The "retarded" renaissance

When I was in fourth grade, someone you liked was a "good kid." Someone you didn't like was a "retard." (Or, in the colorful patois of my native Boston, a "wicked retahd." That, or this withering shorthand: "a wicked re.") We did not use the term for the special-needs kids. They were "the special-needs kids."

Basically, we used the word to describe any annoying person (or rule or homework… » Full Story on Salon.com