(by the way i am one of those kids under 25)

But again this term gets diluted (i’m a sort of a clown and when i do something really silly/dumb my friends call me while laughing a retard).

It’s all about the intention behind the word. Is the intention of a person to offend someone by calling them gay? then yes it’s bad that person should be smacked, same for retarded. But we also shouldn’t be too rash when we hear the interchange between friends – because it can take on different meanings since they may not take offense to each other.

For instance, the term “O.K.” or “okay” came from the slogan “Old Kinderhook” adopted by Martin Van Buren in a Presidential Election of 1840. Now people simply use it as a means of saying alright or fine. Shaking hands used to be a way of checking to see if the other guy had a weapon; now it’s a formality in etiquette. Even the word “****a” has turned from something horrendous into something casual. The word “gay” used to reference something happy, yes? It didn’t start off meaning homosexual. What I’m saying is that things over time can lose their original meaning, sometimes in really obscure ways. I’m not going to talk positively or negatively about using these terms but I think this is an interesting way of looking at the subject.

Now for me, when people use those two terms, it gives me the impression that the person is very shallow and ignorant. One, they are ignorant for not using the terms correctly; and two, shallow to think that just because something is lame, boring, etc. that is “gay”.

The usage of these terms could be demeaning to those you are homosexual or mentally retarded.

I hope that somewhat helped you on your essay!