Retard. Stop for a moment and think about that word. That small six letter word. It’s nothing out of the ordinary. A mere combination of letters to form sounds that we then process into speech. Perhaps you’ve called someone a retard before. If you have, then you’re like quite a lot of people. But have you ever began to wonder what this word actually means? And not just the technical definition of “retard”, but how it’s used and why? Let’s take a minute to analyze this word and find out what it truly means.
It doesn’t take a lot to figure it out. Dictionary.com - one of the world’s largest online dictionaries - defines it as this; “people who are slow or limited in mental development.” So, there you have it. Retard is used to describe a person who is mentally slow. So, why does it come up so much in today’s society? Especially with younger generations? The answer lies in the context we use it in. For example; in today’s young society in particular, the word “retard” is usually thrown out into the air without a second thought. When asked about this, kids will most likely say that since everyone nowadays jokes around with that word, it isn’t as offensive. That’s where the problem presents itself.
We’re using a word that defines a very serious issue for the mere fun of it. And while that doesn’t sound very serious, ask yourself why you’d use this word in the first place. Do I need to tell you the answer? You'd use it to demean someone or something. What, you don’t agree? Well, have you ever heard someone such as your parents say; “You’re such a retard!” when you bring home a 90% on that last math test? Of course not! That’s because today’s younger generations are finding a way to put a negative spin on various words, which includes - you guessed it - “retard”.
To sum all that up, you’re taking the word “retard” - which means mentally slow - and using it to demean your peers and others around you. No matter how you look at it, there’s no positive spin you can put on this. Doesn’t it bother you that you’re using mental slowness as an insult - practically spitting on everyone on this good Earth that’s mentally delayed - and feeling nothing? I know for me it does, and it should for you.
And to all the people out there who are mentally delayed, I can only ask for your sincere forgiveness that this world is using the problem that you can’t control - and wouldn’t choose to have if you could - as an insult.
And if you are among the people who payed attention to this message, I thank you, but it doesn’t end there. It’s great that you know about this problem now, but you must do your part to make things better. So please, don’t call someone a retard, and if you hear someone else doing it, please ask them not to do it again. Help end the “R-Word.”
Wow man that was a really good peace of work. It sheds light on the problem of the younger generation/my generation using words in wrong ways. If you did not get an A on this I will give it to you now. A+ my friend on this fine peace of literature. Keep on writing stuff this good and inspiring:)
Thoughtful, but lacks maturity. As much as I completely agree with the content, and am also guilty for committing that crime, I think that this piece needs to stock up on solidifying the root meaning of "retard", not just how it is portrayed in the dictionary. It needs to explore the many different contexts in which "retard" can be used in, which will add to its depth instead of just referring to the delay of one's mental development. Expand your article by adding in more examples of different types of mental deformities, bring the reader to your viewpoint of compassion. The key is not to tell the reader what to think, but to paint a favourable picture of your message, which will subtly inspire the reader to agree with you. All in all, I would say that this essay is good work. I think that you have formed the sentences beautifully, and it provides the piece with a good structure. It successfully beckons, and the opening and ending is spot on. However, the content needs to be more substantial. Don't ever stop writing. <3
Unintentionally hilarious! Completely cracked me up!
Starts off on a promising note but goes nowhere. After an endeavoring first paragraph, the second one is full of corny lines! Agreed this is "young writers society" but the material here is dumb-down for 4 year olds. Yes for those toddlers who like to be spoon-fed their moral science lessons!
The idea in itself was hard to pull off. "R-word is offensive." Yes. But there are better ways to say the same! Write a story/poem on the same idea. How can I buy the fact that you use definitions from dictionary to justify my generation is one behind it?
Then you slip into melodrama. Trying too hard to make a point, the latter paragraphs are contrived and the emotions are superficial. It made me laugh when someone dealing with a subject as realistic as this ended up with emotional manipulation.
The ending in particular was extremely corny and it made me cringe because a novel idea was wasted. Your readers are far more intelligent than you think and overblown emotions don't have any impact on them. The biggest problem here is the pedestrian sensibility!
Final words: This essay doesn't just deliver its message, it whacks you on the head with it. Extremely heavy-handed to cause any impact!
