I don't watch a lot of VH1, but they were doing these 1980s Strikes Back specials, so I turned off the v-chip and tuned in. During the course of the program, VH1 is interviewing several celebrities about their take on the 80s. Naturally when dealing with celebs and 1980s pop culture, there is some swearing and nudity, which VH1 bleeps over or censors for regular TV. But, I could not help but notice that they bleeped over the word "retarded". To put it in context, an actress was discussing the TV show LA Law, and she commented that her favorite character "was the retarded man".

I almost missed the fact that they had bleeped over "retarded", so I tivo'd it back, and sure enough they bleeped the word retarded. Did retarded become a slur and nobody told me? Apparently it is a gray area, or at least according to the second definition by Miriam-Webster which lists retard as "often offensive". Still, to describe someone as retarded, which is the short version of "mentally retarded" shouldn't be considered offensive, and indeed M-W makes no mention of it.

Still, it sounds like they are trying to wean people onto the "mentally challenged" terminology, or worse, "differently abled". It appears to be yet another case of using more syllables to make something sound better than it really is. For instance, to borrow from George Carlin, "shell shock" became "battle fatigue" became "post traumatic stress disorder".