LANGUAGE: Respect is the new r-word

August 25, 2009,  by JOEL T. HELFRICH, ROCHESTER

The Black Eyed Peas riffed “Let’s get retarded” in what is possibly their most famous song. By using the r-word, Black Eyes Peas suggest that “retarded” means stupid. In fact, people have used the r-word for years to mean something that is backwards or people who act stupidly or crazily.

With the recent death of Eunice Kennedy Shriver, who founded the Special Olympics, as well as the use of the r-word by a Monroe County legislator, it is time to look again at this word and its possible retirement.

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