a thoughtful web.
Good ideas and conversation. No ads, no tracking.   Login or Take a Tour!
comment by katakowsj
katakowsj  ·  2233 days ago  ·  link  ·    ·  parent  ·  post: Large Majorities Dislike Political Correctness - The Atlantic

Agreed. Stupid to me would describe plain ignorance despite evidence to the contrary. Just a bit different than retarded which can be useful to describe an idea that is slow in developing or needing development.

I find that most any harsh adjective has it’s place when describing situations of impermanence over adjectives directed in an absolute manner toward a person. For example, “What a retarded idea that was to throw a boomerang in our backyard and smash out two windows”. The adjective describes a poorly developed idea without disparaging any particular person or group. This, to me, is very different than than saying, “Dude, you are such a retard!” That is an unfavorable use in my book.





mk  ·  2233 days ago  ·  link  ·  

Yes, come to think of it, I always use it to describe an action or idea. I use stupid the same way.