This actually reminds me of something/someone that really, really angers me. But no, I don't think it's offensive.

Well, having a brother that is physically and mentally handicapped, I'm always sensitive how I use the word. I think it all depends on context. If the word retard is used to mean stupid or negative, then yes, I do take offense. But the use of 'tard' in the emotes context doesn't really bother me as it's not directly used to insult someone.

i can see where a retarded, or 'developmentally disabled' person might be offended, but hey if they can read and understand the meaning of it, then they arent that retarded...
also i like the tard emotes, i think they are funny. If a particular word offends somebody, then they should move somewhere that doesnt have freedom of speech, like Iran. Yhe 1st amendment particularly protects 'offensive' or unpopular speech- we don't need a 1st amendment to defend polite speech, after all.

Being from the US, the retard/tard isn't as offensive as it is in other places. Most of the people that I've experienced an offensive reaction to the use of retard/tard are from the UK, Australia, and NZ and mostly while playing WoW. Say 'retard/tard' in the trade chat on any Oceanic server and see what happens.

It seems as though here that most words have lost any edge they once had. Some places still use retarded but there is that push here in the US to be "Politically Correct". Hence, where we would have used the retarded to describe a person with a lower mental capacity I'm finding people saying 'developmentally challenged".

Grammatically speaking, use of the word 'retard' is not just limited to being a noun. The verb form of the word can be used in various ways to mean 'slow'. definitions

I would say that, amongst the dA emote community at least, it's safe to call someone a 'tard' and not have anyone offended as most should know what a 'tard' is.

Eventually the word retard may find its way into obsolescence as did the word idiot, which was once used as a medical term to describe a person who's mental capacity was that of a four-year-old's.

I said other

I'd say it is offensive until you remind yourself that you're talking about a circle. I can see how you can look at the term tard and say that's offensive but in this context it doesn't really matter.

i must say it depends on who im with realy. if someone i know realy well does something incredebly stupid- eventualy getting me in trouble -then i defenatly use it. but yeah, i use it pretty often with vclose friends.

Not really.

No, 'cause we're referring to emotes, not people. So why should anyone find it offensive unless you walked up to them and called them a tard to their face?

These results could end up ruining my reputation as Tard Queen. It's not just a word; it's a way of LIFE!