"-tard"... Do we really need this?

[UncleSepp]

The thought struck me tonight that this "-tard" formulation might be something we really don't need here on DU. Sure, it's a popular but tired bit of Internet slang. Yes, its meaning is clear - it has become a new suffix meaning "stupid". I get that. I get that most of the people saying that here on DU wouldn't ever think of making fun of a real person who actually had an intellectual disability.

Maybe I'm just feeling too warm and fuzzy tonight from finally having enough painkillers, but maybe not. I just think about the friends and acquaintances I've had, friends from high school, people in my neighborhood, kids I taught in horseback riding, children of other friends, who have had Down's syndrome or other kinds of intellectual disabilities. I think about how sweet the gentleman was who made Christmas cards for everyone on the bus one year, and I think about how my gym partner would get frustrated to the point of tears when kids would pick on her for her speech and her mannerisms. I think about how it must feel for DUers with family members who have been insulted, picked on, made fun of, and rejected for their disabilities to have to come here and see that. I also think about it that I've stood up for myself and others here about slurs against transgendered and gay people. It doesn't seem fitting to stop at that, and not to stand up for others also.

I don't know if this word actually is hurtful to people whose lives are affected by intellectual disability and developmental delay. Would anyone like to weigh in on this?

[IntravenousDemilo]

1. Bastard...? n/m

[Swamp Rat]

2. I love to use it, especially for those who have an intellectual inability.

"Freeptard" - A perfect euphemism for knuckle-dragging, inbred redneck Bushler supporters.

[Echo In Light]

11. Yeah, but ya never know...one of those guys may be more liberal/brighter than what you think{?}

[Swamp Rat]

13. It's possible.

Nevertheless, that photo, among others, came from their website with the caption, "Freerepublic Meet-up." :shrug:

A DUer once told me that he knew them, and that at least one of them was an okay dude with a sense of humor. :D

[dsc]

3. it should go the way of the n word

sadly it won't.

[Bunny]

4. I agree with you.

It really is a hurtful word, and I wish people would think before they use it.

[cornermouse]

5. I have a retarded child and it hurts. It really does.

[nuxvomica]

6. I find it offensive

My brother is developmentally disabled and I know that the word "retard" hurts him so I'm afraid I have a purely visceral reaction to the use of such terms.

[anniebelle]

7. My child was born with retardation so, yes, it hurts.

Bush and Co and far worse than any name I can come up with, but retarded should not be used to cover their particular type of out and out evil. IMHO

[Smarmie Doofus]

8. It's not only offensive; it's ungrammatical.

"'Tard" derives from "retard" which , as far as I know, is a verb and not a noun. ( I think they are thinking of "redardate"... which is so rare as to be virtually linguistically extinct anyway).

Says more about people who use the word than about those to whom it is directed.

[AzDar]

9. Mmmmmmm.....sweet, sweet, slanderous custard.

Aaaaarrrrrlllghhh.

[Echo In Light]

10. There are a lot of hateful, rightward leaning people who name-call online that..

In real life probably don't for fear of having their ass handed to em on a bloody platter ... which, I'm guessing, likely says a great deal about why they're prompted to act on their chest-thumping impulses in anonymity to begin with.

The difference is in the approach and the intent. Postulating a psych overview of a perceived segment of people, and trying to determine why they abide the beliefs they do {right wingers, authoritarians, for example} is one thing, and can have very credible aspects in helping to comprehend the nuts and bolts of the larger social dilemma. As where just being hateful, nasty and rude is the tactic of many rightward leaning people, even if they happen to fancy themselves "dems." I see that type of "tard" name calling here at DU all the time, and it's difficult for people not to respond in kind once the level of discourse has been reduced to that.

[varelse]

12. Yes

Referring to other people as "_'tards" creates a hostile environment here for anyone who is connected to or concerned with the rights of humans with disabilities.

I also would like to see people reconsider using such language - I know how angry and frustrated you are with neo-cons and "freepers" and the like but this kind of speech is also striking other people you weren't aiming at, and hurting them.