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 micronesia United States. May 03 2010 03:34. Posts 19284 | Profile Blog # |
This is similar to a blog where I gave some thoughts on the way many people say "that's gay." I've been giving a lot of thought about how people call each other retarded all the time... especially lately. Although, this phenomenon has been around since before the 'gay' one started up.
At first I thought you would call someone retarded, or call something retarded, when it's horribly stupid to the point that you have every right to be insulting it repeatedly. Then I started to notice that it gets thrown around much more easily than that. It gets to the point where you misspell a word and people are like "WHAT ARE YOU RETARDED? IT'S THERE NOT THEIR" when you just typed something into IRC real quick and didn't take the time to mentally grammar check it.
So what does retarded mean? I figured dictionary.com would be sufficient for looking up the denotation and I'd rely on urbandictionary.com to clue me in on the connotation.
According to dictionary.com:
–adjective
1.
characterized by retardation: a retarded child.
–noun
2.
(used with a plural verb) mentally retarded persons collectively (usually prec. by the): new schools for the retarded.
This isn't too helpful unless we are willing to also look up 'retard:'
–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.
So basically retard means 'delayed', and retarded means a person with a very specific mental disability (related to 'delayed'). This coincides with what I already thought; there is a 'retarded time' in physics which is a delayed time you need to account for in electrodynamics... and I'm sure it comes up in other places as well.
I then turned my attention to urbandictionary.com and went with the most popular definition:
buy retarded mugs, tshirts and magnets
An "unofficial" (not recognized by dictionaries) slang descriptor for a person/thing/action/object, etc., or a combination of, which is one or more of the following:
a waste of time, abandoned, abject, abominable, abortive, absurd, afraid, aimless, anxious, apprehenaive, arid, arrested, assailable, atomic, awful, baby, babyish, backward, bad, banal, barmy, barren, base, baseless, bastard, beastly, beggarly, behind, beside the question, blah, bland, bogus, bomb, bootless, boyish, brainless, bromidic, bummer, caitiffcapricious, careless, catchpenny, characterless, cheap, checked, cheesy, childish, childlike, clichéd, cloying, coarse, colorless, common, commonplace, confusing, contemptible, cotemptible, controvertible, conventional, cool, corn, cornball, corny, corrupt, counterproductive, cowering, cracked, crap, crappy, craven, crazy, crud, cruddy, daffy, daft, dastardly, dazed, dead, deadpan, deficient, degraded, degrading, dejected, delayed, delusive, dense, dense, deplorable, depraved, despicable, destitute, detestable, devoid, diffident, dim, diminutive, dippy, directionless, dirty, disgraceful, dishonest, dishonorable, dismayed, disposable, disreputable, dizzy, dodo, doltish, dopy, dotterel, down, downtrodden, drab, drifting, drudging, dull, dumb, empty, empty-headed, erratic, evanescent, everyday, evildoer, excessive, exhausted, expendable, expressionless, facetious, failed, failing, faint-hearted, fallacious, false, fanciful, fatuous, fawning, featherbrained, feeble, feebleminded, fickle, flaky, flashy, flat, flighty, flimsy, flip, flippant, fool, fool around, foolish, for grins, forlorn, fortuitous, foul, freaked out, freaky, frightened, frivolous, frothy, fruitless, futile, gagged up, garbage, garish, gay, giddy, girlish, glitzy, goalless, good-for-nothing, goofy, green, gross, groundless, groveling, grungy, gullible, gutless, hackneyed, half-baked, half-witted, hang dog, harebrained, heedless, ho