|
|
Post by wisdomseyes1 on May 20, 2011 16:23:52 GMT
There was yet another problem with this word. I am making this post to have the conversation, if one wants to continue it, to continue the conversation here. Copy pasted: I'm getting sick and tired of all these tub-thumping internet White Knights randomly crusading around in totally unrelated topics. The word 'retard' has multiple meanings, and the only way people are going to stop using it one-hundred years from now is if it loses popularity. Only around 8% of people, worldwide, actually feel any remorse over the wrong things they do, and even those people barely register a twinge of guilt over calling a moron a "retard". I'd be lying if I said I was among those 8%. It's a synonym for "stupid." If you have an issue, I'm sure both Webster and Princeton would love to hear (i.e., totally ignore) your opinions on the matter. You see, in the end, language is democratic, and the majority opinion of what a word means is all that matters. There's just not enough people in the world who could spare the time of day to care about this topic, beyond writing a scathing response to your moral outrage (Hi!), so no one (no one, ever, in the whole world) will ever stop using "retard" to mean, amongst other things, "stupid" and "obtuse". No one.As for Beasts of War? They were nice guys who had no idea how to play 40k, but they still had neat ideas for modeling and conversions and painting, and they didn't seem to mean any harm. I'm sure they'll probably be back. Besides, they had a D&D Red Dragon sculpt on their glass case, and I have the same Red Dragon, so the Fraternity of Dudes Who Own Red Dragons demands I support their cause. I could not have worded that any better if I tried. Pretty much this. This with cake. [yellow]If you're going to be so easily offended by something that is entirely subjective to interpretation, then the internet might not be for you.[/u][/yellow][/i][/quote] Like religion :-) Some people can in fact be offended by what people say. That is fine, and I see nothing wrong with this. Everyone has their own opinions. People often take words out of context. By the same token, however, people use words in a way that is not of their original intent. Retard means –verb (used with object) 1. to make slow; delay the development or progress of (an action, process, etc.); hinder or impede. –verb (used without object) 2. to be delayed. –noun 3. a slowing down, diminution, or hindrance, as in a machine. 4. Slang: Disparaging . a. a mentally retarded person. b. a person who is stupid, obtuse, or ineffective in some way: a hopeless social retard. 5. Automotive, Machinery . an adjustment made in the setting of the distributor of an internal-combustion engine so that the spark for ignition in each cylinder is generated later in the cycle. By definition, number one means slow, number two means delayed, number 3 means slowing down(in this case, the delayed use of an idea, as people are slow to get to the point.) Number 3 is like when you retard a fire. Number 4 is exactly how it is used in slang. Number 4 a is the only time a person with mental retardation is actually brought up. It seldom matters to people what other definitions of words are though. They look in one place and say that other people are wrong, cruel, evil, ext because it MIGHT mean something. And this topic, if one would like to continue it, should be made as a post in the general board. |
|
|
|
Post by Hellbreaker on May 20, 2011 16:32:45 GMT
Language is fluid by nature. Without said fluidity language would never evolve. That is all. |
|
|
|
Post by Tyrantor on May 20, 2011 17:00:55 GMT
Read Voraciousapathy's comment.
'Nuff said. Summed up. Done.
|
|
|
|
Post by mina on May 20, 2011 17:26:57 GMT
I have to say as someone who very easily could have been mentally retarded, and I have an autistic cousin, I think anyone who doesn't like it being used on stupid people is.... RETARDED!
You know why those students find it offensive, because people like to be hurt, they like to be righteously indignant and they'll do almost anything to get into that position. And honestly, no one gives a (please do not swear) if they are exceptionally bright or not, I am aware that retarded/mentally handicapped people are people too. I would never intentionally harm them with my word use I know what it is like to be akward in some way that is not in any way my fault. But if they want me to stop saying gay and retarded then I think they need to grow a hide and realize no the world is not about their problem, that it is more than that problem.
