It's not so much the word he used, it's how he said it. Not only did he laugh at the fact that she was beaten as a child, he laughed while he stated "She's actually retarded!"

I'll be one of the first to have a laugh with Paul, but what he said and how he said it was unkind. We can't use this "Stop the PC!" argument with this either, as a particular group are clearly upset with Paul, and we must respect that.

Morning Moata! I think you have opened the case, solved it, shut the folder, gone to the police club and enjoyed a few beers with your colleagues celebrating a job well done. Like you, I use "retarded" on a daily basis with my buddies. Like you, I do not use that word or others to hurt people with real disabiities. Unlike you however, I do like Paul Henry. On the whole he is pretty darn entertaining. Admittedly yes, he does occasionally slip-up, but I judge people on the big picture. As you say, that is his shtick. Hope Chch is lovely, Welly is bleak.

It's very similar to the use of the word "gay". You hear people say "I had such a gay day" all the time, yet I would say a good majority don't mean any offence to gay people with it.

Paul Henry did mean to be offensive (but that's what he does so if you don't like it, don't watch). However, in normal cases, most people don't. So unless it is very obvious that you are trying to be offensive by calling someone a retard, then people need to let it go eh.

You've basically summed up the way I feel about it Moata, no way in hell I'd refer to someone with real cognitive issues as a retard, it's not the accepted vernacular and hasn't been for a long time. As JeM says it's a bit like using "gay", and another good example would be calling someone who does something clumsy a "spaz" - it is in no way intended to insult the people who seem to take offence, much in the same way eskimo lollies weren't a racial slur. But people will be offended with whatever they like and all the justification in the world wont stop them from being so. All you can do if you don't like something you hear is choose not to listen anymore. Freedom of speech and all that.

As much as i actually adore what an ass Paul Henry is sometimes, he can cross the line - and being cruel like that doesnt win him any favours.

I agree with you. It is typical of PC to castigate the word rather than the speaker. Mocking someone with a disability, particularly an intellectual one that prevents them defending themselves, is pretty despicable by any civilised social standard, and has nothing to do with PC. Anyone who finds it funny must surely be retarded.

Genesis #1 wrote: "... a particular group are clearly upset with Paul, and we must respect that."

Why?

Aren't you trying to have your cake and eat it too (mmm, cake) by saying that it's an accurate word to describe people with mental disabilities, but you're not going to use it that way? I work in health and I'd never start a conversation with a patient with "So, I see you're retarded" - it's an insult now, regardless of how it started.

Paul Henry is one of those "edgy" people who wants to be able to insult whoever he likes and have it be their fault. If he ever actually accepts the consequences of any of his actions they will probably be handing out toboggans in hell.

–verb (used with object) 1. to make slow; delay the development or progress of (an action, process, etc.); hinder or impede.

–verb (used without object) 2. to be delayed.

–noun 3. a slowing down, diminution, or hindrance, as in a machine. 4. Slang: Disparaging. a. a mentally retarded person. b. a person who is stupid, obtuse, or ineffective in some way: a hopeless social retard. 5. Automotive, Machinery. an adjustment made in the setting of the distributor of an internal-combustion engine so that the spark for ignition in each cylinder is generated later in the cycle.

This is dictionary.com's meaning for retard. I think most people use it in a 4(b) kind of way, whereas PH was using it in a 4(a) kind of way which, coupled with his juvenile school-boy giggle, has obviously set some people's teeth on edge. I'm neither for nor agin Mr Henry - he has made me laugh in the past but he also possesses a mean streak which is pretty unattractive.

I'm a Paul Henry fan, but agree that he went a bit far on this one - as others have said, it's the way he used the word, mocking someone who does actually have a form of disability. Like you, Moata, I have no problem using the word "retarded" to describe stupid actions or situations, although I think my mother was a bit offended once when I used it in front of her as she took it the wrong way - I've got a brother with mild cerebral palsy and she's done quite a bit of work with IHC so, yeah...

And JeM - I like to occasionally slip "gay" in to conversation because of the way it's changed meanings from happy to homosexual to bad/crappy. It's great because depending on who you're talking to they can take what you're saying in so many different ways. If they don't take it as meaning crappy then they should just be more up with the play.

I sense 150 comments coming on this blog today!!