Tim J. typed:
Kevin Vang wrote:
In article ,
lid says...
There you go again! Other words, like "pointless" or "useless" or
"idiotic" would better suit your point. My guess is that far fewer
people would be offended (well, except for the pointless, useless,
idiotic ones.)

A perfectly good argument shot right in the ass by an
unfortunate choice of word...

Hmmm. . . enlighten, please. Maybe my dictionary is acting up again.

Ahhhh. . . why wait (patience was never my long suit.)

You have to drill down pretty deep to get from the word "idiotic" to
"retarded". The word "idiot" hasn't been used in a psychological sense for
around fifty years, while the word "retarded" still has as its main
definition, "Often offensive. Affected with mental retardation." Both of the
newer dictionaries I consulted list "showing foolishness or stupidity" as
the main definition of idiotic. I had to go back to a 1954 copy to find a
main definition that even vaguely referred to mental retardation, and then
only by referring to the word "idiot". Obviously, words morph over time,
exemplified by the fact that the root of the word, "idios", means one's own,
or private person. Also, I didn't hold up a photo of someone afflicted with
Down syndrome and use the word, which would change its context.

We're crossing into the gray area of political correctness, which I abhor.
Man (oops), this freakin' (oops) stuff is idiotic [sic]. Maybe we should
consult the same dictionary together. Wolfgang? ;-)
--
TL,
Tim
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