@Cdude9590 said:
I think "goofball" is more appropriate than retard. That being said, somebody on the Mumble server said: "Space Marine." The entire server immediately responded with their best: SPACE MAHREEN. That is all.
Yeah, if you're not on Mumble while playing, you're definitely missing out on a lot of good stuff.
Since about an hour after posting this thread, the server has been fucking nuts, too. A damn good time for all.
@AlexW00d said:
@Branthog said:
@Mmmslash said:
@Branthog: The issue isn't in definition or implication. The most common interpretation of the word retarded is still, and will likely remain for long to come, a term used to refer to the mentally-handicapped. Using it to describe dumb, or bad, or in some way negative is a very indirect form of harassment. It is no different than using the words gay or jew to describe something in an untoward fashion.
I know it's not your intention, but this is the very reason this sort of society judgement exists. We all do it quietly and unknowingly, and nothing ever changes.
I don't see it carrying the same connotation as "gay" or "jew", since we're essentially talking about a word that refers to nothing more than one's mental aptitude. I appreciate where that point is coming from, but I just can't quite agree with it. And, for the record, when I asked a mentally challenged friend of our group a long time ago if he found it offensive when that word was used interchangeably with "idiot" and similar words and he asked me if I was retarded, because it was a dumb concern to him.
Anyway, I do continue to use it defiantly, out of some weird linguistic haughtiness but when people who are not normally overly sensitive to supposedly "offensive" statements take issue with it, I do have to give it fair reconsideration. Times and words change and all.
Retard just means slow. Something that is flame-retardant is something that doesn't take to fire quickly. It's only in America that the word seems to be a derogatory term for someone who is mentally handicapped. It shouldn't be any different to calling someone an idiot, or a fool.
Anyway, fuck I cannot wait 'til tomorrow.
We also do things here like say "post traumatic stress disorder" instead of "shell-shocked", because nerfing words makes everyone feel better. Anyway, another massively maligned word in the states that is essentially a "nuclear option" is "cunt". Oh, but Vinny said that one time on a Bombcast, so the whole community accepts that as tolerable. In that case, I guess the "R" word is okay, because #Chan once said it in a Live show.
Anyway, I'm done with concern for what anyone thinks of the thread title. I've done nothing malicious and a couple people have made well-spoken and reasoned points.
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