this post was submitted on 17 Mar 2026
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Retard.
I really try not to say this out loud. Im mostly successful. Its deeply imprinted.
Iโve been hearing this a lot more within the last ~14 months.
I hate how that word became pejorative, because it was used correctly. By the way, it's still used in plumbing. Retard is a verb which means to slow, e.g. retard the flow. When you call a person who is developmentally disabled that, yes it's rude, but it means their mental process is slow. The word was being used accurately. It's just not nice to say.
I don't think "window licker" was ever accurate, but for some reason it's slightly more socially acceptable to say (or imply, e.g. "I will say this for him, his windows are always clean").
There's a few term of that kind of age which were like that. Medical terms or just plain English words that became labelled "derogatory" because of how they were used. I always felt it showed how poor the vocabulary of some people was. If they only knew the derogatory meaning they'd get offended by it's use in all situations even if the meaning was innocent.
It doesn't mean their mental process is slow. It refers to developmental retardation, as if the person's body is just going to "catch up" one day. Which is why it was a stupid thing to say all along.
"Everyone's always asking me: 'What are you doing, retard?', but nobody ever asks 'How are you doing, retard?'"
How are you doing retard?
โค๏ธ
That was very common when I was growing up. Unfortunately, it has been replaced with variations of autistic, though "anti-woke" people will use both.
pivotal comma
Maybe by youโฆ Unfortunately.
Eh, I use it for very stupid people. Obviously devoid of ableist intent.
I feel as though the context matters with this. For the genuinely evil and criminally unintelligent I would use the clinical "Mentally retarded".
"Retard" and music (low volume) on buses are the controversial hills I'm willing to die on.
Pick better hills.
Maybe later, for now I have petty culturally unpopular positions that I will maintain. They are few but they are mine.