Just call me NPC.

No, gamers, not a "non player character." It means "Non-Politically Correct." In a world gone mad, don't you all think it's time to call things what they are again? For instance (some of you will hate me for this) the phrase "mentally challenged." Aren't most of us? If not all the time, I do know I am mentally challenged on a regular, no, a daily basis. True, it is mainly to do with my five year old, and how to get her to stop yelling every time I'm on the phone, or to do with my sons math homework. (Whoever invented algebra should be shot! Yes, I said SHOT. With a GUN. I am pro-second amendment. *sticks out tongue*) Where was I? oh yeah, mentally challenged.

That phrase came about because "mean people" started shortening the word retarded to retard, emphasis on the re. Retard is a perfectly fine word when the emphasis is on the tard. "Do not reTARD my progress by taking my keyboard!"

According to the dictionary:
v. re·tard·ed,
v. tr. To cause to move or proceed slowly; delay or impede.
v. intr. To be delayed.
n. A slowing down or hindering of progress; a delay.

Also according to the dictionary;
Main Entry: mentally challenged
Part of Speech: adj
Definition: a euphemism for mentally retarded or disabled

And yet again, in the dictionary (this one is scary):
euphemism [(yooh-fuh-miz-uhm)] An agreeable word or expression substituted for one that is potentially offensive, often having to do with bodily functions, sex, or death; for example, rest room for toilet, lady of the evening for prostitute. The Nazis used euphemism in referring to their plan to murder the world's Jews as "the Final Solution."

The folk at "America Heritage New Dictionary of Cultural Literacy", Third Edition, wrote that, not me.

Retarded is an appropriate word for someone born with a mental handicap (get over it, do I need the dictionary for handicapped, too!) which causes them to learn or develop at a slower pace. I would not simply describe someone as "retarded," because it leaves too much open to interpretation. For instance, I am retarded at least three times a week on the way to pick up my son by the lady in the red SUV with the goofy mouse sticker on the back window. To clarify, I would not be a bad, mean person if I referred to someone as "mentally retarded" if they had a mental handicap which caused them to be developmentally slow. And what is this "handi-capable" thing? That is just silly. They are handicapped people who are capable of doing *insert what they are capable of here.*

Has anyone here read 1984? Quote: "It's a beautiful thing, the destruction of words." In a very, very short synopsis, the goal of the government is to use "newspeak" to remove any creative, logical thinking/speaking ability and reduce it inevitably to "yes." No ability to think or speak freely, no ability to disagree.

How about Demolition Man, anyone? A great spoof of political correctness, "have a joy joy day" or "her life force was terminated" or "You have been fined one credit for a violation of the verbal morality statute." Rent it! Watch it! Laugh at it! Peer into the PC future. Ok, not really, but it could be! Only Taco Bell is actually Wal-Mart. Watch the movie.

Back to "mentally challenged." Why, oh why, did I do this blog on that subject? To be true to my NPC self, that's why, and I do my best not to be a hypocrite. The word retarded even makes me a little uncomfortable, because so many today have been taught that it is a disparaging word. No, retard is a disparaging word. I do not like euphemisms as a general rule, and I do not like Dysphemisms as a general rule. They have their places, certainly, or they wouldn't have their own names, but society as a whole should not adopt them in place of perfectly good words which generally relay the true meaning in shorter time and with less effort and more clarity.

One other quick point to the fast-food places. THERE IS NO MEDIUM WITHOUT A SMALL!

In short, say it like it is.

P.S.
Example of PCness run amok compared to NPCness

My Greeting;
Happy New year!
May God bless and keep you and yours,
Love, Me

Politically Correct Greeting;
Please accept, with no obligation, implied or implicit, our best wishes for a fiscally successful, personally fulfilling, and medically uncomplicated recognition of the onset of the generally accepted calendar year 2008, but not without due respect for the calendars of choice of other cultures whose contributions to society have helped make America great (not to imply that America is necessarily greater than any other country or is the only "AMERICA" in the Western Hemisphere), and without regard to the race, creed, color, age, physical ability, religious faith, or sexual preference of the wishee.*

*(By accepting this greeting, you are accepting these terms. This greeting is subject to clarification or withdrawal. It is freely transferable with no alteration to the original greeting. It implies no promise by the wisher to actually implement any of the wishes for her/himself or others, and is void where prohibited by law, and is revocable at the sole discretion of the wisher. This wish is warranted to perform as expected within the usual application of good tidings for a period of one year, or until the issuance of a subsequent greeting, whichever comes first, and warranty is limited to replacement of this wish or issuance of a new wish at the sole discretion of the wisher.)

SEEEEE!?