In the wake of the controversy over “Tropic Thunder” Salon.com writer Lynn Harris analyzes the linguistic origins of “retard” and other insult words. Always popular with the playground set, “retard” has grown in strength in the “online snarkosphere,” Harris says, as more people need more words to complain about more things.

Ultimately, Harris says, activists are trying to get people to be aware of their language and think twice about the insult’s real-life impact. She closes with a quote from Gail Williamson, executive director of the Down Syndrome Association of Los Angeles:

“People are comfortable using ‘retard’ as a dis because in the past no one has stood up and said anything in numbers worth counting. Most marginalized groups come from places of family pride and tradition. They are able to stand strong together out of their heritage and make a statement. But people with intellectual disabilities, scattered through different families, are not part of a celebrated culture.

… I think today’s high-tech world has finally allowed us to take a stand. Perhaps the word has continued to grow in popularity, since there has been no public pressure against it. Until now.”

This entry was posted on Thursday, September 18th, 2008 at 1:43 pm and is filed under commentary, entertainment, intellectual/developmental disabilities, language, movies. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.