Hacker News Reader

Comment by sschueller | Hacker News Reader

Retard may not be in there as a swear word. It could be a comment regarding a "delay". [1]

[1] :to delay or impede the development or progress of : to slow up especially by preventing or hindering advance or accomplishment

View on HN

Indeed. Most of the matches for "retard" have the meaning of "delay":

  $ git grep -i retard v6.15
  v6.15:drivers/net/dsa/sja1105/sja1105_dynamic_config.c:/* The switch is so retarded that it makes our command/entry abstraction
  v6.15:drivers/net/wireless/broadcom/b43/phy_a.h:#define B43_OFDMTAB_ADVRETARD  B43_OFDMTAB(0x09, 0)
  v6.15:drivers/net/wireless/broadcom/b43/phy_lp.h:#define B43_LPPHY_ADVANCEDRETARDROTOR_ADDR B43_PHY_OFDM(0x8B) /* AdvancedRetardRotor Address */
  v6.15:drivers/net/wireless/broadcom/b43/phy_n.h:#define B43_NPHY_PHYSTAT_ADVRET   B43_PHY_N(0x1F3) /* PHY stats ADV retard */
  v6.15:drivers/net/wireless/broadcom/b43/tables.c:const u32 b43_tab_retard[] = {
  v6.15:drivers/net/wireless/broadcom/b43/tables.c: BUILD_BUG_ON(B43_TAB_RETARD_SIZE != ARRAY_SIZE(b43_tab_retard));
  v6.15:drivers/net/wireless/broadcom/b43/tables.h:#define B43_TAB_RETARD_SIZE 53
  v6.15:drivers/net/wireless/broadcom/b43/tables.h:extern const u32 b43_tab_retard[];
  v6.15:drivers/net/wireless/broadcom/b43/wa.c:static void b43_wa_art(struct b43_wldev *dev) /* ADV retard table */
  v6.15:drivers/net/wireless/broadcom/b43/wa.c: for (i = 0; i < B43_TAB_RETARD_SIZE; i++)
  v6.15:drivers/net/wireless/broadcom/b43/wa.c:   b43_ofdmtab_write32(dev, B43_OFDMTAB_ADVRETARD,
  v6.15:drivers/net/wireless/broadcom/b43/wa.c:    i, b43_tab_retard[i]);
  v6.15:drivers/net/wireless/broadcom/b43legacy/ilt.c:const u32 b43legacy_ilt_retard[B43legacy_ILT_RETARD_SIZE] = {
  v6.15:drivers/net/wireless/broadcom/b43legacy/ilt.h:#define B43legacy_ILT_RETARD_SIZE 53
  v6.15:drivers/net/wireless/broadcom/b43legacy/ilt.h:extern const u32 b43legacy_ilt_retard[B43legacy_ILT_RETARD_SIZE];
  v6.15:drivers/net/wireless/broadcom/b43legacy/phy.c:  for (i = 0; i < B43legacy_ILT_RETARD_SIZE; i++)
  v6.15:drivers/net/wireless/broadcom/b43legacy/phy.c:           b43legacy_ilt_retard[i]);
  v6.15:drivers/net/wireless/broadcom/b43legacy/phy.h:#define B43legacy_OFDMTAB_ADVRETARD B43legacy_OFDMTAB(0x09, 0)
  v6.15:drivers/net/wireless/broadcom/brcm80211/brcmsmac/d11.h:/* Advance Retard */
  v6.15:fs/bcachefs/bkey_cmp.h: /* we shouldn't need asm for this, but gcc is being retarded: */

In Germany we have "Retard-Tabletten" (Tabletten = pills), which are not intended to stop (or accelerate) cognitive decline, but release the active ingredients with a delay.

We have those too. I wonder how many people actually know that's what that means, cause it's not an everyday word by far here in this meaning.

If you work with engines or planes you should be familiar with it's non-slur meaning. You retard ignition timing (you also "pull back" ignition timing) and you retard the throttles. Airbus planes tell you specifically to "retard".

It's baffling anybody would think otherwise. Reddit auto-censorship (and such auto censorship elsewhere) has a lot to answer for.

I don't think it's auto-censorship as much as language changing. For me, 'retard' is 99% associated with my friends dissing each other as kids, and 1% associated with 'delay'.

For me, it's mostly associated with being bullied as an autistic child, which might be the actual reason it's come to be seen as a "slur"

Meh. Probably more likely is those damn automod settings on reddit (which aren't, you know, configured by moderators according to what their community wants or anything)

Every "scientific" name for mental disability eventually becomes a slur or name. Idiot and moron were considered proper terms at one point in time. "Retard" was never proper but is easily derived from "mental retardation", which was. In the 80s/90s there was a push to use "special" as a euphemism and it was immediately picked up as a slur, I think both usages have been long-since abandoned as a result.

Autistic is also being used this way but its long-term fate is not so clear to me.

In general euphemisms cannot keep up with bigotry, I rather consider it a lost cause.

> In general euphemisms cannot keep up with bigotry, I rather consider it a lost cause.

I don't. It doesn't seem to be that difficult to be aware of these things, and if I can save others from feeling the twinge of pain from being reminded of their childhood, or other abusive memories, simply by not using a few words... why wouldn't I?

Yes, I should have added 'bullying' to the 'dissing' explanation. It was certainly that too.

See the other comment where the guy mentions it's overwhelmingly used in a non-cursing manner, then the first hit is it being used as cursing.

Reply on news.ycombinator.com