Comment on Lol

• v4ld1z@lemmy.zip ⁨9⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

  Yea, the word isn’t really used these days, and if it’s used, it’s frowned upon. Has a very bad ableist ring to it

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  • NightAuthor@lemmy.world ⁨9⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

    I like how a word starts as a technical/medical term for a disability, then it’s used as a slur, then they come up with a new term….repeat. It’s happening now with “learning disability” and “intellectually challenged”.

    Also, as someone with a learning disability, ableism is a big part of my life but people using the word retard in stupid throwaway jokes really doesn’t even register as an issue.

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    • PatMustard@feddit.uk ⁨9⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

      It’s interesting how words change meaning. For instance the National Spastics Society changed their name to Scope when “spastic” started being used as a really bad slur. On the other hand words like “idiot”, “cretin”, and “moron” have really horrible historical uses as slurs against the disabled but they’re all understood to be pretty casual insults now.

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• FlyingSquid@lemmy.world ⁨9⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

  I personally would prefer it not be used around here in general. I don’t delete it overall, but I will occasionally depending on its usage. I have known too many good people with intellectual disabilities who were abused by bullies calling them that word.

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  • aidan@lemmy.world ⁨9⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

    People are bullied by a lot of words, stupid, dumb, crazy, ugly, gross. Context of the words used is what matters. Obviously bullying is not acceptable, but a self-deprecating joke is okay.

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  • RealFknNito@lemmy.world ⁨9⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

    Well yeah, context derives meaning which is why words have multiple definitions. I’m not disparaging the differently abled but people’s surface level disdain for it is tedious. Barely a decade ago it was the polite way to characterize someone but we needlessly allow words themselves to be tainted rather than take the time to address the context and the meaning used with it.

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    • FlyingSquid@lemmy.world ⁨9⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

      I’m sorry, it was not “the polite way to characterize someone” barely a decade ago. It was a big insult when I was in school in the 80s and 90s.

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      • RealFknNito@lemmy.world ⁨9⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

        Sir it was in a Disney show when I was growing up. Yes, it was the polite way to say it.

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    • GiveMemes@jlai.lu ⁨9⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

      Ok but like so are the terms idiot and dumb and moron. We’ve turned them all into insults derived from their original meanings, but that doesn’t mean we should never use the words. Context matters.

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    • papalonian@lemmy.world ⁨9⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

      Hey, I’ve got a (albeit very minor) mental disability and I use the word casually around friends all the time, but I just want to point out that it’s you and me that are tainting the word, your comment makes it sound like “other” people are the cause of it no longer being a clinical diagnosis rather than an insult.

      That being said it’s definitely falling out of favor in the public eye. It probably won’t be too long before it’s viewed at or close to the same level as the hard R. I think a lot of us are getting cancelled in 20 years.

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      • RealFknNito@lemmy.world ⁨9⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

        The only way words become tainted is when they’re used to attack people. Using it for a good natured joke or even self deprecating humor can have a positive effect on it. If we all stopped saying it, the few people who choose not to stop and continue to use it to attack people, like “The hard R word” will be seen as extreme. And as someone who enjoys language, attributing words as the source of hate instead of the people who conjure it gives me great conniptions.

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