Is the word Retard ever appropriate.
By Jim stewart
@saulgoodman (2643)
Dundee, Scotland
9 responses
@Sasquatchy (1131)
• Canada
21 Oct 16
I use that word. I just don't call people with problems that!
4 people like this
@saulgoodman (2643)
• Dundee, Scotland
21 Oct 16
Good answer and I know exactly what you mean.
I think some people set themselves up for being tagged with the retard label
2 people like this
@Sasquatchy (1131)
• Canada
21 Oct 16
@saulgoodman another example is that just because I call some people a##h#### doesn't mean they are Audi drivers
4 people like this
@saulgoodman (2643)
• Dundee, Scotland
21 Oct 16
@Sasquatchy
Audi drivers piss me off
Almost every incident I have seen involving a bike and a car involves an Audi.
2 people like this
@Jenning (2016)
• Nigeria
21 Oct 16
@saulgoodman Depending on what you want to describe...
2 people like this
@saulgoodman (2643)
• Dundee, Scotland
21 Oct 16
@Jenning
So it can be ok to use it then?
1 person likes this
@saulgoodman (2643)
• Dundee, Scotland
21 Oct 16
Ok.
Is it ever ok to use the word retard.
2 people like this
@owlwings (43897)
• Cambridge, England
21 Oct 16
As an English verb, yes. "You should retard the timing of your engine by half a degree to get better power.", "The cold of winter will retard the growth of most plants.". As a French expression - "Je suis en retard" = "I am late". It is improper, inaccurate and highly offensive to use it as a noun to describe a person's mental ability.
2 people like this
@saulgoodman (2643)
• Dundee, Scotland
21 Oct 16
Mon Dieu. Je suis en retard aussi.
The english language is a wonderful thing indeed.
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@saulgoodman (2643)
• Dundee, Scotland
21 Oct 16
It might be quite appropriate although to be fair I think tbe police in Scotland are ok.
Dept of Work and Pensions.
1 person likes this
@zweeb82 (5652)
• Malaysia
21 Oct 16
@saulgoodman Yeah, I know many western coutries at least have a decent police force
1 person likes this
@saulgoodman (2643)
• Dundee, Scotland
21 Oct 16
@zweeb82
Lol.
Our lot are a credit to our small but proud nation.
At least they help tourists who get mugged by ju nkies
1 person likes this
@zweeb82 (5652)
• Malaysia
21 Oct 16
Many government officers from where we come from have that on as their title. Some their rankings are even differentiated by the number of stars they possess
I mean I don't mean to be mean, but many times they just can't give you a straight answer - they don't say what they mean and rhey don't mean what they say and thus make them really mean
I mean when we wanted to get our EPF (Employee's Provident Funds) sorted to purchase our home years back, I tried to get as much info off the net and called in but in the end I still had to go there at least twice. Some other places or departments they just let you go to and fro umpteen times if you don't straighten them out
I mean I don't mean to be mean, but many times they just can't give you a straight answer - they don't say what they mean and rhey don't mean what they say and thus make them really meanI mean when we wanted to get our EPF (Employee's Provident Funds) sorted to purchase our home years back, I tried to get as much info off the net and called in but in the end I still had to go there at least twice. Some other places or departments they just let you go to and fro umpteen times if you don't straighten them out1 person likes this
@zweeb82 (5652)
• Malaysia
21 Oct 16
@saulgoodman re-introducing one of the most prevalent ancient race - the lazy people. Many times they just act dumb. I utterly despise that lakadaisical attitude to be honest. I find it overwhelmingly repulsive, lol!~
1 person likes this
@saulgoodman (2643)
• Dundee, Scotland
21 Oct 16
Seems like Great Britain is not the only place with dumb government department staffed by just as dumb people
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@saulgoodman (2643)
• Dundee, Scotland
21 Oct 16
@zweeb82
Lazy people are ok
They die prematurely and keep undertakers in a job.
1 person likes this
@yukimori (10193)
• United States
21 Oct 16
Yes, in the context of referring to the chemicals that are used to retard the growth of wildland fires. You know, fire retardants.
Other than that, I don't think so. It doesn't take that much effort to avoid using words that can be considered slurs against specific groups.
2 people like this
@saulgoodman (2643)
• Dundee, Scotland
21 Oct 16
Yep.i wear flame retardents all the time.
I think that sometimes though we just assume and quite often wrongly that certain groups are associated with the word.
I think what I said in reply to AK would back that up
Unless of course people in other countries would call kids with special needs retards.
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@zweeb82 (5652)
• Malaysia
21 Oct 16
@saulgoodman oh now I get what DWP stands for, lol!~
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@saulgoodman (2643)
• Dundee, Scotland
21 Oct 16
Me neither.
But these Department of Work and Pensions people
Its like talking to a brick wall.
You get to the stage where its so annoying
There lack of empathy and undetstanding
God I could scream
2 people like this
@Mike197602 (15504)
• United Kingdom
21 Oct 16
If you called a disabled person a retard that'd be a bit bad.
Calling a government employee a retard is pretty ok
A woman on here who has a disability described herself as retarded a few months ago and I was shocked it's still used in the US in those terms.
A woman on here who has a disability described herself as retarded a few months ago and I was shocked it's still used in the US in those terms.1 person likes this
@saulgoodman (2643)
• Dundee, Scotland
21 Oct 16
Yeah but if people with a disability describe themselves as retarded then why is it not fair game for them to be called retards.
Our son was disabled and if anyone had called him a retard he would have had me bash them up.
Same with the n word.
Black dudes use it all the time but if we use it we are called racists.
I said in a post the modern world confuses me.
I think calling the moron rom the DWP a retard was acceptable just.
@thislittlepennyearns (68202)
• Defuniak Springs, Florida
21 Oct 16
I used to work with special needs kids, so you can probably assume my answer before I even give it to you. Nope it is not appropriate
@yukimori (10193)
• United States
21 Oct 16
@saulgoodman People with special needs, particularly intellectual disabilities, were commonly referred to as "mentally retarded" for years. It was finally removed from all official publications when President Obama signed a bill about 6 years ago that replaced the term mental retardation with intellectual disability.
2 people like this
@yukimori (10193)
• United States
21 Oct 16
@saulgoodman Yeah, that's largely why there was such an issue with a few posts that were made in the last week. It's seen as a pretty offensive term to many people here, but I'm guessing that may not be the case elsewhere based on your posts.
1 person likes this
@saulgoodman (2643)
• Dundee, Scotland
21 Oct 16
@yukimori
Oh it is American then.
Good on Mr Obama for changing the term to what it is now.
2 people like this