hum, hokey, hokum, hollow, hopeless, humble, humbling, humdrum, humiliating, idiotic, idle, ignoble, ignominious, ignorant, ill-advised, ill-considered, illogical, imbecile, immaterial, immature, immobile, immoral, impassive, implausible, impracticable, impractical, improbable, inadequate, inane, inapplicable, inappreciable, incidental, inconceivable, incongruous, inconsequential, inconsiderable, incredible, indelicate, indiscreet, indiscriminate, ineffective, ineffectual, inept, inessential, inexpressive, infamous, infantile, inferior, inglorious, inscrutable, insensate, insignificant, insincere, insipid, insufficient, interminable, inutile, irksome, irrational nonsensical, irrelevant, irresolute, irresponsible, jejune, jittery, joking, joshing, junky, juvenile, kid stuff, kooky, lacking courage, lame, late, laughable, lemon, lifeless, light, light-minded, lily-livered, little, loathsome, loony, loser, lousy, low, low-born, lowly, lowly, low-ranking, ludicrous, mangy, meager, mean, meaningless, measly, mediocre, menial, mentally incompetent, meretricious, microscopic, mindless, minor, minute, indecisive, miscarried, miscreant, miserable, modest, momentary, monkey, monotonous, moronic, moth-eaten, naive, needless, negligible, nervous, niggling, nihil ad rem, no bargain, no dice, no good, no guts, no place, no-account, nonessential, nonsensical, not at issue, not serious, not to the purpose, nothing, nowhere, nugatory, hopeless, nuts, nutty, objectless, obscure, obtuse, odd, off offensive, old hat, old-fashioned, ordinary, otiose, outcast, paltry, panicky, pathetic, pedestrian, peripheral, petty, piddling, pitiable, pitiful, platitudinous, playful, plebeian, pointless, poker-faced, poor, potty, pre-kindergarten, preposterous, primitive, profitless, proletarian, prosaic, puerile, puny, purposeless, pusillanimous, random, rash, ratty, raunchy, recreant, removable, repetitious, result less, retiring, rinky-dink, rotten, rough, routine, rubbishy, run scared, sappy, scandalous, scanty, scared, scatterbrained, screwy, scrubby, scurvy, second-rate, seemly, senseless, sentimental, servile, severe, shabby, shallow, shameful, shiftless, shoddy, shopworn, shrinking, shtick, shy, silly, simple, simple-minded, skin-deep, sleazy, slight, slimy, slow, sluggish, small, small time, soft, sordid, sorry, sorry lot, spineless, sportive, squalid, square, stale, stale, stark, stereotyped, sterile, stiff, stock, stodgy, stolid, stray, stuffy, stupefied, stupid, submissive, subnormal, superficial, superfluous, tame, tatty, tawdry, tedious, terrible, the subject, the willies, thick, thickheaded, thin, thoughtless, threadbare, timid, timorous, tired, tiresome, tiring, tomfool, tongue-in-cheek, transparent, trashy, trifling, tripe, trite, trivial, trumpery, ugly, unassuming, unavailing, unbelievable, uncommunicative, unconvincing, uncouth, underdeveloped, underfoot, underprivileged, undevelopedundirected, undistinguished, unessential, unexciting, unexpressive, unfit, ungrounded, unguided, unimaginative, unimportant, unintelligent, unmanly, unnecessary, unneeded, unoriginal, unpersuasive, unplanned, unpredictable, unpretentious, unproductive, unprofitable, unreal, unreasonable, unrefined, unrelated, unsatisfactory, unsophisticated, noncommital, unsubstantial, unsuccessful, unthinking, unusable, unvaried, unworthy, uselessvacant, vacuous, vagrant, vaguevain, valueless, vanishing, vapid, vile, plebeian, volatile, vulgar, wackywandering, wanton, waste, watery, wayward, weak, wearisome, well-worn, whimsical, white elephant, wide of the mark, wide of the point, wishful, wishy-washy, witless, worthless, wretched, or yucky.
There are literally a thousand different uses for the slang version of "retarded" - (Quick note Usage-wise, it came before and set the precedence of the way we use "gay" in slang today - used correctly, they're practically interchangable.
"That test was really gay!"
"Oh yeah, our chemistry teacher is being retarded."
"Mary, stop being retarded! You're so gay, grow up!"
"I thought it was a simple babysitting job, but I was wrong. Besides all the other stuff, I had to clean up after the retard, which was pretty retarded. To top it off, he set the carpet on fire, which I had to put out with the flame-retardent extinguisher. And after all of that, the parents only paid me $15. Babysitting is gay."
