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mk · 2016 days ago · link · · parent · post: Large Majorities Dislike Political Correctness - The Atlantic
I can understand the argument, but one difference is that you do indeed call gay people gay as it’s an inoffensive description. Retarded isn’t an inoffensive label for anyone. It is bad. It wasn’t a very good descriptor of a disability from the start, because it is a specific shortcoming applied to a general set of conditions. I’d argue that’s why it works so well as an insult. It’s a very specific one. No one says “hey my son is stupid” or “hey my son is retarded”, “...don’t use that word like that.”