Today, I heard a teenage girl repeatedly using the “r word” to describe everything from a pair of shoes someone was wearing to the way her little sister was acting. I cringed inwardly, just waiting for her mother to say something but not a word was uttered to tell her not to use that word so loudly in public. And now you’re probably all wondering what in the world I mean by the “r word.” You’re running through your repertoire of naughty words and hitting on nothing, right?

I mean the term retard or retarded. Maybe I’m alone, but I would no more use this term than I would the “n word” when referring to an African American or the “f word” when referring to homosexual behavior. And none of these words are appropriate to use in my home and my children would be punished for using them just like they would be if I heard one of them say that other “f word.” I think they’re all highly inappropriate and perpetuate negative stereotypes that are simply not true.

I’ve been told there’s a boycott being urged for the movie Tropic Thunder because it uses the “r word” repeatedly. I had no intentions of seeing it anyway because it’s not my cup of tea, so this is just one more reason not to bother. Maybe I’m just trying too hard to be PC, but this word honestly does make me cringe and I wish it would go the way of some of the other words I mentioned.