General Discussion
In reply to the discussion: Gal Gadots Seemingly Innocent Tribute To Stephen Hawking Pissed Off Some People [View all]moriah
(8,311 posts)... to be representative of everyone's opinions.
For example, my two youngest half-sibs have special needs and were adopted by the same family. I found them after my father's death, and was surprised to hear *them* use the word "retarded" to describe what most people mean when they use the r-word colloquially -- someone fully mentally abled doing something stupid. And even moreso when they used it to describe things *they* did when they should have known better.
I spoke to their mom, asking her about them using it, because I was honestly worried the latter was a sign of low-self esteem. My little brother himself set me straight -- "Oh, no, we're just disabled. It's when you know better but do it anyway that you're retarded."
That reassured me about their self-esteem, but doesn't mean I should take their interpretation of the colloquialism to mean that it's fine to throw the word around.