing people who are developmentally challenged, i'm referencing people who are fucking stupid. You could call them developmentally challenged, but then you're just doing the retard thing that happened to make it a pejorative in the first place. And even then, that's not necessarily true because it's such a sterile definition.