*takes previous assertion, crumples it up, tosses it into the proper receptacle, and flushes.*
-------------------- "The best defense is not a good offense. The best defense is a terrifyingly accurate and devastatingly powerful offense, with multiply-overlapping kill zones and time-on-target artillery strikes." -- Laurence, Archangel of the Sword
Registered: Mar 1999
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posted
If it weren't for the fact that I've already ceased to take seriously any arguement you make, Rob, this would have cinched it. You're honestly stating that any word which can be shown to be excluded from a single dictionary is "not a real word"? Even if your point is that the word is not included in any dictionary, you're still suggesting that dictionary publishers are the be-all and end-all when it comes to deciding which words are "real" and which aren't. All words are fake until the great lexicological gods declare them valid. That's not the way language works. New words in a language are created by the people who speak it. They don't show up in dictionaries until they become common enough. If all the dictionary publishers decided to quit updating their books, do you seriously think the language would cease to change?
Registered: Mar 1999
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posted
You are correct, TSN, in that First of Two's argument reached new heights in ridiculousness.
You are also correct in that the website's attempted retconning of the word tard (or, as it is commonly spelled, 'tard) is a pile of crap, made even more sinister by their brazen attempt to make the reader blame himself for thinking the word really might mean what it obviously means.
And by the way, HOLY COW, "retcon" isn't in the dictionary! I must've been referring to god-knows-what, because if it isn't in the dictionary, it has no meaning! DOWN WITH CONNOTATION!
But, I digress . . .
It is an unfortunate truth that one day, First of Two's argument might appear valid. After all, we did just see the inclusion of the term "bling-bling" into a real dictionary.
-------------------- . . . ceterum censeo Carthaginem esse delendam.
posted
Anyway, if you used the proper dictionary rather than some Webster's rubbish, you'd find that tard is in it.
It means "Smeared or covered with tar", and is a variant of "tarred".
Edit: Having read the site, I can't help but comment on this:
quote:From an entomological perspective, the definition of "tard," as we use it, could be something as follows:
tard: n., A student in a class that is set aside for children with some sort of special need, e.g. metal retardation, autism, behavioral disorders, etc, generally referred to as Special Education classes.
Now to start with, I'll have to work on the assumption that she means "etymological", and not "entomological, which means "of, or pertaining to, insects".
However, etymology is "the facts relating to the formation or derivation of a word", which in this case would go something like "tard: n, also 'tard, contraction of retard".
I am not sure of the word for "taking a word, completely changing its meaning, claiming it never had its original meaning, and saying that anyone who thinks it means what it actually means is wrong".
Registered: Jan 2003
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Whether any specific slang term is "real" or not is a matter of some debate among the literary and scholarly communities (which those of you who have taken any advanced writing or english or literature classes should know)
Yes, usage is important, however, that a word is used is not the end-all and be-all of its reality. Acceptance is. If twelve people start calling a particular type of clear colored-ink pen a "frindle," that won't make "frindle" a word.
In examining the case of 'tard,' I agree that I may have been hasty in judging its 'reality.' On the other hand, those who are claiming that 'tard' does NOT mean what the webpage's author says it means have also been hasty. If we're really going by popular usage, in fact, they're dead wrong.
I have, many times in fact, heard the abbreviation 'tard' or 'tards' used to describe precicely the people the author refers to. An entire group, regardless of cause or nature of physical, emotional, or mental impairment.
Is it a disparaging term? I suppose, like "nigger," it will be considered so... at least until some "tards" start using it in a self- or group-referential manner, whereupon it will become their exclusive prerogative to use it.
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OOH, TSN doesn't take my statements seriously. In my book, that's like not being taken seriously by Gene Ray. I'll live.
Don't worry, the last person to take TSN seriously was returned without incident to the Pleasant Meadows Home for the "Disturbed" about six weeks ago.
-------------------- "The best defense is not a good offense. The best defense is a terrifyingly accurate and devastatingly powerful offense, with multiply-overlapping kill zones and time-on-target artillery strikes." -- Laurence, Archangel of the Sword
Registered: Mar 1999
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posted
Maybe I should start a blog of all the random thoughts that come to my mind after I spend several hours mixing coating emulsions... or printing-press ink.
-------------------- Like A Bat Out Of Hell...
Registered: Aug 2001
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quote:Originally posted by TSN: Rob makes a nonsensical arguement.
I say "That's a nonsensical arguement.".
Rob says "Okay, maybe this bit was slightly off, but I'm still right, and here are some random insults for you."
I hope I'm not the only one who sees that as really dumb?
Pot calling kettle, come in, kettle...
-------------------- "The best defense is not a good offense. The best defense is a terrifyingly accurate and devastatingly powerful offense, with multiply-overlapping kill zones and time-on-target artillery strikes." -- Laurence, Archangel of the Sword
Registered: Mar 1999
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Okay, you're supposed to be a fan of providing evidence to back up an arguement. Where's an example of a time that I finished a debate w/ the equivalent of "you have a point, but it doesn't matter because I'm still right" and then tacked a couple of random insults onto the end?
Registered: Mar 1999
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