Wikepedia states

“Much like today’s socially acceptable terms idiot and moron, which are also defined as some sort of mental disability, when the term retard is being used in its pejorative form, it is usually not being directed at people with mental disabilities. Instead, people use the term when teasing their friends or as a general insult.”

Is it only a slur if directed at soneone with mental disabilities? Is it a slur if durected at onself?

Whats lemmies take on this?

  • AmidFuror@fedia.io
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    2 months ago

    It’s a slur now. Before it was an insult.

    One day redneck and hillbilly will be considered slurs too. Mark my words.

      • InverseParallax@lemmy.world
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        2 months ago

        So, actually in the south the term was ‘retargeted’ by the (sub) - urban elite to mean yeoman farmers who worked the fields and had suntan on their necks.

        I respect the original term, but the colloquial has reverted to ‘ignorant, racist southerner’, for good or ill.

        If you have a better term for it I’m all ears, but it’s not like there isn’t a need for a category given their behavior.

      • InverseParallax@lemmy.world
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        2 months ago

        They changed the underlying medical term, ‘mental retardation’ to ‘developmentally disabled’ in a form of lingual whack-a-mole since the old term was being used as an insult.

        Once it lost its meaning as a short form of the medical term, it became a slur, much like we don’t call black people the n-word anymore.