I don't use the word retard ever ( especially when referring to human beings ). But I also don't call people morons, idiots, or stupid. I don't tell people to shut up, or to go to hell. B My parents still use the word retarded, because it once was a leek used word. When they have used it, it is in the most respectful way- I understand that the purpose of this is to stop retard as an insult, which I do agree with. I think insulting people is stupid. Sorry for that last use of the word 'stupid' but I believe when used in certain instances, words of insult can be used in a way that is not insulting. For an example: one of my friends would probably have replaced the 'stupid' in what I said, with a 'retarded'. Or she might say something like 'I think it's retarded when people argue for no reason'. I don't find that offensive, but I can see why some people might. I suppose that it might come across as almost mocking to someone with a mental disability, because it seems like when people are saying 'that thing is stupid' the definition of the word comes through, and you'd think people are saying ( this next example is not ment to offend at ALL, I merely am using it as an example please don't take offence ) 'this dumb thing is like those messed up mentally disabled people' but most times, when the word 'retard' is used, it is not ment to be traced back to it's former meaning. Yes, when someone calls another person a retard, I think that's wrong. But when referring to other things, I think it is alright. I respect your opinion of course. 
Also I just wanted to mention that in close relationships things are more freer; my uncle is from Newfoundland, and I call him a Newfy... But lists of people think that's a demeaning name... I say it affectionately. I understand though that this is a bit different though.
Though I agree with 'Retard' being a problem, I also disagree. In present day, you don't get a lot of complaints about people having a problem with the word. That's just how it is. There are people who are mentally challenged, yes, but from what I've seen, heard, and said, I can say that 'Retard' isn't much of an insult these days. I mean, it's not right to call people something that could mean something bigger, and? And there's also idiot, stupid, moron, all of these are words that mean the same thing that 'Retard' means, as in, how kids these days use it. Though, I don't see anybody complaining about it. Except you. We're all entitled to our own opinions, yes. I respect your opinion on the matter, but if you were to combine it with other words that mean the same thing (keep in mind when I say that, I mean how kids use it these days, and that's usually not to actually call someone slow, but just ridiculous, or lame), your argument wouldn't make much sense. See, you'd be trying to prove a point that couldn't be proven, if that makes sense. Retard isn't the beginning of mean words, and it won't be the end. This one word can mean so much to someone, yes, but it means nothing to a 15-year-old boy who likes to joke around with his friends and throw mean names at each other.
It's not exactly right to put up for this one word that means so much to you and others, but nothing to some, if the word actually does mean nothing today. Honestly, how many times a day do you hear, 'Let's stop using the R-word, it's offensive and it's an inappropriate way to make fun of each other.' You don't hear that. Ever. Because people these days don't care about what it means.
Though, props for your argument. I enjoyed reading it.
I don't want to be mean here by posting 2 negative comments, but I completely agree with @Strangelove
Any word can be offensive. I am someone who loves reading and writing satires. I have myself used this retard word in one of my stories. You need to understand that this word is bad in a particular context When you say, stop using this word you're forgetting that there is a genre called black comedy.
In this genre, cruelty is seen through ridiculousness of characters. Consider this plot: A man is struck under a tree and government officials are called to cut the tree. But the stubborn officials are more keen on saving the tree to support afforestation than saving the man.
If this is the premise of my story I have to offend my readers by using such words and I am not supposed to follow conventional yardsticks. In such cases I will use offensive words.
Feel free to judge me!
Seriously?
Someone actually wrote an article on this topic? I agree it is a slang. But that is exactly why it is a slang. Tomorrow you might argue to end the f-word or b*tch because it dehumanizes dogs.
My advise is, don't take things so seriously. We have bigger problems in life!
Okay, I disagree with you. The real R word in this situation is ridiculous.
As ridiculous as this sounds,
retard's meaning has changed.
Retard doesn't mean "mentally slow" anymore. It may have back then, but now it's another synonym for stupid, whether you like it or not. Words over time has changed, such as:
Awful: Inspiring wonder or fear
Guy: A person of grotesque appearance
Demagogue: A popular leader
Nice: Silly
Clue: A ball of yarn
Hussy: Housewife
So, the word "retard" has developed a semantic change. People call things that are "stupid" retarded, to mean that it's "stupid", not mentally slow.
My toaster is being mentally slow.
Yeah, the meaning has changed.
The people who commented all the errors on this piece I agree with (including the "only new-era problem" corrections), but calling this piece completely incorrect (although your opinion, of course) I think is a little past the point. In my opinion, the real point of this piece is to get the message across that using the word "retarded" in ways such as, "You're so retarded" "that's retarded" and others can be very offensive. Please try to pay attention to the message being put across here.
+1
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*presses like a thousand times* Yes!!! Preach it,
I feel the same exact way about that word it pisses me off when people think it's funny to use that word, which it isn't!! Obviously, but if you feel like you need to call someone a name, especially one like this, think of what it means first, and how it can hurt many many people.
