<p>Collegeboard just likes to phrase it more technically and politely than me.;)</p>
<p>Great news for me (2007)! The more retarded the rest of them are, the better chance of me getting in!</p>
<p>if the junior class at my school is any indication, this is entirely true.</p>
<p>me = retarded
me = class of '07</p>
<p>retarded = class of '07</p>
<p>Yep..it's true.</p>
<p>YES!! The class of '08 has much smarter kids!! I'm so glad I missed being in it though, because now I look SO much better compared to my classmates</p>
<p>hahhaha now I'lll look better in the 07 applicant pool</p>
<p>Yeah seriously my junior class is beyond retarded</p>
<p>I swear .. a girl said (exact words)</p>
<p>"HEY SO OMG SAT SCORES CAME OUT!!!111 . . . . . i got 1500, and for ivies anything above 1700 is excellent!! and i'm not even aiming for those schools so my score is soooo good. Highest score is 21 right??"</p>
<p>I walked away before I lunged for her throat.</p>
<p>As the daughter of someone who taught differently abled young people for years, i find your title offensive.</p>
<p>If you can not come up with a better description, it says alot about you. And for those that continue to use the word, you show that you are oblivious.</p>
<p>Find another word to use please....</p>
<p>Citygirlsmom... if you are so easily offended, then you shouldn't visit forums. That is YOUR problem, not ours. This is a free country, and a free internet. Don't try to remove our freedoms, commie.</p>
<p>.....It's just a figure of speech transcended from it's orginal meaning, so no offense to you</p>
<p>Free speech is one thing, hurting people with words is just immature and shows me more about the people that use those words than you can imagine.</p>
<p>Commie, nice try...</p>
<p>it is not just a "figure of speech"- it is offensive to many people with special needs, but guess you don't care about others feelings and are to lazy to find other words to describe something or someone.</p>
<p>If you have to resort to using the word 'retarded"
guess you all are perfect examples of the decline in the education in this country. And laziness. And disregard for other people.</p>
<p>If you had a sibling with special needs, or a friend, this word would bother you too.</p>
<p>I have two mentally challenged cousins. The word doesn't bother me at all. I think that you are what I'd call a -drama queen-. The word "retard" doesn't only mean mentally challenged. In this case, the context of the usage is quite similar, however, it has also migrated toward being used to describe underachievement. This is a direct comparison to the other meaning, yes, but by no means does it give you grounds to order someone around.</p>
<p>If you can't handle something on the internet, it is your job to leave. You have no right to try to censor anyone on here. Not me, not the topic creator, or anyone else.</p>
<p>I'm gonna go with Russell on this one...I know a lot of mentally challenged people...it's not all that offensive.</p>
<p>The way the OP used the word reflects back on the offensive word I used to hear and my mother used to hear all the time teaching kids with special needs. And btw mentally challenged is not QUITE the word you should use either. </p>
<p>Ask people that are called "retarded" how THEY feel if that word is used? And when it is used to INSULT a group of people, it is used to insult ALL people.</p>
<p>So, a mentally challenged person, is an underachiever...hmmm, bet, if you walked up to them and called them a "retard", it would hurt, they may not show it, but iit would hurt.</p>
<p>Drama Queen, no, but a person with compassion for those dealing with things, yes. </p>
<p>And its a public forum, don't like what I say, well, ignore me then. Can't have it both ways, you post, you get a response, I post, i get a response</p>
<p>THe OP wants to use a word that many people find offensive, they will get called on it. If the OP has such little imagination to use the words Underachiever for instance, but can only come up with something to base and crude, and even pointed out themselves the bad choice of words, what can I say.</p>
<p>To tell you the truth, I find this rather interesting...it gets me thinking to how people would use "That's so gay" ,"That's so ghetto". What do people really imply when they use these phrases?</p>
<p>Still, I admit I wouldn't use the word retard casually in a conversation or on a board since you never know who might be reading it or who might be offended. </p>
<p>Russell, some individuals who know/are related to people with special needs just might be offended by the word. What I am trying to say is that you just never know what may offend other people. Still, I see what you are saying though....it becoming a part of popular slang and everything.</p>
<p>
[quote]
Free speech is one thing, hurting people with words is just immature and shows me more about the people that use those words than you can imagine.</p>
<p>Commie, nice try...</p>
<p>it is not just a "figure of speech"- it is offensive to many people with special needs, but guess you don't care about others feelings and are to lazy to find other words to describe something or someone.</p>
<p>If you have to resort to using the word 'retarded"
guess you all are perfect examples of the decline in the education in this country. And laziness. And disregard for other people.</p>
<p>If you had a sibling with special needs, or a friend, this word would bother you too.