This is a ridiculous definition... but at the same time it confirms some suspicions I've had: we call people retarded whenever they do something that is somehow perceived as wrong or culturally unacceptable, even if it was, in actuality, a perfectly reasonable thing to do. It also seems like 'retarded' is a blanket label for people whenever they annoy you or you aren't sure how to actually describe what it is that is wrong about the thing you are insulting. For example, if you hate this blog and then reply with "this blog is just plain retarded micronesia" you are not actually explaining what is wrong with this blog and are accomplishing nothing. Still, I fully expect people to do it. This blog is retarded. There I did it first.
I'm not really a supporter of calling things/people retarded even if you legitimately have good reason to be mad at them for stupid things they've done, but it feels like the word is just thrown around so much at this point it's not even worth saying it anymore. People are too lazy... and not articulate enough to actually insult each other anymore.
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| SuperJongMan Jamaica. May 03 2010 03:36. Posts 11428 | Profile Blog # | |
| | POWER OVERWHELMING ! ! ! KRUU~ KRUU~ |
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| micronesia United States. May 03 2010 03:37. Posts 19284 | Profile Blog # |
On May 03 2010 03:36 SuperJongMan wrote:
What a retarded post.
Sorry but I beat you to it retard.
+ Show Spoiler +I guess there are cases like these where it's fairly self-evident why I'm calling him a retard and it's actually somewhat logical even though I'm obviously being facetious Last edit: 2010-05-03 03:38:17 |
| | Thanks Epoxide for all your help. Without you I never would have figured out how to install that boost gauge into my car. | |
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| FlopTurnReaver Switzerland. May 03 2010 03:38. Posts 1808 | Profile Blog # | |
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 SonuvBob Administrator May 03 2010 03:39. | Profile Blog # |
On May 03 2010 03:37 micronesia wrote:Sorry but I beat you to it retard. + Show Spoiler +I guess there are cases like these where it's fairly self-evident why I'm calling him a retard and it's actually somewhat logical even though I'm obviously being facetious
Maybe his post was self-referential. |
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| micronesia United States. May 03 2010 03:40. Posts 19284 | Profile Blog # |
| FlopTurnReaver, that video has a different goal but I guess it makes a point. I'm not trying to defend mentally retarded people specifically. |
| | Thanks Epoxide for all your help. Without you I never would have figured out how to install that boost gauge into my car. | |
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| micronesia United States. May 03 2010 03:41. Posts 19284 | Profile Blog # |
On May 03 2010 03:39 SonuvBob wrote:
Show nested quote +On May 03 2010 03:37 micronesia wrote:
On May 03 2010 03:36 SuperJongMan wrote:
What a retarded post.
Sorry but I beat you to it retard. + Show Spoiler +I guess there are cases like these where it's fairly self-evident why I'm calling him a retard and it's actually somewhat logical even though I'm obviously being facetious
Maybe his post was self-referential.
Hahaha good point. I haven't given any thought to the idea of people reserving retarded for when they are making fun of themselves... but it would probably bother me a lot less... in would only be a problem from the perspective of that video. |
| | Thanks Epoxide for all your help. Without you I never would have figured out how to install that boost gauge into my car. | |
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| iloahz United States. May 03 2010 03:41. Posts 965 | Profile Blog # |
| Is "retarded" ever used to mean what it was defined in the dictionary? I mean if we use "retarded" on a person who "delays the development or progress of (an action, process, etc.)", will they not take offense? |
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iNcontroL   USA. May 03 2010 03:42. Posts 28383 | Profile Blog # |
this is taking being not funny to entirely new levels.
Now he is preempting future potentially funny moments and sucking the fun out of those as well.
holy shit |
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| SuperJongMan Jamaica. May 03 2010 03:42. Posts 11428 | Profile Blog # |
See? Bob knows.
You just don't know Micro.
