If ever there was a time when “retard” should resume its place in the pantheon of exalted nouns (though you used it in its verb form) it is NOW. Use Jeff Flake’s picture (if necessary) but restore it to its proper place!
Actually, retard has been claimed by the mentally challenged commurnity and you, as a brainy, are not allowed to use it. They greet each other like, such as, “whassup retard”.
The whole discussion of “retard” that last few days made me realize that the word “retard” for people who are mentally challenged is a misnomer. To retard something is to limit its native ability or potential. No one “retards” those who are born with deficient abilities to think. They were just born with lower abilities than normal. Thus, “mentally retarded” (from which the epithet “retard” is derived) is not a good description of their condition.
In earlier eras, there were words to describe the range of IQ levels up to normal levels. I learned all of them from the Three Stooges, and learned later that those were actually clinical words. I don’t know which meant which, but the ones I can recall right now are moron and imbecile. I think there were one or two others. We don’t need to go back to those words, either. But my prior view to resist the PC battle against the term “retard” was probably wrong. We need another word, one that is more accurate, to describe those with mental disabilities. And if kids use it as a pejorative, there is nothing we can do about it. Kids will be kids.