[Dr. Sivana]

Does anyone not remember when the word “retard” meant “to slow?”

Yes, it does mean that. Here's the problem. Mentally handicapped children were put in retarded classes, etc., and at some point the word became an epithet: "You retard!" Or, "That's retarded!" Once the word was used that way, and retarded children (adj. + noun) simply became "retards", yes it became offensive. The reason it happened with retard and not idioy probably has to do with the fact that the term idiot is rarely used to describe people who are literally idiots.

So, new words get adopted. "Slow" doesn't work, who remembers the "Slow Children at Play" signs? Euphemisms get invented ("Rides the short bus.") The word "special" or "differently abled" just invites ridicule and caricature pronunciation. Any new word (I always thought "handicap" was a better word for this class of things) is likely to over time undergo the same treatment as retard did.

But yes, "You retard" on a bottle cap is a cruel insult. The word "a**hole" still has a normal meaning, and all of us have one, but to be called that is stil insulting.

[driftdiver]

They understand everything you just said but just don’t care. They think its more fun to insult children and the parents of such children.

[Sacajaweau]

It’s a word...It means a kid needs special help....and nothing more. It is neither derogatory or unkind...it is truth. This PC cr** is a waste of every ones time.

[Kirkwood]

Idiot was once used purely as a clinical term that became an insult later in the 20th century. No one today uses it in the context of a clinical definition, except maybe in an historical context. The word retard or retarded has also pretty much dropped entirely out of clinical use and is now consided an insult. For those of us who lived during this transition period, there is a lot of sensitivity about the word. The sensitivity with using the word idiot has all but vanished.