And it's like the ebola jokes and things being "gay". First off EBOLA ISNT FUNNY!!! It's a real problem in American and Africa, everywhere it's a big real problem that people are facing and dying from if a bunch of people think that's funny it's not. Period.
And calling things gay is about as bad as the "R-word" I mean if it's not an insult to gays why should it be an insult to straights or bi's or whatever! And the thing that really pisses me off is that people use gay to call something stupid or bad. Which being gay isn't wrong or bad or stupid at all, in no context is gay wrong. And when people who are not against lgbt and still call things gay, just turns you into a hypocrite.
Sorry for going off track a lot, I agree with you and you are super smart ~The Written Girl
Leaving a comment because I don't have the energy to give you a proper review, and I don't want to cheat you of that.
First off, I found this childish. It's incredibly condescending and it's told in a tone like you're talking to five-year-olds. Teenagers are not five. They understand big words. They'll understand it if you lay out the gruesome history of the word. Please, if you're trying to reach a millennial audience, strip yourself of the idea that you have to dumb it down.
Secondly, I found this childish. This is in terms of content, not just word choice. You have effectively glossed over the history of the word in order to paint it as a millennial issue, which I have a problem with. The word itself was first used sometime around the 1890s to refer to the mentally disabled as a replacement for such terms as idiot. That tells you something. It was used by psychologists in the developing era of the early 1900s.
In other words, it's not new. Not by a long shot. And the fact that you're literally blaming my generation for this? Not cool.
I hear my mother (born 1964) say the word a lot more than my friends do. Hell, I hear my grandfather (born 1939) say the word a lot more than my friends do. And my friends, if I ask them to stop, will. My family won't.
Maybe you need to change your audience, or at least the people you're outright blaming for this.
The word has history.
Also, by the way, I don't appreciate being called "mentally delayed". It's a bad choice, and it actually implies "retarded" due to the root of said r-word, which means "slow" in Latin. It's kind of offensive in implying that people with developmental disabilities and differences have a decreased mental faculty, which is certainly not the case with many if not most, and even those with a decreased mental faculty have the necessary cognizance to be referred to as people.
AKA "don't call me mentally delayed, I'm an autistic person".
Well... I never use the word, but I'm not 100% sure I agree with the message :p Like, the n word is shunned, and for good reason - yet, in rare situations it can be used in a positive way! :p Same goes for gay, etc. I'm all pro gay, but someone saying "this is gay -_- " doesn't really mean anything, especially if said by relatively intelligent people. I personally would feel free to use it to imitate those I hold in lower esteem, and while I normally wouldn't use it myself, I can see its value. The same goes for the "r word".
Now before everyone calls me out to be homophobic and evil and whatnot, I'll just say that im not and if you think so, you misunderstand me. My general view is that if people are offended by such things beyond measure when the words are used lightly, then they should probably pause for a moment and reevaluate why. From my perspective, if something isn't actually meant, the words to convey the _actual_ meaning shouldn't be the topic of much offence :p Naturally, if someone really means to use the word malignantly with the proper meaning, then feel free to send them to Ireland :p Tis so cold it makes me cry :/
Hello!
I honestly, couldn't find anything to correct in this, and all I really want to say is, Thank You. Just thank you for getting this out into the inter connected net. It needed to be said, and you said it. Thank you!
~Snazzy
Hello.
This whole piece is incorrect. You're painting this word as a new problem with this generation, the word itself as an alright word, and how the negative spin is "new" when it's not new at all.
The r word was used as a legitimate medical diagnosis for those with mental disabilities when psychology first began. The reason it stopped being used as a legitimate medical diagnosis is because it entered popular lexicon and lost its meaning. Your example of "parents not using that word" is, again, incorrect, because yes parents do say this, and yes even potentially their grandparents or even great grand parents if they're young enough, used that word to describe somebody slow, intellectually.
The words "cretin", "cripple", "daft", "dumb", "idiot", "imbecile", "insane", "lunatic", "lame", "maniac", "mad", "moron", "psychopathic", "spaz", and quite a few others have almost identical roots. They have been used within psychology as derogatory and dehumanizing terms for people with physical and/or mental disabilities. This use goes back a century or so, and those words have been a problem since day one. Not recently. Not with this generation. Day one. At least three generations ago, if not four or five (depending on how young each generation had kids).
