‘This has to stop:’ First-hand lessons on a word that causes pain
Sean Kirst / The Post-Standard Sean Kirst / The Post-Standard
Published: Tuesday, August 03, 2010, 4:53 PM   

In this Internet age, the word “retard” gets thrown around in an increasingly casual fashion. You’ll find it in Hollywood comedies, in television sit-coms, in the language of disc jockeys who see themselves as “edgy.” For many teens, it has become a regular expression of contempt, a way of labeling peers who seem culturally clueless.

For her part, Christine Paronis views the word as an emotional machete….

http://www.syracuse.com/kirst/index.ssf/2010/08/post_71.html