Retarded

[Dave Wilton]

I recall 'tard as a term of art from my elementary school days in the early
1970s. It predates South Park by a long, long way.

-----Original Message-----
From: American Dialect Society [mailto:ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU] On Behalf Of
Matthew Gordon
Sent: Monday, March 10, 2008 8:01 AM
To: ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU
Subject: Re: Retarded

South Park also uses the variant 'artar' as in the classic World of Warcraft
episode. At least I assume this is a phonological variant or 'retard'.


On 3/10/08 7:24 AM, "Wilson Gray" <hwgray at GMAIL.COM> wrote:

> South Park clipped it to 'tard years ago and, as you would expect, if
> you're familiar with the show, it's applied to people.
>
> -Wilson
>
> On Fri, Mar 7, 2008 at 6:28 PM, Scot LaFaive <scotlafaive at gmail.com>
wrote:
>> ---------------------- Information from the mail header
>> -----------------------
>>  Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
>>  Poster:       Scot LaFaive <scotlafaive at GMAIL.COM>
>>  Subject:      Retarded
>>
>>
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-
>> --
>>
>>  I'd like to get other people's impressions on this adjective.
Personally, I
>>  use the word often but only when referring to inanimate objects, not
people
>>  or animals. It basically means "inane" or "idiotic" to me. I'm
interested in
>>  whether this adjective is becoming more an impersonal descriptor and if
>>  others also have moved away from using it on people and animals.
>>
>>  Scot
>>
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>
>
>
> --
> All say, "How hard it is that we have to die"---a strange complaint to
> come from the mouths of people who have had to live.
> -----
>                                               -Sam'l Clemens
>
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