#essenceofconfusion

[rjalker]

Hi, I was randomly browsing through the autistic tag when I came across one of your posts. My question to you is “What is the R-word?”

The R word is “Retarded”. As in, mentally retarded. Taken literally, it means slow or stop. Like in fire retardant. Something that slows or stops fire. Mentally retarded, taken literally, means that someone is slow mentally.

It started out as what I can assume is a medical diagnosis, annnnd got turned into a slur. It now means, very specifically, someone so stupid that they can only be autistic or otherwise intellectually disabled. 

EX: someone swipes their credit card the wrong way, groans, and mutters, “I’m so retarded”. What they mean is, “wow that was stupid of me, I can’t believe I just did that”. but by using the R word, they specifically compare themselves to a disabled person, making the whole thing much more offensive than it needs to be.

[snapedefender]

Do you ever bother to integrate capitals and commas in your sentences.

short answer: nah

long answer: i like typing like this & i find it fun and interesting the way language & grammar has evolved on the internet in general and on tumblr specifically - participating in that is fun. and, to be honest, grammar is made up and largely classist and has changed many many times over the past few hundred years, so insisting on following a strict code of language rules feels weird to me. grammar was created to engender understanding and to make reading language easier - if you can understand what i’m writing, im doing my job. 

i mean i went to school for literature & i CAN use capitals and commas.... i just dont want to lmao. usually i only Use Proper English when i’m getting real serious about an argument and that’s about it. or when im sending formal work emails or writing.