[/quote]
</p>
<p>That you believe this is alarming. You think someone shouldn't say something just because [you think] it's offensive? That's a pretty dangerous line you're erasing there - you cannot have a fundamental right put aside on a case-by-case basis simply because you are offended or someone else is offended by what a person has to say. It is imperative in a right so fundamental at a basic human level, such as free speech, that it be defended especially when you do not like the message. </p>
<p>If the message were simply based on popular appeal, you have created a system run only for the most massive group of people and entirely subject to propaganda. If you have a problem with the message, dont take away their right to express it. Instead, you should inform them of why they shouldn't - yet it figures that an ignorant jackrabbit such as yourself would be incapable of this.</p>
<p>The whole point of free speech is to be able to make these unpopular statements.</p>
<p>Well the title is changed, hope you're happy CGM.</p>
<p>It kinda ruined the hilarity of the original post.</p>
<p>Whether or not they are lazy is completely irrelevant. The fact of the matter is, is that most people do not take offense to the usage of the word "retard," (unless ofcourse, they actually are one, which is very rare, and shouldn't limit one's vocabulary). The extenuating circumstances of your life lead you to be quite sensitive to the word, and that's fine; but no one wants to hear about it. It isn't our problem that you take offense to the word. No one's going to change just because you told them to.</p>
<p>By the way, I don't care whether or not "mentally challenged" is the proper terminology. You know what meant, didn't you? And I'm sure everyone else does. Therefore, it's more than fit to use. This is a high school forum, not the supreme court. We don't need to be 100% politically correct all of the time. If you want a forum where everyone DOES match that description, then I suggest you look for it elsewhere.</p>
<p>Personally, I think it matters all about who your speaking to. If you walk up to a person and say "you're retarded", after they do something dumb, it's no big deal. If you do that to a mentally challenged person, the situation is slightly different. For one, that term in reference to them is derogatory.</p>
<p>Also, the tone in which someone says it means something. If someone is just joking around, or its a situation where it is like 'I can't believe you did that' it shouldn't be a big deal. </p>
<p>Even if the word was replaced with some other word to fit the statement, someone somewhere will be offended. It's a lose-lose situation. It isn't going anywhere anytime soon.</p>
<p>People just need to accept small things like that. If something isn't directly offensive to the person they are speaking of and aren't looking down on said group I don't see the problem.</p>
<p>Also from personal experience, people don't think of lookin down on people when they say things and unless someone is too emotional or takes it personally it's no big deal. I say this only because a good friend of mine has a mentally challenged twin brother and says retarded more than other people I know.</p>
<p>I think this sentence sums it up best...</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>I agree with you on this part.</p>
<p>Maybe with close friends it is just a joke, but then again this an online forum available to anyone passing by. Tone is important as well like you stated. Context is important...this was said as popular slang. Sometimes pop. slang does not sit well with eveyone.</p>
<p>I am just saying that I can see where CGM is coming from. I don't think the word is as accepted in society as it is implied on this forum. I mean for our age group it may not mean much to us, but then we not the only ones around (teens).</p>
<p>Still, you can't make everyone happy.</p>