I honestly am. I know this is going to start crap, but here it goes...
For those of you upset about the word retarded...if someone uses it in front of you in real life, do you correct them? Same thing with gay, as someone pointed out. If you do, do you do it every time?
For my two cents...even though the words are not great words, there are far worse situations to use them than in the post below.
Re: Just curious...
I worked as a special education teacher for years and then left the field. When I left I went back to volunteering for the Autism Society of America so I have to say I have a problem with the word. I would say I correct people probably 90% of the time.
Yeah I usually do! But I would say in a non-confrontational tone like, "that wasn't very PC of you..." with a smile....or a friendly tone to it...
Awesome...it's good that if it bothers you that you say something. I work with a girl that it drives her bonkers. One of our co-workers says that stuff a lot. She just complains to me about it. I keep telling her to nicely say something, but nothing so far.
I'm not sure I would, but I'm a big chicken.
I also work as a Special Education teacher so I probably have increased sensitvity to the r-word. However, I have to say that I do not initially fault people when they use it because it has become very common derogratory slang and people do not usually use it to refer to the actual population of persons with mental disabilities. It is still a term medically used to identify persons with mental disabilities by many older adults and even doctors. I will eventually drop a hint or correct a person if they use it in excess just b/c I don't care for it.
HOWEVER, if you dare to use it when talking about my class or an individual who clearly has a mental disability, I will be more than happy to rip you a new one.
This is exactly what I do. It's just mean, and who knows who they're saying it in front of. It can really upset and offend people.
The Hangover pronunciation is the best.