Comments

1. Hilarious!

2. I enjoyed reading your article…and I appreciate the humor of admitting that you may be a little technology-challenged. However, I would certainly appreciate if you would remove or change the last word. Apostrophe or not, it is an inflammatory word that does not belong in a blog such as yours…one that I consider to be, on the whole, rather classy. You may keep or delete this comment.

3. I enjoyed reading your article…and I appreciate the humor of admitting that you may be a little technology-challenged. However, I would certainly appreciate if you would remove or change the last word. Apostrophe or not, it is an inflammatory word that does not belong in a blog such as yours…one that I consider to be, on the whole, rather classy. You may keep or delete this comment.
   Thanks Gary.

4. Completely concur. Was enjoying the post until that last word 🙁

5. Yeah, blogspot is so easy to add a custom domain, I don’t understand why people don’t do it.

6. Great post Gary. I actually don’t have a problem with the term “‘tard” Our society is very very sensitive now with respect to any term that may be considered inflammatory. However, the word “retard” (of which ‘tard is a shortened version) on dictionary.com has five definitions, one of which is: a person who is stupid, obtuse, or ineffective in some way: a hopeless social retard.

   So the use is correct. Censorship based on political correctness has really run amok in this country. Carry on.

7. Love the blog, but poor choice of a final word. As someone with a disabled relative, I can’t tell you how offensive that term is

8. Hee hee. This is actually pretty funny! The fact that I could get to your site on BoardingArea from just going to http://www.viewfromthewing.com – was how I first knew that I could easily keep my original mommypoints.com address as well. I’m glad that someone was thinking ahead for you and grabbed that URL! No squatters allowed. 😉

9. Gary,

   Echo Jay’s sentiments.. please edit your final word in your post and, even better, try to erase that word from your vocabulary!

   Too many young (and old) people use the word “retard” pejoratively to have any place in a blog as respected as yours.

10. Folks, I’m not going to remove the word as though I never said it. I’ll leave it there, along with all of the comments critical for me having said it. Folks can judge me for the colloquialism if they’d like. Perhaps the comments will make me more sensitive to its use. It was certainly not meant to offend anyone. But it makes little sense to pretend that it wasn’t a part of the post.

11. IMHO, it bothers me that people are so touchy. He obviously meant no offense by it and did not mean it in context to the true definition, so why do people get offended? It’s like having to call crackers small baked squares cause white people might be offended.

    And terms used to accurately describe a person/thing one decade become offensive the next decade. It used to be colored people, then black people, now African American.

    The term retarded was formerly acceptable and accurate in describing some people’s condition .. someone who has delayed of impedeed mental capacity. Why has this been deemed an offensive word when it is true?

12. Words are words. They’re only offensive because someone or some group decides it is AND the word is used with intent to demean or belittle.

13. I guess my viewpoint and that of Arizona guy is queer compared to current society standard.

    queer:
    –adjective
    1. strange or odd from a conventional viewpoint; unusually different; singular

14. So, if you had used the n-word, would “it wasn’t meant to offend anyone” do? The word is just as offensive, particularly when there are plenty of other words to convey your meaning. It’s not like your choice of words conveys something that absolutely no other word could. It’s not “political correctness,” it’s basic decency.

15. @mogon my point in not removing it is precisely because I wrote it. I’m not telling anyone that they shouldn’t be offended, just that I had not intended to offend. I used a colloquialism that I had not expected to be offensive, some folks have written in to say they were offended. That’s learning for my part.

16. Count me as a daily reader that did not know the website was http://www.viewfromthewing.com! Sure makes getting here and telling people about the site a heck of a lot easier! Thanks for the info. I don’t feel as bad knowing the creator of the site didn’t know as well 🙂

17. I think it is retarded that people are complaining about the use of the term “‘tard.”

18. Stay classy

19. Let’s use the “N” word as an example since it was mentioned above. Somehow that is more offensive than colored which is more offensive than black which is more offensive than African-American. Words and phrases are only offensive because society decided so. There is nothing offensive about these words in and of themselves.

20. Words are never used “in and of themselves.” They always exist in a context. Language changes. The N-word was once not offensive in “polite society.” Now it is. As is the R-word. Nobody “decided” any word was offensive. That’s a misunderstanding of the nature of language.

21. Hilarious post Gary! It’s getting more and more difficult to register domain names that haven’t been thought of already.

    I agree with the others that the term “retarded” or “‘tard” shouldn’t be thrown around, even colloquially. But I think we all know you didn’t mean to offend people. I inadvertently use that terms sometimes too, only to realize it right after I blurt it out. Similarly, I hear a lot of young people these days saying “that’s so gay”, meaning it’s stupid or ridiculous. I can understand that these terms on their own aren’t nearly as bad as using the n-word or something as inflammatory, but they are still offensive to a large group of people and I would personally just choose to use another word rather than hurt a segment of society.

