Que l'on ne te retienne surtout pas, alors !

How about "that car is a total retard in the auto industry?"

That sounds weird, but I'm not sure it's offensive.

I don't think it's offensive... but does anyone ever actually use the word in that way?

No, I was just curious.

It's odd how the mind and words works. If people didn't use the word in an offensive fashion, it wouldn't be insulting in the least.

Oh, ok, that computes.

That's because psychologists are assholes.

I'd fuck Ann Coulter so hard.....

Actually it's "mental retardation", if you want to be specific. I doubt you'll find many psychologists saying "retarded."

Still assholes.

I know I am flashing back a bit, but I'm late to the party and feel like going ahead and supporting you on this one.

I don't think its comparable to things like the N-Bomb unless you are saying it to the face of someone with a genuine handicap with the intent of hurting someone. Thats what a slur is. Its a deliberate part of speech used to cause emotional harm. The most frequent use I see of it is to call your friends stupid in jest. Nobody is intending severe emotional harm in most cases, and having people go into vain popping rants at people over using word that could be used as an insult if used in a certain way, to a certain group of people, in some contexts, is a bit over dramatic and perhaps unfair.

There is also an argument to be made that this is how slurs are made. Someone, somewhere started telling people it was naughty language, and then good people started avoiding it, the bad started using it, and the involved people got taught that they were supposed to be offended when they hear it.

I personally like reading old books, and I'm a little miffed at what happened to the word queer. It was a good useful word until it got aimed a group of people and turned into something hateful. Now its cruel, dead and all it will only ever be remembered as that really awful thing mean people call other people. I suspect retard will follow a similar path. 20 years from now it really will be a viscous slur.

Language does change and thats the way of things, but its a bit odd that people could create a slur out of their good intentions for not wanting to offend. Life is like that sometimes. You can create what you believe in, and create what you fear. A little bit of both going on here. Good thing, bad thing, I don't know.

Psychology has dropped the label of mental retardation because of the now common pejorative use of the word "retarded" and they instead use the phrase "intellectual disability" instead.

The reason for this, and the reason why people get so upset when you use a slur to describe any class of people, is that the slur and the people are now paired in people's mind and you have negative cognitive associations with the people. This is why when people say "that's so gay" they upset many gay people. They don't want the label for their sexuality to be the same as the label you use for things that you dislike.

While there are more pressing problems in the universe, I can assure you that both "retard" and "short bus" are indeed offensive, they are intended to denigrate someone who does not have a handicap by likening them to someone who does.

For different reasons, saying "that's gay" or calling your bro a "fag" is also insensitive.

You may or may not care, that's your prerogative, but just because you don't want it to be a slur and offensive to those who have actual disabilities (or have loved ones that do), it actually is going to be offensive to most.
Because even you seem to confuse the "appropriate" usage with the inappropriate, reading Coulter's quote she was definitely using it as a slur and a stand in for "mentally handicapped".

As well, exactly how many times are you going to have an audience that understand it in the precise way you mean it? Pretty much never, communication is a two way agreement, regardless of any dictionary quoting you care to do.

Place ban on a word under a roof, or outside the realm of good manners but no one can literally ban a word. Even the most extreme cases, in a dictatorship the communication evolves quite simply. The Spread the Word thing can remind us who use it about millions of adults and children with every right we share, who can't always speak or express themselves. They hear it all around and are completely aware of what it means and how it hurts. Especially when posted publicly.

Her tweet is what's actually retarded, even if you have watched the debate it can easily read as if you missed an appearance by a handicapped person and among the Governors fans some felt, "hey, he should have been mean to that retard!" ...South Park?

If it reads right to you than it brings joy to hear her call an obviously not handicapped President a ree-ree which isn't merely insulting to all around who know real handicap, but making you a part of a deeper association of adult-child minds still captivated by a pretty blonde girl who dictates the recess food chain by writing "you eat dog" on an asians locker....which makes you a disabled lame. Could this one be taken back by handicap culture, as a term of endearment?