I find this offensive... ._.

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"Haruhi looked at me as if i was ret*d."

Why? I mean I love anime and light novels... they couldn't have chosen a much better word like dumb or stupid? I have a developmental disability and the use of this word is so offensive. I get so tired of how people use the word ret*d when we have 'mental retardation' as a medical term.

It just... bothers me. It's so offensive.

If you get offended so easily than the Haruhi series is definitely not the series for you.

It's not that... just the use of that word. I mean it's degrading because of the way it's used. By saying that Haruhi looks at him as if he is ret*d, is like saying that people with disabilities are ret*ds. It's a term that pretty much comes from the diagnosis for mental retardation. But it's even being used in a disability sense.

I've already seen the anime series. I'm reading the light novels because the words are easier to process when i can read them out loud to myself.

I guess I don't see why it should be a degrading word, especially considering the dictionary definition...why is slowness something to look down on anyone for? ret*d in the mental sense would just mean slower or stunted mental growth hence the term mental retardation but I see that as no reason to hate someone I mean its how they develop so what? Otherwise it just means slow...or slowed down in general, not necessarily a bad thing.

I mean I know people use it negatively, I even had people apply the term to me to try and insult me...but if the word is not an insult someone cannot cause any harm to me with it...therefore if ret*d is not an insult then I don't have to give a crap if someone calls me that.

...Don't worry, no one else will interpret what the author wrote in the way you just did.

By the way, the word "dumb" used to refer to mute (which are usually also deaf) people. And the word "moron" also used to refer to mentally ret*d people.



That is not how language works. Mental retardation doesn't mean "retardation in the mind".

I'm not really offended of the r-word itself. The r-word is not the problem. Even if it were completely eliminated, another equally offensive (to many) word would take its place. It is not the word itself that is the problem, it's the condescending attitude that goes with it. Just because people are different or may have disabilities does not make them lessor people. When the condescending attitudes are gone, then "ret*d" would be an offensive word.

When the disability is as severe as mental retardation, yes it does. A severely ret*d person cannot do the same things everyone else can.

But that's where you are wrong. Some of them might not be able to daily living skills themselves but they are still human. I used to know a few that were confined to a wheelchair with severe handicaps and they were able to laugh and smile just like any normal human being. Sure, they couldn't speak or perform daily skills or even walk but... they knew what was funny and they did understand what you were saying. D:

I have a more mild intellectual disability and I am considered 'slow'. But that's not what the r-word has been referred too. People use it to say, "That's ret*d" meaning that something is "stupid, dumb, worthless". In other words, it's like how you say, "that's gay". It's offensive to people with a disability such as down syndrome, cerebral palsy, Autism in the most severest of cases (not AS but like classic autism), developmental disability and mental retardation.

When you say something is ret*d, it's like comparing that thing to a person with a mental retardation... because hello, mental RETARDATION?

It's a problem with that kind of words. For example it used to be:

If your IQ is below 20 you're an idiot.
If it's between 20 and 49 you're imbecile.
If it's between 50 and 69 you're a moron.

Those were actual medical terms back in the day, but they got widespread use as insults, and then could no longer be applied seriously to human beings. There is probably a similar issue with the word ret*d. And the word you said, dumb? It refers to mute people, so... under your argument it shouldn't be used in that context either

I say, ret*d is right now just a word, like dumb and all the rest. It has outgrown it's original meaning, so it should no longer be an issue.

I wasn't referring to human rights when I said that, but ok.



That's because mental retardation is low intelligence.

You know, pretty much any word used to describe this condition will eventually be used as an insult. And probably replaced.

Well, I think in this book, the word is being used as a way to say that Haruhi looked at Kyon as if he was dumb or stupid. It doesn't seem right to use the word ret*d because it's referring to that alone. But since it's my book, I crossed out the word ret*d and wrote a different meaning. XD I put the word that SHOULD have been used which was stupid.

I don't think people with mental retardation are stupid. Sweetleaf is right about that. It just means they are slower at things than others are. But doesn't mean they are dumb or stupid. The problem is that now, the word ret*d is being used as slang when you have 'mental retardation' and it does become a big insult here in the US, maybe not in other countries where I know some people are but in the US, it's a huge big deal.

I prefer the term intellectual disability or developmental disability. I have a friend with mild mental retardation and that word makes her cringe. She hates it to a T. She is my best friend and to her that word is very degrading because here it is used to say something is dumb or stupid so people say "that's ret*d".

And as i said, I myself have an intellectual disability. I have a low IQ but I'm only on the border.

If it helps: http://www.r-word.org/ That is the pledge they are doing for this word so maybe it will help others in other countries understand how much it hurts those here in the US.

If you hold that point of view it's completely respectable, but in that case I feel you should be a bit more consistent.

Using the word dumb when you mean to say stupid isn't right because it is referring to that alone. People who are mute, or dumb, are not stupid. So it would be as bad a word as ret*d, and you should no longer use it .

Or see that when someone says something is ret*d, they mean something is stupid without any ill-will to intellectually disabled people. If you feel strongly about that word then it's fine, just stop using "dumb" because it seems to be inconsistent with your beliefs right now.

The word dumb is also used to refer to ret*d.



See? It's on that site I just linked you to. It's not just a word used for people who are mute. Not only that but it includes anyone with a disability. So basically, mute people also count since mutism or deafness, whatever is pretty much a disability or an impairment that makes it harder for some to speak or hear.

Also:







So there you have it.

That's why I posted a link to this website. It explains a lot better to what I am talking about to people that don't live here in the US.

Didn't you you use that word on yourself on another forum and then came here and complained about an NT taking offense to that word? So I don't understand why you're offended by it. I think he meant it literally.

I... don't even remember that. O_o Oh wait... well yeah... because that's what people usually refer to me as and it's something I take offensive to but I hardly even remember now. *doesn't have that good a memory*

Here is the thread:

http://www.wrongplanet.net/postt166474.html


I am not doing this to attack you so don't take it that way, I just don't understand.