Special Olympics aims at ending the derogatory use of the "r-word"

[KSig RC]

Here's the problem with the "r-word" - unlike racial slurs, which have basically no other meaning besides the hurtful and purely racial motivation, "retarded" is essentially accurate. That is to say, the mentally handicapped do indeed have developmental retardation.

It may still be hurtful to the developmentally disabled, but it's nowhere near the use of "gay" to mean "lame" in terms of the damage done. Now, should kids calling each other "retarded" morph from "dumb" or "silly" to something akin to "worthless" or something more worthy of derision, then I'll be all for eliminating it.

With that said, I do go out of my way to attempt to not use the term in public, or around those who have close ties to special needs individuals - so yeah, it seems like an odd case to me, where it's still "bad" but not on the level of slurs based on race, gender or sexual orientation. Strange how the denotation/connotation divide can exist, but it really does for me.