It depresses the hell out of me that this is a battle that still needs to be fought:
They’re targeting the campaign to youth, which makes some sense. But I hear so many adults using the word “retard” (and “-tard” variants) that I’m thinking some of us may need to kick off campaigns in our personal networks.
I don’t get the outrage.
Any term that gets used to describe mentally handicapped will eventually get used as an insult. The same sometimes happens terms used to describe physical handicaps. That process is a fact across many languages, many cultures. And that’s what this campaign is meant to discourage… Absurd!
“Retarded” means “delayed”, and as such is a bad description for many mentally handicapped people who are limited in their mental development; they’re not “delayed” if they’ll never “catch up”.
Above I’ve used “mentally handicapped” twice. I’ve no idea if this is a current no-no and I’m being a very bad, politically incorrect person for using this term. No ill will or offense intended, I swear. I just can’t always keep up with protocol.