The r word never was and never will be a safe, harmless word. It does not matter where you use it or if you use it in "legitimate" contexts of being mentally slow, as per its dictionary definition. That very context is dehumanizing. If you call somebody who has an intellectual disability "retarded", even if you mean "hey they're just developmentally late they'll get there eventually", that is still a wildly problematic use of the world. It is still a bad word to use. You should not use it even when you're not purposely trying to degrade someone, because the word itself degrades whoever you use it on regardless of whether or not it's an "accurate usage".
Strip that word of your vocabulary in any and all contexts. Actually, strip all words that degrade someone based on physical or mental disability out of your vocabulary, because that list I gave up there? All slurs. All of them have the same weight for disabled individuals as the n-word does for blacks. This list has a few more words and why they are bad to use. The discrimination against disabled individuals is called ableism, and it is a giant problem in society.
Yes, you should get rid of the r word. But not for these reasons. Not because of what context it's currently used in. You should get rid of that word because it is a slur, full stop.
~Rosey
I had my younger sister read this. She's about fourteen and uses this word at least three times a day, usually when ranting about the idiots in the world (you have to admit that there are idiots, normal people who just don't get it). Recently though, it's been getting rather annoying.
When I had her read this, she gave me this shamed look. I think this made her rethink her vocabulary! Sometimes people just need to know to stop and think about what they're saying and you get that. Thank you for trying to get that suggestion out there.
Keep writing!
Hi. Queen here. Wow! great job. Very well writen and clear. Great message, too.
In scientific and medidical terminolgy it would be better to call someone mentaly delayed than retarted. Retarted just has a negitive conotation to it and is unessary.
Having a disbilty myself, its quiet sad the iggnorance that people with physical and mental disabilities face. People just don't understand.
Well... I must say this is... a good argument...
But there are a LOT more things besides Retard we can get rid off. Like, every woman needs to be this perfect, "Hourglass" and have big breasts and hips.
And the whole "That's GAY!" thing. (I find this so freakin' offensive you have no idea. Gay is happy, or... well, manxman womanxwoman.).
While I enjoyed this, I have called a person a retard because we were playing around (fun and games and we didn't mean it). But it can be rude and offensive in non-friendly environments, and actually meaning an insult.
Also, there are bigger fish to fry than Retard, trust me.
~Ruro~
Once or twice, when I was a little kid and didn't quite get it, I called some kids "r-words". But when I understood what it meant, I felt awful. Now, I really hate it when people use that phrase, too. Great job on the essay, it was brilliantly written!
Cheers!
~Cat
Amen! Goodness, you do not know how much I despise the word. Since it is used medically to describe mentally disabled persons, as a individual with close ties to the disabled community, it really stabs at me when it is used as a demeaning term. One of my best friends has Cerebal Palsy, and it is completely true that he is indeed mentally retarded. This is fine, it is the medical term. What is not okay is using a real medical issue and turning it into an insult.
Thank you for raising awareness.
Hey there!
This was such a good read. I never realized how hurtful and offensive the R-Word could be. I knew it was a mean thing to call someone, but never stopped to think how it offensive it really is. I don't use the word, but it's so commonly used in my high school. And like me, they probably don't know how deep that word can hit someone. Thanks for posting this! It really opened up my eyes.
~ Snow
By the way, I totally agree with Firepower13's idea of putting this message into a story. I think that would really allow readers to see the effects of th R-Word.
I take my hat off to you, good sir. You are part of the depressingly small portion of humanity that stops and thinks.
I babysit two kids, a brother and a sister. The boy is mentally disabled, but he's fun-loving and adorable. Every time I hear the r-word used, ever, I think about him and his sweet innocence and feel like humanity has failed as a species.
Very powerful work. You don't have a story or plot, but you get your message across just fine without one. The only thing I would worry about is that perhaps you are getting it across a bit too well. Many readers might be scared off by this piece when they notice that its a bit of an activist story and decide not to read.
Fear not! You could camouflage your theme. Write it into another story, so that it holds appeal for everyone, and spread your message that way.
Keep fighting the good fight, bro.
Wow. I'm really in to social justice and whatnot, and I'm really happy to see this piece out there. As a huge advocator for the end of ableism, it's so incredibly hard to get people to realize that the words they're used to saying on the daily are actually extremely hurtful. Admittedly, I didn't read this whole thing as I already understand the argument, but from what I did read I can tell that you have a good handle on this. If this were a school essay, I'd definitely give you an A+.
Having developmental problems myself (ADHD) and having been called retarded by others for a long time, I sincerely thank you for writing this, so that those here in the YWS community who still use this word in a negative way will start to think differently and erase the word from their vocabulary, at least in the negative sense. Keep on writing~
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