• goat@sh.itjust.worksM
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        1 year ago

        Oh, but they do! Look into the historical usage of these words. Both were used for the intellectually disabled.

        Are you going to cancel the usage of idiot and stupid? Or are you going to accept that, like idiot and stupid, words change their meaning over time, and retard is one such word going under a change.

        • FaeDrifter@midwest.social
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          1 year ago

          You are correct on “idiot”, you are wrong on “stupid”.

          retard is one such word going under a change.

          The evidence in the meme that started this conversation is that it is not undergoing a change.

          Idiot is not longer used to refer to actual mental disability, the r-slur is. Maybe eventually the r-slur meaning will change. I don’t see any point in hypothesizing about the fuzzy future possibility of a words meaning, the only thing that matters is what the word means right now, in real life. Your position has no standing.

          • goat@sh.itjust.worksM
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            1 year ago

            Hey, hold on now. You’re the only one who is making the connection that retard is explicitly referring to those with intellectual disabilities. Everyone else is using it in the meaning of they are stupid.

            • cacheson@kbin.socialOP
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              1 year ago

              No, it is in fact likening the person that you’re insulting to someone with intellectual disabilities. Sorry goat, you don’t have a leg to stand on in this one. Best to just not.