this post was submitted on 18 Jul 2023
582 points (92.2% liked)

Ask Lemmy

27254 readers
1531 users here now

A Fediverse community for open-ended, thought provoking questions


Rules: (interactive)


1) Be nice and; have funDoxxing, trolling, sealioning, racism, and toxicity are not welcomed in AskLemmy. Remember what your mother said: if you can't say something nice, don't say anything at all. In addition, the site-wide Lemmy.world terms of service also apply here. Please familiarize yourself with them


2) All posts must end with a '?'This is sort of like Jeopardy. Please phrase all post titles in the form of a proper question ending with ?


3) No spamPlease do not flood the community with nonsense. Actual suspected spammers will be banned on site. No astroturfing.


4) NSFW is okay, within reasonJust remember to tag posts with either a content warning or a [NSFW] tag. Overtly sexual posts are not allowed, please direct them to either [email protected] or [email protected]. NSFW comments should be restricted to posts tagged [NSFW].


5) This is not a support community.
It is not a place for 'how do I?', type questions. If you have any questions regarding the site itself or would like to report a community, please direct them to Lemmy.world Support or email [email protected]. For other questions check our partnered communities list, or use the search function.


6) No US Politics.
Please don't post about current US Politics. If you need to do this, try [email protected] or [email protected]


Reminder: The terms of service apply here too.

Partnered Communities:

Tech Support

No Stupid Questions

You Should Know

Reddit

Jokes

Ask Ouija


Logo design credit goes to: tubbadu


founded 2 years ago
MODERATORS
 

Me personally? I've become much less tolerant of sexist humor. Back in the day, cracking a joke at women's expense was pretty common when I was a teen. As I've matured and become aware to the horrific extent of toxicity and bigotry pervading all tiers of our individualistic society, I've come to see how exclusionarly and objectifying that sort of 'humor' really is, and I regret it deeply.

you are viewing a single comment's thread
view the rest of the comments
[–] [email protected] 11 points 1 year ago (2 children)

"Gay" was one I never used. "Retarded" is one I don't use any more but still admittedly find kind of funny. I spent a number of years as a kid in the 80s living in New England and for me it will always be "Re-tah-ded."

[–] [email protected] 13 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) (3 children)

I miss "Retarded" so much for how it was used in slang but it's pretty irredeemable as a word at this point. Nothing really replaced it as a call-out, which sucks.

Even before it was considered offensive, I generally took the Michael Scott route with the word.

I feel the same about the f-slur for gays. I'm in the LGBT + community and still miss that word too.

[–] [email protected] 5 points 1 year ago

I think given enough time it could make a comeback. A few generations of people who used it to refer to the developmental disability will need to die off. Language changes and insults come and go. I'll be dead for sure, but in the meantime when something inane is happening to me I can still go back to my childhood vocab and think to myself, "This is retarded."

[–] [email protected] 5 points 1 year ago (1 children)

It literally is just a substitute for idiot. There are tons of words you can use. Here's a list of 123: https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/idiot

[–] [email protected] 8 points 1 year ago (2 children)

I am aware that it has synonyms, but it's not just a substitute for idiot. It meant a specific thing

[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 year ago (3 children)

It means someone has a developmental disability. But that is not how people used it. They used it to call someone an idiot, 100%. If someone did something dumb, they would retort "retard". How is that not exactly how it was/is used? Call them a bafoon, hammerhead, numskull, nincompoop, a schnook, make up a word for all I care. But to use a word that describes someone with a developmental disability should not be used as an insult. Don't complain about there not being a substitute when there's hundreds of options. You just seem to want to use it.

[–] [email protected] 8 points 1 year ago

A person you insulted in that was being an idiot, but you used a different, harsher word for specific effect.

That's what isn't replaced. An S-tier idiot, described in one word.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 1 year ago (2 children)

Is this a localised to the US thing? Here in Aus I've never heard removed being used as either an insult or linked to someone with a developmental disability. What context is it used in for a developmental disability?

[–] [email protected] 2 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Did you mean to say "removed"? We're talking about the word "retard"

[–] [email protected] 3 points 1 year ago (2 children)

Interesting. Lemmy.ml has a filter that replaces slurs with removed, so I guess that's what @[email protected] saw

[–] [email protected] 4 points 1 year ago (1 children)

This illustrates really well why word filters are a terrible idea; they have no regard for the conversational context.

[–] [email protected] -1 points 1 year ago

It also illustrates what a bunch of pussies they are lol, can't handle a few mean words

[–] [email protected] 2 points 1 year ago

Oooooooooooh shit that makes sense now hahahahahaha.

I didn't even know there was a word filter!

I'm sitting here all confused thinking "Removed" was the actual word not what is being displayed here

[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 year ago (1 children)

I'm Australian, it used to be very common. You might be too young?

[–] [email protected] 2 points 1 year ago

Haha nah

There's a word filter so I was only seeing "Removed" in place of the actual word. Confused the shit out of me. Now it all makes sense

[–] [email protected] 2 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) (1 children)

It's probably specific to my social circles, but in the late '00s some of my family and acquaintances started using certain vegetable and food names as synonyms for stupid person. E.g. "you carrot", "you cake". I guess this was a less openly offensive way of disparaging someone's intelligence.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 1 year ago

I like this a lot. We should spread this around.

[–] [email protected] 0 points 1 year ago (3 children)

Nothing really replaced it as a call-out, which sucks.

There are lots of words one can use: "Wanker", "Idiot", "Dumb-ass".

[–] [email protected] 6 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Would using the term dumb not be just as bad as retarded? Both are medical terms defining issues that people didn't choose.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 1 year ago

This is why this is such a stupid thing to get upset about. It's hypocritical to argue against one word and accept the other.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 1 year ago (2 children)

Wanker is the closest in approximate meaning, but I'm not British

If you're British you'll know what I mean. Wanker isn't interchangeable with idiot 100%. There's more... Edge?

[–] [email protected] 7 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Wanker isn't close to retard.

Wanker is someone that is an arsehole. Retard is someone who is an idiot.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 1 year ago

So what you're saying is you do agree with my point that there isn't another perfect word for it, since wanker means "asshole idiot"

[–] [email protected] 3 points 1 year ago

But isn't using wanker as as insult sex negative?! /s

P. S. I've always wanted to say 'You bloody wanker' after seeing British television as a child but haven't had a chance so far.

[–] [email protected] 7 points 1 year ago

I grew up in the 80s so it was just standard slang until I really thought about it.