People should care about the intent behind the words, not the actual words. Fu-ck is not in of itself bad, but if I say (please do not swear) you with anger then it is profanity and not nice in polite conversation. If I say (please do not swear) dude while laughing is it truly a bad thing? If I say someone who is stupid is a retard I don't mean you are a mentally handicapped person I mean they are stupid. The meaning is what matters, not the word itself.
Also as a side note, if you do not plan to debate your side then it is rather rude to walk in and expect everyone to change just because you thought so. In fact it demonstrates a lack of social ability. It would be the same as walking into a gay bar and saying that being gay is wrong so stop it now. Then when they say no but if you'd like to talk about it sit down with us you said no just stop kkthxbye.
|
|
|
|
Post by wisdomseyes1 on May 20, 2011 17:43:22 GMT
Alice: Where it is true what you say, some words do lose their meaning based on how and why you use them. Where the F-word may be used in casual conversation to mean, that was strange by some people, and used in anger to mean I don't like you, these are not what the F-word means. The f-word was originally a way to say... well... the act of... yea... but seldom in normal conversations do we use it like this. At first, F-you was an insult saying that one would. it evolved into what it is now, because the meaning is lost. In my English class yesterday, actually, we were reading the play, "A street car named desire". Blanche at one point says, "I have never tried so hard to be gay at a public event" and later on in the book, Mitch says, "I know you weren't straight" In both of these cases, the class laughed. Can you tell me why? Because even 12th grade high school students are immature. Words have meanings, but they have several of them. Gay means to be happy, and when Mitch said, "I knew you weren't straight" he was calling her an alcoholic and a *crow caw* (which has several meanings in its own right). Words can't hurt you, this is true. But words can still hurt. You should only take offense to words when they are meant to be harmful (such as when my grandmother called me a pedophile for watching my little pony)
|
|
|
|
Post by Psychichobo on May 20, 2011 22:52:10 GMT
@wisdom: That's not Alice...
Words can hurt, but it's best to look for the intent behind them. Much harder on the net though, I've found it's very easy to read things as more aggressive than they actually were intended to be. Tis why there's so many Flame Wars.
|
|
|
|
Post by Loplod on May 20, 2011 23:23:10 GMT
|
|
|
|
Post by wisdomseyes1 on May 20, 2011 23:49:16 GMT
Alice from Alice and wonderland, Duh!
|
|
|
|
Post by Geneva on May 21, 2011 1:18:06 GMT
Righty-O! Time for a good old rambly rant!
First of all, I'm going to outline that I am not at all against the use of the word "retard" in conversation. It has multiple definitions and the interpretation of such should be based solely on the context of the statement with which it is given.
i.e.
"My dice rolls have been pretty retarded recently."
"Whoah! T8? That's just retarded."
These statements are A-OK as there is absolutely no malice whatsoever to them and no allusions to any minority or otherwise.
"That's the class for retards."
"His brother is retarded and makes wierd faces. It's hilarious."
These statements, upon utterence, deserve (and quite regularly recieve) a full fisted punch to the face. This is where the line is most certainly crossed as the nature of the comment is quite clear and, frankly, reprehensible.
Now, some people just dislike the word in general as it makes them feel uncomfortable or reminds them of other connotations. There's nothing wrong with this and we should respect that person's feelings on the matter. Personally, I would refrain from using the word when in direct conversation with the person in question, if only out of a sense of respect and social decency.
However, it does not give that person the right to butt into other people's conversations and reprimand them for using a word they dislike. I will refrain from using the word in a conversation with you if you are genuinely uncomfortable with it but I am not going to curb my mannerisms in all future conversations because of it. You have to respect others as they respect you. This means not barging into a thread or conversation and accusing everyone there of being horrible people for saying a word with no malice whatsoever behind it. You might not like it but, tough cookies, that's how it goes. Your moral position on the matter is not the absolute and you have no right to act like it is.
And before anyone goes there, I have a little cousin with severe autism who is bullied terribly because of it. He's the nicest kid you could come across and, indeed, I feel like marching out and verbally tearing apart the kids that give him such grief whenever I hear about what he's going through. So, yes. I know what it feels like. And so do many others here. Don't just presume otherwise because of a simple difference of interpretation on a stupid little word. Because that's all it is to most of us. A word. Hell, I don't even regard it as an insult, primarily. Like I said previously, it all depends on the context of the statement.
