Down here at the pawn shop

[Undertoad]

I don't know. Sometimes a word will cross over the line and become hurtful and I don't like to be an asshole and I don't want to hurt anyone. On the other hand, retarded is such a useful and colorful term and people should buck up and stop their whining. I don't know.

[glatt]

Originally Posted by Undertoad

I don't know. Sometimes a word will cross over the line and become hurtful and I don't like to be an asshole and I don't want to hurt anyone.

I agree with this.

Originally Posted by Undertoad

On the other hand, retarded is such a useful and colorful term and people should buck up and stop their whining.

I see truth in this, and yet I think that "retard" has not only crossed over into being hurtful, it was probably hurtful all along, and I think that trumps any literary color the word imparts. I think there are other colorful words that offend nobody.

A quick Thesaurus search:

idiot, blockhead, clod, dunce, fool, imbecile, moron, nincompoop, nitwit, dimwit, bonehead, dolt, dullard, ignoramus, numskull, simpleton, twit, birdbrain, buffoon, donkey, dope, dork, drip, dunderhead, goof, goof ball, half-wit, knucklehead, lame-brain, lightweight, ninny, oaf, pinhead, scatterbrain

well, maybe clodfobble would be insulted by one of those.