You just don't know. |
| | POWER OVERWHELMING ! ! ! KRUU~ KRUU~ |
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 travis United States. May 03 2010 03:42. Posts 20425 | Profile Blog # |
| I say retarded and gay quite a bit. I don't really think it's a big deal, but I am trying to say them less anyways. |
| | http://images.4chan.org/b/src/1339390772371.jpg |
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| micronesia United States. May 03 2010 03:43. Posts 19284 | Profile Blog # |
On May 03 2010 03:41 iloahz wrote:
Is "retarded" ever used to mean what it was defined in the dictionary? I mean if we use "retarded" on a person who "delays the development or progress of (an action, process, etc.)", will they not take offense?
This is a separate issue but a fair question. It's kinda wrong to call retarded people retarded but I'm not sure if that's really a good thing... dunno not going to address this one.
On May 03 2010 03:42 {88}iNcontroL wrote:
this is taking being not funny to entirely new levels.
Now he is preempting future potentially funny moments and sucking the fun out of those as well.
holy shit
Geoff I hope you are joking around lol
On May 03 2010 03:42 SuperJongMan wrote:
See? Bob knows.
You just don't know Micro.
You just don't know.
Takes one to know one??
On May 03 2010 03:42 travis wrote:
I say retarded and gay quite a bit. I don't really think it's a big deal, but I am trying to say them less anyways.
Yeah obviously there's a big difference between tl/irc than if you are on a job interview  Last edit: 2010-05-03 03:44:45 |
| | Thanks Epoxide for all your help. Without you I never would have figured out how to install that boost gauge into my car. | |
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| PanN United States. May 03 2010 03:47. Posts 2594 | Profile # |
| I don't mind the use of this word ever really, it's only a problem when it's a persons only description of stupid things. Same with people that say faggot every 2 minutes. |
| | We have multiple brackets generated in advance. Relax . (Kennigit) I just simply do not understand how it can be the time to play can be 22nd at 9:30 pm PST / midnight the 23rd at the same time. (GGzerg) |
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| Leechiez United States. May 03 2010 03:52. Posts 44 | Profile # |
I've ran into a handful of players saying it and the ones that do, use it to describe everything.
I'm thinking, "There are a million other adjectives to use. Pick one!"
Last edit: 2010-05-03 03:52:36 |
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| micronesia United States. May 03 2010 03:52. Posts 19284 | Profile Blog # |
On May 03 2010 03:52 Leechiez wrote:
I've ran into a handful of players saying it and the ones that do use it to describe everything.
I'm thinking, "There are a million other adjectives to use. Pick one!"
High Five! |
| | Thanks Epoxide for all your help. Without you I never would have figured out how to install that boost gauge into my car. | |
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| Xeris Iran. May 03 2010 03:53. Posts 16869 | Profile Blog # |
| i say retarded but I never say gay ... O_O |
| | twitter.com/xerislight -- follow me~~ |
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| NrG.Bamboo United States. May 03 2010 03:55. Posts 2430 | Profile Blog # |
That's so fatchicks.
(cause nobody's going to defend that one!) |
| | The poster formerly known as Valentine | I need to protect all your life you can enjoy the vibrant life of your battery |
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| FiBsTeR United States. May 03 2010 03:58. Posts 402 | Profile Blog # |
| Wow I thought people stopped using these kinds of phrases in middle school. |
| | Bisu[Shield], MIT CSL, NonY fanboy |
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| micronesia United States. May 03 2010 03:59. Posts 19284 | Profile Blog # | |
| | Thanks Epoxide for all your help. Without you I never would have figured out how to install that boost gauge into my car. | |
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| Biff The Understudy France. May 03 2010 04:05. Posts 4017 | Profile Blog # |
Retarded is quite funny.
Hate when people say that something is "gay" though. Theses clichés about good/manly bad/gay are a bit sad. It's not even about the offeniveness, but rather than the stupidity behind it. |
| | Beware of the dreams of others, because if you are caught in their dream, you are screwed. Dreams are terrifying will to power. ~Gilles Deleuze |
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