[Matfrid]

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retard can be used as a completely objective statement

i.e. "the trees growth was retarded by the cold weather"


I am just guessing, but I think the word comes from the french verb retarder which means "to be late" or something similar.

Calling someone a retard, meaning slow or dumb, is an insult, but saying something is retarded can be taken literally as meaning. It's just that the word is used so much that it has too much negativity attached to it, just like the word gay being used to describe a tv show you don't like etc.

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Okay, your semantics are totally sweet and all, but did you read the quoted post? It's one hundred percent obvious what he meant.

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Not if "you have something like Asperger's syndrome and you should be aware of it"