Board Thread:Community Voting/@comment-7847159-20150409225350/@comment-5643582-20150412234332

Riolu777 wrote: ZXSpidermanXZ wrote: I think people need to look up the actual definition of retard: delay or hold back in terms of progress, development, or accomplishment.

How is that in itself offensive? The word is also used to define a medical condition, but that is not it's original meaning. Obviously we aren't going to allow someone to say "You're a retard." as that's meant as a personal attack and is also an attack on mentally retarded people. But why can we not use a perfectly normal word that is not even a cuss word? It makes no sense.

All this argument is putting forth is that actual definition of "retard" in the dictionary...

"to make slow; delay the development or progress of (an action, process, etc.); hinder or impede. "

...is the usage of the word that should be allowed. I've never seen anyone on chat use that word in that way (which is the only way to use the word that the dictionary doesn't define as being "disparaging and offensive"). It's always been used as a modifier ("retarded") to describe something you guys think is dumb, unfair, uncool, or some other word of that essence. Using the word as a way to say that something is dumb, unfair, uncool, etc., is almost always offensive and hurtful to any person with disibilities. Same as using "gay" to mean dumb, unfair, uncool, etc. Any gay person that hears you use "gay" that way will feel hurt (unless they're thick-skinned), because, whether you intend it or not, you are using "gay", which is the label either they or society gives them, and you are using it to describe something negatively. How would that feel? From my own experience as a gay person, it doesn't feel good at all.

The same with "retarded" or "retard". Using it to describe something negatively only impresses in a disabled person's mind that, because they have disabilities and society has used the word "retard" repugnantly for decades in reference to people with disabilities, they will then take that personally, and it will hurt them. Because you're using that word used by so many people before to degrade said person with disabilities, and you would only be furthering the negative usage of it by using the word to describe something as being dumb, unfair, uncool, etc. Again, how would that feel?

That is all. I, personally have never used the word in reference to a mentally disabled person. For example, the most common thing I've seen on chat when people use the word (not knowing it was blocked) was after a mistype saying "My keyboard is retarded." Meaning, after they misspelled something, they are stating that their keyboard hinders or impede's their ability to type properly. I don't see anything wrong with using the word with it's /actual/ definition. Like I said we obviously wouldn't ever allow someone to call another human retarded, but using it decently should be allowed. (For the record I have VERY good friends with mental disabilities, and some family members who have extreme mental disabilities.)