On Thu, 09 Oct 2003 10:40:29 -0700, Sean Barrett sean@epoptic.org gave utterance to the following:
Stevertigo wrote:
--- Anthere anthere6@yahoo.com wrote:
what does "Retard" means ? (in french, it implies "late")
LOL. En English it means "mentally retarded" --as in "stunted growth". See "fire retardant".
"To retard" is a perfectly legitimate verb meaning "to hold back" or "to slow." Assuming that it refers to a psycological condition is every bit as ridiculous as assuming that "niggardly" has something to do with skin color.
Yes, but there is a natural tendency to interpret any name in its noun form in preference to its verb form in cases where both exist.