Retard(ed)

Retard and retarded are words that come from the outdated diagnosis of "mental retardation". These words, as well as the shortening "tard", have also become slang terms to describe someone or something that is seen as uncool or foolish, etc. Other slang words along the same lines have been used as well (e.g. "libtard", "fucktard").

A non-disabled advice columnist, Dan Savage, suggested that the words "leotard" and "leotarded" be used as inoffensive replacements, but this idea has been criticized by people in the disabled community since it still makes use of the "tard" suffix.

Examples of non-ableist words that can be used instead:


 * Literal meaning:
 * intellectual disability
 * learning disability
 * (name of the person's specific diagnosis)


 * Slang meaning:
 * dipshit
 * ignorant
 * narrow-minded