Can someone tell me what is wrong with the word retarded?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:It also depends on whether you are using it as an adjective or a noun.

The chemical fertilizer has retarded the plant's growth. -- adjective. Perfectly acceptable.

That $(&$)#&@ is retarded and clearly needs to learn that the long pedal on the right makes the vehicle move forward. -- noun. Me, in snow or heavy traffic. Neither PC nor accepatable.

In your first example the word "retarded" is an adverb - it is defining the "growth" (verb).

In your second example, you are using "retarded" as an adjective describing the "$(&$)#&@" (noun).

Using it as a noun would be, "That retard just cut me off!"

Using it as a verb would be, "I am going to retard that little brat." (have no idea what this actually means but thought it worked as an example)

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It also depends on whether you are using it as an adjective or a noun.

The chemical fertilizer has retarded the plant's growth. -- adjective. Perfectly acceptable.

That $(&$)#&@ is retarded and clearly needs to learn that the long pedal on the right makes the vehicle move forward. -- noun. Me, in snow or heavy traffic. Neither PC nor accepatable.

In your first example the word "retarded" is an adverb - it is defining the "growth" (verb).

In your second example, you are using "retarded" as an adjective describing the "$(&$)#&@" (noun).

Using it as a noun would be, "That retard just cut me off!"

Using it as a verb would be, "I am going to retard that little brat." (have no idea what this actually means but thought it worked as an example)

NP here.

No, no. Growth is a noun. "To grow" is the verb. Just as "has demonstrated" and "has grown" and "has written" are all compound verbs, so is "has retarded."

[Anonymous]

I thought I read Palin herself referred to her baby with downs syndrome as her "retarded baby".

[Anonymous]

Anyone who doesn't know what is wrong with using the word retarded to describe a human being must be retarded.

[Anonymous]

The word "bitch" has a perfectly acceptable dictionary definition. Would you like to be referred to that way, OP? Indeed, it's even startling when someone refers to a dog as a bitch. Negative connotations are negative connotations.

[Anonymous]

I will post more later as I am in a rush to get my child to school. He was born with Down syndrome and this entire thread makes me sick to my stomach.

here is a link to educate yourselves further about the "R" word

http://www.specialolympics.org/spread-the-word-to-end-the-word.aspx

please take the time to look it over

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It also depends on whether you are using it as an adjective or a noun.

The chemical fertilizer has retarded the plant's growth. -- adjective. Perfectly acceptable.

That $(&$)#&@ is retarded and clearly needs to learn that the long pedal on the right makes the vehicle move forward. -- noun. Me, in snow or heavy traffic. Neither PC nor accepatable.

In your first example the word "retarded" is an adverb - it is defining the "growth" (verb).

In your second example, you are using "retarded" as an adjective describing the "$(&$)#&@" (noun).

Using it as a noun would be, "That retard just cut me off!"

Using it as a verb would be, "I am going to retard that little brat." (have no idea what this actually means but thought it worked as an example)

NP here.

No, no. Growth is a noun. "To grow" is the verb. Just as "has demonstrated" and "has grown" and "has written" are all compound verbs, so is "has retarded."

Just pausing to say I love the serious grammar off-shoot that's happening here.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It also depends on whether you are using it as an adjective or a noun.

The chemical fertilizer has retarded the plant's growth. -- adjective. Perfectly acceptable.

That $(&$)#&@ is retarded and clearly needs to learn that the long pedal on the right makes the vehicle move forward. -- noun. Me, in snow or heavy traffic. Neither PC nor accepatable.

In your first example the word "retarded" is an adverb - it is defining the "growth" (verb).

In your second example, you are using "retarded" as an adjective describing the "$(&$)#&@" (noun).

Using it as a noun would be, "That retard just cut me off!"

Using it as a verb would be, "I am going to retard that little brat." (have no idea what this actually means but thought it worked as an example)

NP here.

No, no. Growth is a noun. "To grow" is the verb. Just as "has demonstrated" and "has grown" and "has written" are all compound verbs, so is "has retarded."

NP is correct. In the first example, "growth" is a noun and the object of the complex verb "has retarded" is the verb.

In the second example, 'retard' is the subject of the sentence and also a noun.

As a adverb, it can be used as follows:

"The IT Help Desk claims the new user interface is retardedly simple but our experence is that a rocket scientist couldn't figure it out."

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I will post more later as I am in a rush to get my child to school. He was born with Down syndrome and this entire thread makes me sick to my stomach.

here is a link to educate yourselves further about the "R" word

http://www.specialolympics.org/spread-the-word-to-end-the-word.aspx

please take the time to look it over

Not the OP, but please don't let this get you sick to your stomach. I think the OP asked in a respectful way, genuinely curious. Retarded is clearly not "PC". Is it simply because it started to be nasty, hateful slang? What about the evolution between phrases like "mentally handicapped" and "developmentally disabled"? The same question could be asked with people with physical disabilities -- the evolution from handicapped to disabled to physically challenged.

I truly don't think it's rude to seek to understand if there are reasons behind these shifts in terminology over the years, and am also curious if anyone has insights.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:
As a adverb, it can be used as follows:

"The IT Help Desk claims the new user interface is retardedly simple but our experence is that a rocket scientist couldn't figure it out."

I just learned something new today. I thought adverbs only modified verbs. But I checked and you are correct... and adverb is a word that modifies anything other than a noun or pronoun. I did not know that.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I think it's because so many people use the term "retarded" as an epithet, so it no longer just a neutral description of a health condition.

OK I have spent some time reading the R-word web site and I have to agree with the above poster. There's nothing linguistically wrong or technically incorrect about the word. But it just has become a bad word, people use it as an insult, and so it clearly has to go.

[Anonymous]

It's like using gay as a insult. Same thing.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The people who are saying that you may not say "retarded" because it's "not PC" are not answering the question.

*Why* is it not PC? ie, If I told you emphatically that the word 'sunshine' is "not PC," would you just stop using the word 'sunshine'?

Language is not static. Connotations change over time. Retarded is not a particularly nice word to say about someone who's not retarded.

So, I guess it is just a matter of time before we decide that disabled is not a nice word....

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:IMO, retarded is no worse than calling someone a moron, imbecile, or idiot, all of which had scientific definitions for a long time. I hope Sarah Palin gets all in an uproar over those terms as well.

Yes, but that's why no one in the medical profession uses those terms, either. It's because they have been coopted, and they are now just derogatory expressions. All of them are bad.

The term mental retardation is still used in the medical community.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I thought I read Palin herself referred to her baby with downs syndrome as her "retarded baby".

That was said in her own home about her own child. That is her business.