Retarded WAS Re: Hi!

[Scot LaFaive]

West central Wisconsin. I don't think it's extremely common, but I have
heard it enough to notice it and consider it part of at least some people's
lexicon.

Scot


>From: James Harbeck <jharbeck at SYMPATICO.CA>
>Reply-To: American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
>To: ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU
>Subject: Retarded WAS Re: Hi!
>Date: Tue, 3 Apr 2007 21:11:04 -0400
>
>---------------------- Information from the mail header
>-----------------------
>Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
>Poster:       James Harbeck <jharbeck at SYMPATICO.CA>
>Subject:      Retarded WAS Re: Hi!
>-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
> >I was just going to comment on how long it took her to post her comment.
>She
> >must have been so angry she couldn't type for a day.
> >Anyway, speaking of retarded, I was just considering the usage of "re re"
>as
> >meaning retarded or a retard, as in "He's a re re." I'm not sure how old
>it
> >is, but I thought I'd put it out there because I'm often surprised at how
> >far back some people here can take them.
>
>That one's unfamiliar to me, except that family friends had a child
>with Down Syndrome whose name was Rita and who called herself -- and
>was called by family -- "Re-re." I'm quite sure that if "re re" as
>you mention it had been current in Edmonton in the 1960s and '70s
>they would have avoided it. What region are you in?
>
>Ciao,
>James Harbeck.
>
>------------------------------------------------------------
>The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org

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