David Crystal's The Case Against Banning The Word Retard

Language is a very significant method of communication between people from all around the globe; however, can language indicate what type of society we live in? The answer to this question might differ depending on how you view the importance of language. David Crystal, a British writer, shares his thoughts about language claiming that it “has no independent existence”, which means that language is nothing without the people who use it and give meaning to it. He also claims that language helps in “understanding who you are and what society is like”, which can open up arguments about the use of language and its influence on whom we share it with. Although Crystal’s claim might seem broad, it opens up on how language’s existence and use over

Their attribution, thus, has an impact on how society, as a whole, values language. Language is changing constantly, whether in the creation of a new language or the meaning of specific words or phrases; it was made and is still being developed by humans, which supports Crystal’s claim of language’s “non-independent existence”. One way to look at this is by viewing the history of specific words and how people have maintained to change their meaning over time. Christopher M. Fairman, in his article “The Case Against Banning the Word Retard”, discusses the history of the word “retard” claiming “By the 1960s,”mental retardation” became the preferred medical term, gradually replacing previous diagnostic standards such as “idiot”,”imbecile,” and “moron”...”(447). Patricia E. Bauer also mentions in her article “A Movie, a Word, and My Family’s Battle”, how the word “retard” now “has become a routine epithet, used to describe something or someone stupid or worthless or pathetic”(444). The authors’ experience with the word “retard” proves people’s control over language. Another way we could look at Crystal's view is by viewing the use of specific words in

Words can come out in different ways and can be interpreted differently from one person to another so how can one person’s choice of language influence other people? Patricia E. Bauer opens up on how her family interprets the word “retard” mentioning how “it’s more like a grenade, and we’re the collateral damage”(444). They also find the word “insulting” but do people really mean to insult her daughter considering the commonly used meaning of the word? Guy-Uriel Charles also mentions “It is time to stop characterizing black people trying to survive in dire circumstances as looters. Are they takers? Yes. Are they looters? Let’s wait for a criminal conviction first”(245). In this situation, it’s a little different because characterizing people not only comes from what they say but also from their actions and race, as African American are called criminals for acting up to survive their Hurricane disaster. Susan Eva Porter, in her article “Overusing the Bully Label” takes it a bit further to discuss how characteristics used to describe people influence their view of themselves. She says “As soon as children are labeled bullies, this seems to give us permission to unleash on them a degree of anger and scorn...and deny them the opportunity to develop true resilience”(510). Language can sometimes make us misinterpret other