22. @glu800 Well and thoughtfully said

23. Great article Gary – We got your back….

24. To all you who are offended by “tard”, please educate me. Is “moron” a better word?

25. (yawn)

    Great post, Gary!

26. If it makes you feel any better, there’s a mechanism by which you can get your domain wrestled away from squatters, had it been snapped up by one. Not cheap or easy, but functional. Luckily, you won’t need to use it.

27. Personally, I feel that use of language that offends takes away from the content of what you are writing about.

    The questions I have to Gary are:
    1. Why not remove something that was inadvertently offensive to members of your readership?
    2. Why continue to perpetuate the use of a term that not only offends readers but demonstrates a measure of ignornance?

    The bottom line is that I understand that you used a colloquialism familiar with your background and experience. Do you understand that there are those of us who feel the need to speak up to end the use of the term as such?

28. Exactly

29. The post was hilarious.. the comments not so much.

    There is both a denotative and connotative meaning to every word. That some people here choose to construct the meaning of “‘tard” as offensive is for just that reason. YOU constructed it as offensive. In terms of denotation Gary was spot on in his usage.

    It’s much like the use of “niggardly” to describe someone how is extremely tight with money. When a Congress-critter used it he was censured because people didn’t understand the meaning of the word and constructed an offensive connotation for it.

    Finally, as my “plugged-in” wife pointed out “‘tard” has become highly accepted netspeak. If Gary had used the word “n00b” it would have said the same general thing, but only the residence of the Digital Generation would have equated it at the same self-depreciating level as he seems to have intended it.

30. As a regular reader of this great blog, it is quite apparent that Gary is a class act. Incredibly well-informed, extremely thorough, very analytical, quite honest, and rather generous! (And often patient as well!)

    Although the word in question can indeed be derogatory and insulting, in this case it should not be considered so. Mainly on account of his lack of intent to offend. On top of that, he was referring to himself, and no one else. To me, it read something like “silly me.”

    Steve (whose profession is language research.)

31. some people really need to get a life! I loved the funny story and the signature!

32. Randy Cassingham (of This is True and other blogs) coined the word “obliviot” (oblivious idiot).

    It will probably be a few years before anyone takes offense.

33. I have to say, that Gary is top shelf. I think people get far to worked up over things like this. I say you should speak your mind, regardless of what others think.

34. Gary – how about spell check you ‘tard! 🙂

35. @ jason h. i don’t think you know what you’re talking about. niggardly doesn’t come from the word nigger, rather niggard, which is a completely unrelated word. ‘tard is the shorthand way of saying retard. whether the connotation was negative or not aside, it really has nothing to do with your example.

36. That was hilarious!! Good thing your friends got your back and took care of that for you! 🙂

37. My best friend’s sister is developmentally disabled. She finds the word “retard” very offensive. It makes sense to me now – when one says “you’re acting like a retard” it means “you’re acting like one with a disability” as if having a disability was something to be ashamed of. I’m not really a PC person, but now the r-word never leaves my lips.

    Very interesting choice to keep the word. I admire that you won’t pretend you never said it, but you could add a footnote if you feel bad about saying it, in retrospect.

38. Gary, Great post! Nice to see someone who can be self deprecating when warranted.
    I get everyone’s point about the “offensive word.”
    We as a society have now become so polarized whether its about a word, or the US debt issue before congress, that it prevents us from rationally moving forward. We need to lighten up.

39. @arye – Yes, I do know what I’m talking about, though I admit I had to go look up the instance I referred to. It was actually an aide to the DC mayor. It was 1999 when David Brown used it to describe budget issues. Black colleagues were upset and Williams was forced to resign. Only after intervention by other entities did he return albeit with an apology for his use of the word.

    The point I was making was a group of people developed a connotation to a word, in this case unrelated to the denotation of the word, and their construct offended them.

40. This whole thing about ‘tard and other terms brings up the whole notion of implying vs. inferring.

    To imply is when the person stating something is trying to get a certain point across.
    To infer is how the listener interprets said statement.

    Many times ignorant inferring is the cause of issues. People INFER a certain meaning that is not accurate. Such is the case with the use of niggardly that is referenced above.

    Anyhow, I think there are cookies in the kitchen and I’m going to go get one. Mmmm. cookies!!!!

41. Lewis Grizzard used to do a stand-up comic routine describing people confessing their sins in church while the preacher yelled “TELL IT ALL BROTHER, TELL IT ALL.” Finally one man stood up and said, “Preacher I’ve sinned. Last week I had sex with a goat.” The preacher said, “Damn, brother, I don’t believe I would have told that!”

    That’s kind of how I feel about your not knowing that you had a redirect to your blog! I don’t believe I would have told THAT! This is my first visit; glad I made it.

42. So I have to ask, do you own your content or does Boarding Area? Do you have a written agreement with them?

43. Mogon: go away!
    Loved the post Gary!