I'm sure idiot had its place in history as a medical/legal term
that turned into an insult and was subsequently removed as an official 'label' for people with mental delays or disabilities.
Retard is kind of in the middle of that point right now. It was recently used as a medical/legal term, but was subsequently adopted into popular culture as an insult and is offensive to many people (including myself). It was probably never used 100 years ago to label mental capacity, and its time will probably pass.
I'm not completely above all this myself, cause I still laughed pretty hard at the whole Hangover 'ruhTARD' stuff from Galifianakis.
that turned into an insult and was subsequently removed as an official 'label' for people with mental delays or disabilities.
Retard is kind of in the middle of that point right now. It was recently used as a medical/legal term, but was subsequently adopted into popular culture as an insult and is offensive to many people (including myself). It was probably never used 100 years ago to label mental capacity, and its time will probably pass.
I'm not completely above all this myself, cause I still laughed pretty hard at the whole Hangover 'ruhTARD' stuff from Galifianakis.