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What's Wrong With Our Youth?


Cantabile

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At what point do dumb highschoolers have total ownership of the word though? By my anecdotal evidence, it has been used for at least 12 years, 95%+ of the time without any thought of its link to homosexuality. At some point the meaning of the word has to change right?

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I fell your pain; that word does it for me, too. MY BOSS (Miss Manager, not Big Boss) said it at work, multiple times, like "how totally r---- of them not to catch that error." Of course, I couldn't say anything to her, and god forbid I go to Big Boss, who is so non-PC it's appalling...I had to e-mail HR and say that I had noticed that several people in my group were using the word to describe situations that they found unintelligent, and could they please include a brief statement on how the word (along with the other standard examples they trot out) was not acceptable at our upcoming "Respect Training".

After that, the word hasn't been used since, and no one knows it was me who was the "wet blanket".

Holy shit!

You're that person!

I've always wanted to meet you. The person that can't confront anyone at work, that calls HR and makes people sit through pointless briefings. I didn't think you actually existed, that you were just something that Management made up to make us sit through bullshit like that. Thanks for proving me wrong.

On a serious note though, you make the world a much worse place with your passive aggressiveness. Wouldn't it have been easier to just say 'hey, don't do that shit anymore'? Maybe it's just the dumb civil servant in me, but we handle that shit a little more face to face.

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After that, the word hasn't been used since, and no one knows it was me who was the "wet blanket".

:thumbsup:

What I don't understand is why people don't simply say what they mean. "Stupid" is not the same as "retarded" so why the hell do they say "retarded" when what they acutally mean is "stupid"? Even if it wasn't offensive, the simple fact is they are not synonyms, and people shouldn't be using them as if they were.

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:thumbsup:

What I don't understand is why people don't simply say what they mean. "Stupid" is not the same as "retarded" so why the hell do they say "retarded" when what they acutally mean is "stupid"? Even if it wasn't offensive, the simple fact is they are not synonyms, and people shouldn't be using them as if they were.

And here's another meaning vs. technical definition thing.

Currently, 99% of the time, retarded does mean stupid. When does the definition officially change?

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As a 39 year old, gay and retarded were used quite heavily in my youth to describe things that were, well, gay and retarded.;)

Okay maybe I'm just not recalling correctly.

And here's another meaning vs. technical definition thing.

Currently, 99% of the time, retarded does mean stupid. When does the definition officially change?

The free dictionary has unintelligent and stupid as related words.

My link

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You can't tell me you'd have no problem if society started saying "This food tastes nigger, man," even if their proposed intent wasn't to discriminate against black people. Intent or not, it does discriminate.

this statement would offend me to no ends just on the sheer level of incomprehension it had to it. what the fuck does it even mean? are you kidding me?

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Retard as defined, is slow, hindered or impeded. Referring to the developmentally delayed as retards is slang. So the problem as it were, is to stop referring to them as retarded/retards and continue referring to slow, hindered or impeded people and situations as retards/retarded.

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On a serious note though, you make the world a much worse place with your passive aggressiveness. Wouldn't it have been easier to just say 'hey, don't do that shit anymore'? Maybe it's just the dumb civil servant in me, but we handle that shit a little more face to face.

She made the right choice. Face-to-face in situations like that often isn't worth it, because many people simply become angry and argue to defend themselves (nobody likes being pointed out that they're being bigoted) not to mention it's doubly not worth it when it involves higher-ups. HR departments exist for a reason.

Currently, 99% of the time, retarded does mean stupid. When does the definition officially change?

If it means the same thing for most people, then why not just use the one that isn't offensive? Choosing the most offensive of two synonyms is just, well, retarded.

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Retard as defined, is slow, hindered or impeded. Referring to the developmentally delayed as retards is slang. So the problem as it were, is to stop referring to them as retarded/retards and continue referring to slow, hindered or impeded people and situations as retards/retarded.

Agreed. I believe that the accepted term is 'Developmentally Disabled'. I know for sure that when i volunteer with the guys i can't call them retards. Mongoloids sometimes, but not retards.

In the case mentioned above, i thing retarded is acceptable. If someone is acting slow in their work, unable to perform, or fucking up their ability to perform or function is 'retarded'.

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this statement would offend me to no ends just on the sheer level of incomprehension it had to it. what the fuck does it even mean? are you kidding me?

