BF2S Forums It's not acceptable...think about it.

lol okay. I'm just going to file this one under "QQ thread" then.

I did think about it and I came to the conclusion this thread is retarded.

Macbeth wrote:

I did think about it and I came to the conclusion this thread is retarded.

I don't like using the word retard. It's totally gay.

tazz. wrote:

Macbeth wrote:

I did think about it and I came to the conclusion this thread is retarded.

" "

I dunno tbh, can't say I've never used the word, I have (rarely). I can somewhat understand why you hate it when people use it, from your point of view that does make sense.

But, as others pointed out - when using it nowadays people don't think about the negative connotation the word carries. It has sort of eroded away really, the medical world has distanced itself from its use because of the negativity attached to it, and addressing people with downs as retards is frowned upon by almost everyone. I guess that's why people generally don't think about someone with downs when they call someone else a retard, nowadays it's another way of telling that person he/she's extraordinarily stupid.

That's why I feel it's pointless to try and stop the word from being used. Few people have the same emotional attachment to it as you do. What should be expected though is that people try to be considerate about it when talking to you personally, I doubt the guys in this thread (claiming otherwise) would actually throw around the word retard when they knew and talked to you IRL. "why don't people just stop using it altogether then" I bet you're thinking, well, as I said - not the same emotional value attached. Being considerate and actually understanding or feeling how you feel it are two different things.

I'm curious, have you yourself ever used the word or were you okay with other people using it before you got your kid?

Last edited by Shocking (2011-05-29 14:55:02)

words like "moron" and "idiot" used to be the acceptable terrm to describe people with mental handicaps.

Next time one of my friends does something stupid, I'll be sure to call him a "person with a mental disability."

Shocking wrote:

I dunno tbh, can't say I've never used the word, I have (rarely). I can somewhat understand why you hate it when people use it, from your point of view that does make sense.

But, as others pointed out - when using it nowadays people don't think about the negative connotation the word carries. It has sort of eroded away really, the medical world has distanced itself from its use because of the negativity attached to it, and addressing people with downs as retards is frowned upon by almost everyone. I guess that's why people generally don't think about someone with downs when they call someone else a retard, nowadays it's another way of telling that person he/she's extraordinarily stupid.

That's why I feel it's pointless to try and stop the word from being used. Few people have the same emotional attachment to it as you do. What should be expected though is that people try to be considerate about it when talking to you personally, I doubt the guys in this thread (claiming otherwise) would actually throw around the word retard when they knew and talked to you IRL. "why don't people just stop using it altogether then" I bet you're thinking, well, as I said - not the same emotional value attached. Being considerate and actually understanding or feeling how you feel it are two different things.

I'm curious, have you yourself ever used the word or were you okay with other people using it before you got your kid?

We joke about subject we accept imo. We use the term retarded because most people accept people that have mental disability, the same way we say something is gay, we joke about subject we accept, i dont see much people using cancer when joking because its mostly not accepted anywhere. Im sure you get my point amirite?

Poseidon wrote:

So what do you want everyone to do, FEOS? Tiptoe around everyone's feelings in every conversation they have with someone, even if it's a close friend?

I want people to do what the OP and the PSA said.

That's it.

This isn't language police.

People (not just me) find the term highly offensive. Along the lines of those other terms that are NOT used by the same people defending the use of the term "retard" in every day conversation. That's what's bugging me. Not that people use it--that people aren't even thinking about it. That people are just knee-jerk reacting to the fact that it's been brought up that their use of the word is offensive and are lashing out. As if those who are offended by it are somehow at fault. As if that girl with Down Syndrome is somehow at fault.

Nobody would think twice if one of their black acquaintances said, "Hey man, lay off saying 'my niggah.' I know you don't mean anything bad by it, but it offends me and many thousands of others deeply." You wouldn't be jumping down their throat, lashing out that they are trying to somehow limit your rights of speech or expression, or saying something ridiculous like, "Well, it's just a derivative of the Latin word for black, so it's just descriptive of your skin color, so there's really nothing wrong with it."

And then the argument of "words only have the meaning we give them." What utter rubbish. Words have the meaning society gives them. You can give a word any meaning you want, but if society doesn't agree with that meaning, it's irrelevant. If you don't agree with society's meaning for a given word, it's irrelevant, society will still use it. Try ignoring the meaning of "You're fired" at your office if your boss ever uses it because you've decided it means something other than "you no longer work here." You'll end up being escorted out by security.

It's the vehement defense of an action that hurts people that blows my mind. Yes, it bothers me, but I get over it. It bothers me the same way hearing those other words used bothers me. It's reflective of inconsiderate people who don't think about they are saying before they speak. So I continue to debate the topic because I remain astounded by the views I see here. I feel that perhaps I haven't done an adequate job of making my point...because I can't imagine that people with the level of intelligence that is normally displayed here would choose to continue that type of behavior after giving it some thought.

Shocking wrote:

I'm curious, have you yourself ever used the word or were you okay with other people using it before you got your kid?

I might have used the term when I was much younger, before I realized what/who it was referring to. I also used racial slurs, as well. But then I grew up.

Doctor Strangelove wrote:

Next time one of my friends does something stupid, I'll be sure to call him a "person with a mental disability."

Why not just call him...I don't know..."stupid" maybe?

unnamednewbie13 wrote:

Hearts on sleeves.

Defense of hypocrisy

Troll elsewhere.

Macbeth wrote:

FEOS wrote:

I also used racial slurs, as well. But then I grew up.

I've never used racial slurs. Most people don't. I wonder what that says about you.

Never? Not once in your entire life? Ever? I highly doubt it.

What does it say about me? That I was raised in the South, around racist people, and didn't learn the wrongness of it until I got older. Children are a product of their environment...kind if like those who ridicule the mentally disabled.

At least I was adult enough to do the introspection required to identify, admit, and correct my mistake.