I think we have to say "neurospicy" now, right?
this post was submitted on 23 Nov 2025
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Unpopular Opinion
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Lol you fucking spastic - can't say that, its offensive
Are you retarded - can't say that, its offensive
Damn bro, you mentally disabled?
This will continue onward, to think otherwise is retarded.
I never really understood the difference between insults and slurs. Somebody said that slurs target groups of people and imply that just being in the group is bad. That explanation works for ethnic/racial slurs or the ones regarding gender/sexualities.
But to me "retarded" is not specifically tied to a group. It's not mainly used for people who are disabled or neurodivergent for example. As far as I'm concerned it's the same as calling someone a moron or incredibly stupid.
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When you stop being offended by letters on a page and direct that hate towards the individuals that use the word as a slur or out of context on purpose, you'll be a lot happier.
Do you also use the N word? Would you feel comfortable using that as an insult?
The N word is based off negro which is just black. Calling someone black isn't an insult so the only connotation would be to be racist. Retard is based on slow and I would want to call someone slow and imply what they're saying is moronic, so it literally fits perfectly. That said it's still used as a slur pretty often and it's purely a negative word so I still don't really use it.
No, but then that word has very few uses beyond slurs. The word 'retard', however, has many uses in technical fields - for example in setting internal combustion engine timings, or throttle settings in aviation. As always, context matters.
I'm not offended by "faggot" because of its shape, I'm offended by it because it takes me back to when Meathead John crushed my throat in the playground calling me it until I would ask him to beat up the boy i liked instead.
Words represent, communicate and are something. Humans have for the entirety of their use of language, understood that the signifier and the signified are interchangeable.
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I thought it was widely accepted that you shouldn't use this word outside of, like, quoting old medical diagnosis from when the word was used in that context. It is not an okay insult.
Maybe I just hang out with nicer people.
I don't think intellectually challenged individuals deserve cruelty, nor do I believe anyone does. However, this is the first argument that popped into my head, and I want to genuinely discuss this. Again, I do NOT agree that the intellectually challenged are deserving of discrimination. This is for the purpose of discussion.
If being intellectually challenged isn't worthy of discrimination, why feel insulted when called retarded?
Idk if someone was called that as essentially a slur many times growing up, it's not like they choose to feel bad when someone says it. It's also used as a replacement for "bad/unpleasant" so it's kinda hard to reclaim.
Does that mean if I'm autistic I get an R- word pass?
Not at all
My brother has a mental disability. Not his fault, doctors fucked up ab operation when he was a baby and he came out severely damaged. He has the intellectual level do about a 13 year old, but he mostly lives independently, he got his drivers license in a country where many people with full brain capacities cannot. Doctors told my mom after the operation to just dump him in some institution, because he'd never even talk. She told them to go fuck themselves.
I'm fucking proud of him (and my mom), because with severe limitations he really got himself ahead. I see him as a fucking genius.
Then there are retards like Elon musk who do have a full brain with full abilities but somehow fail to even surpass what my brother wasn't supposed to be able to do, yet by brother does it, these people do
I call people removed when they are supposed to be better but just chose to be lazy or not caring or just behave removed.
Is an insult against people who are supposed to be smart but behave like they have a mental disability, and I stand by that.
If you feel offended, the that is on you.
This is my stance on the word.
We use it regularly in engineering for this exact definition. Mentally disabled people typically operate in the best version of themselves nearly all the time (minus bad days, we all have em)
But people who have the potential to operate at their full capacity but choose not to are the very definition of the word.
I will definitely think it while standing in line behind someone for 15 minutes at a coffee shop who don't decide to even look at the menu until the cashier gets to them.
But I still don't say it, as intention and perception are competely unrelated.
I'd also add "you dumb fucker" hits about the same, without the fallout of "the R word"
I guess that's the part about people and taboo words I don't understand. A little fun flex in vocabulary can transmit the same sentiment without impacting others.
Tactical strike, not full fallout.
I call people removed
Is lemmy.ca doing the same censorship billshit as .ml? SMH ...