It’s become a pejorative term, but I remember a time when no stigma was attached and no such label was intended as anything but explanatory and descriptive. “Retard” means “late” which would accurately describe the mental and emotional development of those under this label: i.e. “late” developpers.
“It’s become a pejorative term, but I remember a time when no stigma was attached and no such label was intended as anything but explanatory and descriptive”
Whatever you call the mentally retareded will inevitably be pejorative, since it’ll never be a good thing to be retarded. That won’t stop PC cops from turning over acceptable language every few years, so as to do what political correctness was invented to do: enrich the policians and rent seekers who patronize various PC-protected identity groups.
One day it’s okay to call black people negroes/colored/black, the next day sinful to say anything but “African-American.” One moment everyone calls retards “retarded,” and suddenly those who don’t change within the minute to “mentally challenged” hate retarded people and can be demogogued against at liberty. You don’t see anything wrong with “midget” and use the word without second thought, then are confused and embarrassed when someone yells at you for such insensitivity as not to use the for no reason whatsoever purportedly better term “little person.”
Control the language, control thought.