Mom Says The R-Word Is OK Because It's In The Dictionary

[riversedge]

I wish the article would tell us if there was any push back from the audience!!!





Mom Says The R-Word Is OK Because It's In The Dictionary
Wait until she hears what else is in the dictionary!

https://crooksandliars.com/2024/11/mom-says-r-word-ok-because-its-dictionary

By Chris capper Liebenthal — November 18, 2024

A mom in Forest Lake, Minnesota, addresses the local school board with a grave concern - protecting her right to use the R-word:

I am totally supportive in creating a great place for everybody, but I just think we have to be cautious that it's not going to violate religious freedoms and freedom of speech. An example of a violation of freedom of speech, I recently learned from one of my kids in high school that a word that I regularly use that I think is a regular word is apparently on the don't use list. So, I learned that from my high school children, which is the word retard. Retard means slow. It's in the dictionary. It literally, you know, retardant slows down fires. And I did not and I did not realize, no, you cannot control my speech, Mr. Rafael. So, you cannot. I can use the word retard. OK, so this is one of those violations of freedom of speech that really concerned me. So, I really think there needs to be a lot more caution placed on specific parameters so that you respect those other constitutional rights.

That woman - who might be a mother but definitely ain't no mom - feels it's her constitutional right to use a slur on a regular basis. In reality, it's not a right. She has no more right to use the R-word to insult someone than she has the right to refer to someone using the N-word. Even if it is in the dictionary.

.................

Link to tweet

Gotta believe that someday at least some of them will look back and say, "What the hell was I thinking?" Ahhhhhh, video lives FOREVER!

Link to tweet

[Fish700]

1. Rabbit? Rocket? I don't know a slur that begins with an R. Republican?

[DeepWinter]

3. Same here

Haven't the slightest idea what the word is.

[DeepWinter]

4. Oh, found it

"Retard"

[Jit423]

31. OH, the other word for MAGAs.

Is Libtard in the dictionary?

[Eugene]

2. The n-word and the the f-bomb are also in most unabridged dictionaries, along with assorted other slurs and profanity.

That doesn't make it appropriate, especially in an educational setting.

[LeftinOH]

5. The words "retard" and "fag" were the two most frequently used

insults during my entire public school years; everyone knows this -- you couldn't even get through a single day without hearing both words, many times over. Maybe that's still the case. The fact that both words are in the dictionary is an absurd defense. WTF?

[Xavier Breath]

24. I attended school in the '70s and '80s and I concur.

Hearing those terms being bandied about was just as normal as hearing the morning announcements.

In Trump's America, she's done nothing wrong. In fact, she'll be heralded as a hero and be celebrated on every Fox show.

[Passages]

6. The irony completely escapes her.

[Prairie Gates]

7. Imagine being this woman's kid...it was probably the kid who asked her to stop saying it

So she goes in front of the whole community and shows her ass. Like, honestly, do you want to have this person over to your house for a PTA planning session after this?

By the way, these are the people we're supposed to "communicate with" and "find common ground with." They think that freedom of speech means having the right to be a vicious bully without cnsequences. What are the situations in which this woman wants to call somebody a "retard?" That's really the question I'd like answered.

It's pretty clear what happened: one of her kids told her that it was wrong and mean-spitrited to use the word, and she got her back up, dug in, and doubled down. What an embarrassing person and parent.

[yardwork]

21. And she wins the R-word (Republican) award for their use of "but."

Her first sentence is a perfect example of Republican double-speak, in the pattern of:
"I agree with being nice to people BUT..."

I am totally supportive in creating a great place for everybody, but I just think we have to be cautious that it's not going to violate religious freedoms and freedom of speech.

[yardwork]

8. It is her right to use any slur she chooses.

Why anyone would want to do this is beyond me.

[Irish_Dem]

9. This is why the mental health profession has to keep re-naming disorders and conditions.

The public starts to use the dx as pejorative and insult.

So then we have to change the diagnostic manuals to something neutral,
the public then uses that in a nasty way, then we have to change that too.

[prodigitalson]

16. Euphamism Treadmill

euphemism treadmill

(lexicography) The process by which euphemisms fall into disuse and are replaced by new ones, as the old ones become socially unacceptable over time

[Irish_Dem]

17. Yes I kept seeing it over and over.

I worked over 40 years in the mental health field, and terms that were perfectly acceptable
when I was a young professional had to be changed.

