what is a retard

The term "retard" is a pejorative term used to describe someone with a mental disability or someone who is considered stupid, slow to understand, or ineffective in some way). The word "retard" comes from the Latin verb "retardare," meaning to hinder or make slow). It was previously used as a medical term to describe children with intellectual disabilities or retarded mental development). However, in modern usage, the term has transitioned from an impartial term to one that is negatively loaded and is now widely considered as degrading even when used in its original context). The R-word is a form of hate speech that stands for “retard,” “retarded,” or other offensive words ending in “-tard” . While “mental retardation” was originally introduced as a medical term in 1961 for people with intellectual disabilities, in the decades since, the R-word has become an insult used all too commonly in everyday language. The use of the term "retard" is considered very insulting and inappropriate.