文︰子慧
Retard用作动词，解delay or hold back in terms of progress of development，或make slower(减慢)，或hinder(阻碍)。例如︰The progress of the construction was retarded by unforeseen situations.(工程进度被未能预见的情况阻慢了。)
但用retard这个字要很小心，因为它亦解a person who has a mental disability，智力发展迟缓的人，带侮辱、轻蔑的含义。Retard的冒犯程度与叫人“低能”、“白痴”一样，绝对要不得，任何情况下都不应用。
Retard、cripple和disabled
另一个相类似的字是cripple。Cripple用作动词，解cause (someone) to become unable to walk or move properly，使成为跛子、使残废。例如︰The car accident has crippled him for life.(那次交通意外令他变成终身残废。)Cripple用作名词，则解a person who is unable to walk or move properly through disability or because of injury to their back or legs，跛子。
当然，今时今日的文明社会，大家都知道像retard、cripple或残废、跛子这些字，绝不能接受。Oxford Dictionary指出：”The word cripple has long been in use to refer to ‘a person unable to walk through illness or disability’ … In the 20th century the term acquired offensive(冒犯的) connotations(含义) and has now been largely replaced by broader terms such as ‘disabled person’.”
Disabled person或disabled people是残疾人士，是现在普接受的用字。但一个包容和仁爱的社会，有责任不断检视用语，确保歧视的、侮辱性的、令人不安的言语、文字不再被使用。而disabled这个字也开始有人觉得有问题，有机构提出在公众设施中取缔。
British Medical Association(英国医学协会)最近发出一份十四页内部“有效沟通”指引”A Guide to Effective Communication: Inclusive Language in the Workplace”，列出一些应该避用的字和替代字。例如：
”The elderly” should be referred to as “older people”, “disabled lifts” called “accessible lifts.”
Accessible解易达的、方便使用的，用它来标示公众设施，可避免处处提及身体的障碍，更体恤有需要人士的感受。
Pregnant people没歧视
指引亦认为不应再用expectant mothers(准妈妈)来称呼怀孕的女士，因可能冒犯transgender people(跨性别人士)。所以应改叫”pregnant people”(怀孕人士)。
用字谨慎的用意，就如指引的“前言”解释：
The choice of appropriate words makes an important contribution towards the celebration of diversity(多样性). As well as avoiding offence, it is about treating each other with dignity(尊严) and as equal members of an integrated(融和的) community.
不过这种态度并非人人同意，有人就觉得过分，不喜欢自己的说话方式处处被干涉。有英国议员就说这是”completely ridiculous”(简直荒谬)。无论如何，说话写作，用字恰当十分重要，Choose the Right Word便提供用字参考。
