I heard this blurb on the radio today (KNPR). It seems there's one more word I have to erase from my vocabulary. Although it was never my favorite word to describe an idea I didn't agree with, an item, person or subject I thought was stoopid, it never bothered me when I heard it used by others. After all, it's not like the N word. Not like the G word. Not like the F word. Not like the S word. Not like calling some one a Dumb Pollock. (just a sampling of the words that were common that I used without giving them a second thought in my younger years before politically correctness became buzz words) The R word is to be banned ~ Retarded used to be a run-of-the-mill slang word, with no particular slam to anyone (in my opinion), but it may be the next candidate for prime-time bleeping. Some activists are campaigning against the word "retard." To them, it's not a hilarious put-down; it's hate speech. (one such activist has a daughter with down syndrome - I can see his point!) The word has been retired by medical and social service organizations, which prefer the term "intellectual disabilities" instead. So now we can say, "She/He/That's so Intellectually Disabled." (Hmmmm, looses any effectiveness, not sure this will work.) The activists petition TV networks and comedians, and organize against movies like last summer's hit film Tropic Thunder, which coined the term "full retard" hoping to keep them off the Oscar selection list, just because of their use of the R word...
To be safe, I'll stick with "That's sooo dumb...or That's sooo blond..." :-)
PS. I used the "G" word while in and immediately after Vietnam - so you can probably guess this one. The "S" word I learned in Jr High School before I learned it was a slam against our South American friends - another hint to my abbreviations. The others I'm sure you know already.
6 comments:
Oops! I used the "R" word when I yelled at the guy down the street!
I thought re-, I mean, the intellectually disabled were called the mentally challenged? Either way that's retarded.
I just can't keep up with all these politically correct terminology!
It's just another way to increase our vocabulary!
I have a good friend who has Down Syndrome. I never thought anything about saying the "r word" until my friend's mother told me a story of a man who said that "r word" in front of her and her daughter. She felt so sad and so offended--and who am I to say that she shouldn't feel that way?
Ever since then I have tried not to use that word, just because I know it can be hurtful to others. I don't know if these activists are taking it too far, but personally I would never use that word around other people.
They will petition to remove "retard" but they have no problem with the "F" word being used 45 times in one movie? I don't like the word "retard" anyway, so it won't be a problem for me to have it removed. Lindsay, you had good reason to call that guy down the street a bad name!
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