re: Is The Word "Retarded" Offensive?

quote:

---

re·tard
verb
ri'tärd/
1.
delay or hold back in terms of progress, development, or accomplishment.

---

Why pigeon hole a word that has so many uses into just a reference to the mentally handicapped? Sure, when used to compare a normally developed human to a mentally handicapped person it could be offensive.

However, saying a process "is retarded" could actually be correct and has nothing to do with the mentally handicapped.