And that's about all that I have to say on the matter. Hopefully this thread will put the matter to bed at last save us a few more locked ones.
|
|
|
|
Post by Tyrantor on May 21, 2011 2:19:07 GMT
Like the BoW one, which resulted in: i) White Knights everywhere. ii) Yori locking it and saying we were laughing at disabled people (That is a massive pile of bull. Not once did anyone in the thread laugh at a disabled person. You can paint it how you like, nothing of the sort was done.) iii) The thread going horribly off topic due to the subject. Really, it's subjective. I'm also entirely with Genevaman on this. But what vexed me was that someone mentioned it once in a post and it needed to be commented on 3-4 posts later. What? Is that how it is now? OP: "Hey guys, I just painted my Force Commander again, looked a bit stupid with the purple hair instead of blonde so I went for that." Guy 1: "Yeah man that's really good, purple hair can look so silly sometimes" Guy 2: "It's a nicely painted model, well done man" Guy 3: "Awesome! Love it!" White Knight: "I can't believe you said purple hair looks stupid. I had purple hair once. BAW." Really, the way in which the word was, and is, used on TTH isn't malicious. That makes it okay in my books. Don't like the words? We'll try and say it less around you, but don't go derailing an entire thread because of it. |
|
|
|
Post by wisdomseyes1 on May 21, 2011 3:40:08 GMT
Which is why I made this thread... no derail here...
|
|
|
|
Post by canadianone on May 21, 2011 4:40:03 GMT
this post is obviously aimed at me, so let me weigh in for a sec. while i wouldn't quite call my self a white knight, i admit that it really was inappropriate of me to barge into the thread to reprimand people, and i apologize for acting righteous(in the bad preachy way). I do maintain my dislike of words like (please do not swear) and retard, because i know some one who got teased so much about her homosexuality that she tried to kill herself, but that doesn't give me the right to (please do not swear) at others for using it. I hope all parties who took offense at this can forgive me and we can let this matter rest.
|
|
|
|
Post by Aux on May 21, 2011 5:00:39 GMT
One Word Post? Really Loplod? |
|
|
|
Post by wisdomseyes1 on May 21, 2011 5:11:10 GMT
this post is obviously aimed at me, so let me weigh in for a sec. I do not believe anyone has aimed a post at you. I know for sure mine wasn't, as my opinion does not pass what I have already said, and i judge no one based on their opinions. I do maintain my dislike of words like (please do not swear) and retard, because i know some one who got teased so much about her homosexuality that she tried to kill herself, She and I have something in common then... but that doesn't give me the right to (please do not swear) at others for using it. I hope all parties who took offense at this can forgive me and we can let this matter rest. This topic will come up again... i can assure you of that... It always does. |
|
|
|
Post by t⊗theark on May 21, 2011 8:03:44 GMT
It's french for slow, delay.
Retards are mentally slow.
Stupid means uncoordinated.
Uncoordinated can lead to a diminished speed e.i. slow.
Slow = stupid = retard.
Justification for all uses of that word.
I have a slightly autistic friend (actually he showed me this site before he was banned for some reason) who lives in a commune not so far away. I'm pretty sure I can use the word retard to him in several contexts and he won't be offended.
Get over yourselves.
|
|
I'm getting sick and tired of all these tub-thumping internet White Knights randomly crusading around in totally unrelated topics. The word 'retard' has multiple meanings, and the only way people are going to stop using it one-hundred years from now is if it loses popularity. Only around 8% of people, worldwide, actually feel any remorse over the wrong things they do, and even those people barely register a twinge of guilt over calling a moron a "retard". I'd be lying if I said I was among those 8%. It's a synonym for "stupid." If you have an issue, I'm sure both Webster and Princeton would love to hear (i.e., totally ignore) your opinions on the matter.
