it seems to me, slightly educated as i am, that computers and the different camps of users is the only quasi-safe argument grounds in our modern society. it is not quite correct for ‘normal people’ to argue to fundamental differences between religious camps and political arguments are mostly reserved for AM radio heads and cable tv. so its computers that people get to get their panties in a wad over, plus we all use them quite extensively so we all know what we like, or in many cases what we are accustomed to and anything outside that safe area is wrong- thus the internet tirades.

aren’t people wondreful especially the *tard branch of our society.

Well, you just got one more Friendfeed subscription, which means a click through to this blog when RSS via FF notifies.
Consider ‘one user opinion’ offset.

Do you make fun of people with different skin color or physical disabilities? Calling people *tards is just as bigoted as racial or ethnic slurs. I could care less about your computer or program “opinions” but I expect a bit more from you on the general human decency front.

Oh, gimme a break, Foo. Jeez. Lighten up. Political correctness serves no other purpose than to make every self-censor. Humor is obvious to a thinker.

Yeah, go on insulting people with bigoted slurs.

I should lighten up when people use the “n”-word? Or call people gay or homo as a generic insult?

You don’t think that people with mental retardation deserve any respect and that it’s OK to insult and denigrate them as part of your regular communication?

Even after someone pointing out your insulting comments you think it’s still OK?

Give me a break, bigot.

dear foo,

thank you for continuing the name calling, it is very helpful.

Hey Dave, look.. a FooTard.

Don’t forget to subscribe to Dave’s feed. Have a nice day.

@foo .. are you frikken serious .. jezz find a damn funny bone would ya.

When someone exhibits clearly bigoted behavior and then laughs it off, labeling that person a bigot is not really “name calling” that should just be shrugged off.

Calling someone a “retard” or any *tard is not funny and it’s not a joke and to not acknowledge that it’s inappropriate is simply wrong. To defend it is no different than defending use of the word “nigger” or “fag”.

That none of you see that is a real shame. You’ll go on and get your laughs at the expense of those less fortunate than you. Sad.

obviously when someone is intolerant of other people’s views they are a bigot, but when there is a people whose social skills are slow or hinder relationships with others why is it inappropriate to say they are retarded?

actually foo, i believe you are correct; just to answered my own question; from now on people who lash out at critic of their favorite software (ie mass defenders of Firefox in this case) it would be more fair to call them bigots than to say they are retarded. they certainly exhibit more of a tendency to be intolerant of other people’s views.

now here’s another question–

does bigotry count as retarded social skills?

Using “reatarded” in a phrase like “retarded social skills” is very different than calling someone a “retard” or a “tard” or any of the variants often used to make a generic insult like you did in your original post.

One can “retard a fire” with a “fire retardant” and one can speak of physical or emotional or mental or even social” “retardation” without being offensive. That’s not what happened here, though. You used “mactard” and “foxtard” as generic insults and that’s what’s not cool.

foo-

just for clarification purposes, i wrote the first comment not the post, i have not called anyone a *tard or a bigot.

Foo, get off my blog, man. I don’t need anybody here who cannot handle sarcasm. I don’t have time for you.

Sarcasm? I don’t think that word means what you think it means. How were you being sarcastic? you actually meant the opposite and you think that Firefox and Mac users have well above average intelligence? That doesn’t seem to fit with the rest of your rant.

Sorry, I don’t see the sarcasm in your comment at all. I see you using bigoted language to insult Mac and Firefox users and then getting all defensive about it instead of acknowledging that it was pretty uncool.

I use both Mac and Firefox. Why would I insult them? And, no, I’m not defensive. I’m posted a blog post. People read. You seem to have become a repeat visitor.

If it’s any consolation to you Dave, I think that Foo has made your post exponentially more interesting. In fact, you may have an epic thread on your hands here.’

My view is that Foo is failing to see the overlying problem and to seek its solution. Let me explain.

The Problem: People need a word for those that are such complete fans of something that handling its criticism is beyond their capabilities. A word that is preferably could become a suffix.
There may already be such a word that’s buried in a olde dictionary somewhere, but what does it matter if nobody knows it today? People have latched onto *tard, which unfortunately discriminates against retards.

The Solution: Find a word that has a negative connotation, but does not describe a definite or currently existing social group and turn it into a suffix. “Neanderthal”, “nincompoop”, “egomaniac”, “enosiophobe”, “dweeb”, “idiot”, etc. would be good candidates.

I can’t wait to see what we may accomplish.

Excellent observation Malcolm, you have managed to verbalize, well to at least crystalllize the points i was trying to make and further more you have a suggested path for resolution to the dilemma which the entire series of tubes faces, lets get Fake Steve in here to help with the work. I am sure that we will fix this in no time at all!