Example: I used the phrase “socially-retarded” in class yesterday and was met with disapproval, when all I meant was that the “figurative” person I was describing lacked social experience. I guess I could have said that but what a mouthful and that’s why we have adjectives to save time. Would you be less insulted if I said you were “intellectually inferior?” The negative connotation is the same. It truly is the intentions of the speaker that denote if its meant insultingly or not. So I felt insulted that those in my class immediately thought I was trying to be offensive, but no one there took my feeling into consideration.

I used the word extraordinary earlier to illustrate my point. From my experience I would imagine that most of you correlate that word with meaning “above average”, but actually defined as meaning “out-of-the-ordinary”, extra-ordinary, and could technically go either way depending on what you mean be ordinary. Not all words lose their meaning to derogatory uses, some go the other way and become exclamations of brilliance when that’s not what they really mean. “Special” is another one that is losing this battle. Defined as being particular or distinct most use it as to describe their loved ones, but now that it has become associated with describing this “particular” group of people it to has started a downward spiral.

To me this only proves that jerks will be jerks no matter what words they choose to use. You can’t combat offensive language. It is impossible to single out a word as being always truly insulting.

Example; Fuck me! Used as an exclamation of disappointment. Fuck you!! Used to express dissatisfaction in another. Americanized from the German word meaning “to strike with a stick.” “I’m going to fuck you up.” or “I’m fucked up.” Instead how about; “I’m going to hit you with a blunt object repeatedly.” or “I feel as though I have been hit repeatedly with a blunt object.”

My point is, that wasting your energy arguing rather a word is only ever offensive is ridiculous and that trying to “ban” a word based on your selfish definitions is wrong and moreover the assumptions that those who do use it are only trying to be insulting is what is the true offense.

Your hurt feelings are a product of your inability to comprehend and understand that not everyone is not out to get you and your loved ones. You cause your own problems when it comes to language and word uses and create your own heart-ache by constantly reminding yourself that you take offense to it by engaging in attempts to remove them from the arbitrary world around you. One could comment that you are “comprehensively-retarded.”

I wouldn’t say “grow-up”, but perhaps you should “grow-out”, out of the habit of reminding yourself that you hate something. Even “hate” has lost its true meaning, but I won’t go into it.

Lastly to those that used “n-word” instead of “nigger”, but used “faggot” instead of “f-word” I say to you that you either need to believe that words are just words or not. If you feel bad about using “nigger” but not “faggot” then that kinda shows where your values lie as far as feelings towards those groups. Perhaps you don’t have any problems with either group, but it seems you wanted to spare the feeling of one over the other.

I refuse to use words like “n*gger” or “gay” in derogatory ways because there are people who use such terms as identifiers for themselves, so for me to use the term negatively means that I am being derogatory towards them. However, I do not know of ANY mentally disabled people, or a parent of a mentally disabled person who identifies themselves or their child with the term “retard”. Instead they might say that they are “mentally disabled” or “developmentally disabled” or “learning disabled” or use their proper diagnosis name such as having Downs Syndrome or Autism.

I understand that “mentally retarded” is still a term used as part of a diagnosis for certain mental handicaps, but my point of contention is with the fact that the term is no longer used as an IDENTIFIER, it is merely used as a descriptor of capabilities.

Since it is no longer used as an identifier it should not be considered derogatory. This is similar to the way “idiot” and “imbecile” used to be identifiers for the mentally disabled, and “dumb” used to identify speech impaired people, but as everyone stopped using those terms as identifiers they stopped being considered offensive to people with disabilities.

It must be very difficult for people who care for those who do have these problems either from birth or by injury and some will spend years of their lives dedicated to someone who may never even realise they exist. I think the least those of us lucky enough not to be directly involved with being carers or sufferers is to not use the term as an insult.

No-one chooses to be mentally disabled and it is not equivalent to stupidity. Someone with no motor functions may still be able to think clearly be highly intelligent but are unable to communicate this clearly and are no way the same someone who manages to lock their keys inside their car.

It is essentially the equivalent of calling a fat person an amputee, nonsensical and not funny.

Look, a person born retarded is retarded. Just like a person born blind is “blind”, or a person born deaf is “deaf.” Blind and deaf arent meant to be derogatory, and neither is retard. Sure, they can be used that way, ie: “What are you man, blind?” , “Hello! I’m talking to you. Are you deaf?” Just like “What are you, retarded?” These phrases are meant to be derogatory to the individual the speaker is speaking too, not the entire gambit of those who are blind, deaf, or retarded. It’s all about context.