Mental retardation was an acceptable term but then had to be changed.

My mother was in health care too, and dx like "imbecile" was acceptable but then had to be changed.

[EYESORE 9001]

20. If memory serves, 'imbecile' was once a proper medical term

Along with ‘cretin’, which was nearly the bottom rung on their hierarchy of mental development.

[Irish_Dem]

22. Yes

With the introduction of the intelligence test, developed by Binet in France, and brought to this country by Goddard, it became an accepted practice to relate these three terms to specific I.Q. scores *—idiot for those scoring below 25, imbecile 25 to 50, and moron 50-70/75.

These terms were acceptable and standard usage at the time. But of course people grabbed onto to the nomenclature
as pejoratives, so then the ratings went to low average, borderline, very low, etc.

[Mariana]

28. "Cretinism" is a very specific medical condition.

Nowadays it's usually called Congenital Iodine Deficiency Syndrome.

[prodigitalson]

33. retarded is really the biggest one in my lifetime, but that's because I have worked with people with learning

disabilities, as both a classroom teacher and when I was younger for what was then The Department of Mental Health and Mental Retardation. Way before that (I worked there in the 80s and 90s), Idiot (IQ below 25), Imbecile (IQ 26-50) and Moron (51-70) were actual medical terms according to Chat GPT. In the 80s we referred to people roughly in those three categories as severely, moderatley and mildly retarded. I have no doubt that within my children's lifetimes they will cringe when they see old videos of me casually tossing around cruel insults like "intellectual disability" or "developmental delay."

[allegorical oracle]

10. Was once looking up a word in one of the huge unabridged dictionaries -- one that's

10 inches thick, sitting on its own podium. Stumbled across the word "fuck" and it's meaning. (Interestingly, it said it's a slang acronym believed to be "for unlawful carnal knowledge." -- a synonym for another R word, "rape".)

[Maeve]

12. It is a shame that the dictionary carries such misinformation

Acronyms are mostly 20th century and that term goes back at least to the 15th, probably the 13th. Germanic in origin.
https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/what-the-fuck/

[LiberalArkie]

11. I generally reply with "How did you know I was?"

I have often said that if someone was to holler "HEY RETARD" in a stadium, I would stand up and holler "OVER HERE". As an Aspis I have been called that so many times that I just got used to it and more or less accept it and called it my own.

[Swede]

13. What decent person would care about the etymology of a word that has become a slur?

If it offends other people, don't use it. Especially when it is punching down.

[Emile]

14. I kept thinking the word was Republican, until

I read down the article.

[Ocelot II]

15. Sure, she has a Constitutional right to use it. And other people have the same right

to tell her she's stupid and cruel, and that although she can constitutionally insult and degrade other people as much as she wants, she's just showing us what kind of a person she really is.

[Norbert]

19. Pu**y is in the dictionary too

so I guess we can use it freely.

[DBoon]

23. "asshole" is in the dictionary too

and the definition includes a picture of this woman

[MagickMuffin]

25. "I use it all the time, until I was told by my kids to stop"

And I said why I ain’t gonna stop. I’m a christian and I can say anything I want. It allows me to be hateful, cruel, mean spirited, spiteful and a horrible human being. But Jesus gets us. Don’t ya know. So, I’m gonna keep using the word because god invented the word and the word is the word of god.

Christianity has become extremely cruel from when I attended back in the 70s. There was the fire, hell and brimstone preachers most certainly here in Texas. But it was nothing like this. Makes me consider joining to infiltrate their system, but don’t want to waste my time. Although, it would be fun to play with them by filling out their visitor cards with false data. Make them waste their time trying to find you to convert you.

[electric_blue68]

34. Well, if you ever visit NYC there are some wonderful Liberal Christian churches here.

[LakeArenal]

26. A "C" word comes to mind. Which is also in the dictionary.

[intheflow]

27. Not using the word is a kindness.

Obviously, this woman has no need for that.

[yellowcanine]

29. The word "douche" is also in the dictionary though dickbag probably isn't.

[Blue Full Moon]

30. R word? Republican would work as alternative

[BannonsLiver]

32. I'm glad we're here to fight for the really important stuff

[ZonkerHarris]

35. Not enough cheese in Wisconsin for all the crackers in this country.

[Crunchy Frog]

36. Republican?

[drmeow]

37. I think people in her town

should start calling her that word - all the time. I'm guessing she wouldn't like that much.