The “R-slur”

I want this to be an actual discussion, but why is retard considered an ableist slur? The words stupid, idiot, and moron were once medical terms for certain ranges of IQ now considered derogatory, the word bitch has misogynistic meaning and was arguably used a slur, the phrase playing like a pussy also has stereotypical or misogynistic implications.

Why draw the line at retard? Now days it’s mostly just used as a stronger way to say stupid, I think the word has evolved to be relatively harmless. Ofc, using retard to insult someone whose actually mentally disabled should be unacceptable.

VLR’s probably not the best place to post this since a lot of people might agree and I kinda want to hear the opposite position

i mean people are just softer nowadays cant lie. in EU no word is off limits

you retard

i think that retard is more direct and targeting ig to other people. historically more dehumanizing than words like dumb ig. words like dumb and stupid are used for insulting friends and stuff now, while retard is more serious, but idk.

Probably because of people in america are over react to everything they think inconvenient
In South east asia, you can use black, brown, and white to people without insult their feeling as long as they are not total strangers because we have diversity from austronesia, kinh, chinese, visayan, javanese, malays, khmer, tai, etc

you're right, i have in fact met someone who thinks dumb, stupid, etc. are all slurs and should not be said! (i am from a pretty liberal place, so bound to happen). i personally think the "history" of words should never be a criterion for slurs, just the way it is used today. so if people think the r word is primarily a slur today, i'll comply, but i think dumb and stupid aren't even about people half the time ("that was so dumb", "this game is so stupid"), so calling these slurs would be bad.

a story about computer architecture: they used to use "master"/"slave" to discuss a particular type of interaction between machines. but recently, they have switched to "master"/"worker" because of the connotation of "slave", which i can understand. but a class i took decided to switch to "controller"/"worker" because even the word "master" has connotations of slavery, which i don't understand - i don't care if it originated from slavery, 99% of the time today it is used for other things (mastery of something, kinky reasons) and it's lost its old connotation.

i guess my pov is, i haven't done huge research into the usage of any slurs, so i have to listen to what society tells me. and since the r word has very easy alternatives, i have no issue trying to switch to other ones.

Retard ain’t even a slur , same with the n word 😈😈😈😈😈 say as much as yall please if yall scared then go and say it on twitter. this is discrimination , white people should rip the n word like sentinels more come on 🤯💪🏻🤝😡😈

dont personally care if someone says it, i dont think its wrong to say it since people often use it as if its synonymous to "dumb" or "stupid", or to describe a situation, not a person. That being said i dont have a habit of saying it

It's mostly because it's associated with Eugenics and exclusion of a certain group. Was very common for, in the past, it to be used like other slurs when describing someone who, for example, may be autistic. Often used as a direct insult

ask someone who is retarded like HenbabyH for a fuller picture all u getting here is one picture from us who are more "liberal and colourful" in our terminology personally idm idc saying it or being called it.

I think it’s complicated, but the difference between retard and the mentioned examples is the current societal connotation. Retard is significantly more harsh and scathing than stupid or dumb were; usually being specifically directed towards people with mental disabilities. Personally, I don’t use the word often despite being on the spectrum because it feels weird to say in general and makes me uncomfortable, but I also don’t despise people who do say it, as it’s a relatively ingrained part of vernacular which will take a while to fizzle out. the gist is though you should avoid saying it if possible because of the connotation and there are just better words to describe the situation, there’s just no actual need to say the word when there’s much more societally appropriate words out there.

Isn't arguing about r is actually r

language is inherently irrational, no point trying to over-rationalise something that ends up being purely subjective. if there exists a large proportion of the population that will get upset if you use certain words, just avoid using it - i trust you're smart enough to figure out other ways of getting across what you want to say.

especially in the internet age, words can pick up and lose meaning very, very quickly. just half a decade ago the word "mid" meant absolutely nothing, yet now it's an ingrained part of "leet-speak", so to say (another term that probably hasn't been used in half a decade). i guess that particular word just picked up more sinister connotations over the years compared to similar terms.

I don't think the word has nearly as much gravitas as something like the n word or the f slur, but I still dont think people should use it. I don't agree with witchhunting or making a massive deal out of it, seems a bit nonsensical and tends to lead to people becoming more divisive