And people using "gay" makes sense? When someone says "That math test was gay," they clearly aren't saying that their math test wants to hump other math tests of the same gender. "Nigger" in my example is simply a synonym for "bad" as "gay" is currently used.

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She made the right choice. Face-to-face in situations like that often isn't worth it, because many people simply become angry and argue to defend themselves (nobody likes being pointed out that they're being bigoted) not to mention it's doubly not worth it when it involves higher-ups. HR departments exist for a reason.

If it means the same thing for most people, then why not just use the one that isn't offensive? Choosing the most offensive of two synonyms is just, well, retarded.

are you stupid or retarded? which one of those would be offensive to you? retarded is offensive, stupid is not? i would think both of them. no one wants to be called either. so this is more about sensitivity and care in speaking to all people in whatever you say rather than anything else?

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She made the right choice. Face-to-face in situations like that often isn't worth it, because many people simply become angry and argue to defend themselves (nobody likes being pointed out that they're being bigoted) not to mention it's doubly not worth it when it involves higher-ups. HR departments exist for a reason.

If it means the same thing for most people, then why not just use the one that isn't offensive? Choosing the most offensive of two synonyms is just, well, retarded.

Ya, to hire people, and to deal with actual problems. Not someone's hurt feelings over a benign word that seems to me to be used properly.

And i disagree. I would think that most people would appreciate the face to face situation. I for one can't stand the pussy footing that americans seem to accept now-a-days. We've lost our ability to handle conflict, it's going to bite us in the ass in the future.

Easy fix:

Say what bothers you, have a solution to fix it, fix it.

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If it means the same thing for most people, then why not just use the one that isn't offensive? Choosing the most offensive of two synonyms is just, well, retarded.

My general point is, words get repurposed and changed all the time. Kairparavel is even asserting that retarded didn't even used to mean mentally challenged people.

Maybe you can construe the majority stealing words and changing them as a form of oppression. But when almost nobody is using them with the intent to oppress or harm these groups, I don't. If a group is offended, they can either try a PR campaign to take 'their' word back, or they can see the situation for what it is and realize it might not be that big of a deal.

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are you stupid or retarded? which one of those would be offensive to you? retarded is offensive, stupid is not? i would think both of them. no one wants to be called either. so this is more about sensitivity and care in speaking to all people in whatever you say rather than anything else?

It's not simply about sensitivity, because while both are offensive, "stupid" isn't used to describe people with an actual disorder, while "retard" is.

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It's not simply about sensitivity, because while both are offensive, "stupid" isn't used to describe people with an actual disorder, while "retard" is.

By who???

That shit actually made me laugh a little

Let me pull out this DSM IV and see if I can find it.

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Look, I get what you're on about, but people can apply vitriol to anything they say fit, at any time, for any reason. Case in point, the demonization of liberal or conservative, for example or the demonization of Christian or Arab. Eurocommie gets tossed around here a lot and to some that's pejorative.. But it all still amounts to words. It's the actions of people that are the problem, not the school yard talking of people who in reality are just making sounds, not holding people back.

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It's not simply about sensitivity, because while both are offensive, "stupid" isn't used to describe people with an actual disorder, while "retard" is.

being stupid may not have been used medically as a disorder but when i say 'cantable, you are a stupid fuck' it is not used as a positive in any which way. just because retarded was used to describe a medical condition does not make it any more or less offensive when used.

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If it means the same thing for most people, then why not just use the one that isn't offensive? Choosing the most offensive of two synonyms is just, well, retarded.

Uh when you call someone stupid or retard it's supposed to be offensive.

And people using "gay" makes sense? When someone says "That math test was gay," they clearly aren't saying that their math test wants to hump other math tests of the same gender. "Nigger" in my example is simply a synonym for "bad" as "gay" is currently used.

Ya doesn't work that way, gay just didn't suddenly mean bad it took a long time. Nigger may end up meaning the same thing but it would take a while, right now saying the way you did makes you sound like a moron.

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I find it strangely hilarious, though darkly disturbing, that we can be having a debate about using a word in an offensive way when its relevant meaning has only existed for a handful of years. The word "gay" shouldn't be offensive to homosexuals because people use it to mean "stupid". It should be offensive to everyone, especially poets, because people use it to mean "homosexual" in the first place.

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