I want to take back ‘Retard’. Because I want it to apply to things that are infuriatingly stupid, instead of it being used as a derogatory term towards special needs people.

  • deaconblue
    12•2 years ago

    Used to mean something else in the world of machinery and auto mechanics. Old school stuff. There is a screw that holds the distributor cap in place. A mechanic would loosen that screw and rotate the whole distributor cap very slightly, maybe 5° or so, the thing is round, so that’s a really small portion of a circle. So one could turn it clockwise or counterclockwise to advance or retard the timing.

    • eroc1990English
      18•2 years ago

      And that usage is still fine and actively used in those kinds of industries. But OP is just being edgy.

    • @[email protected]
      8•2 years ago

      I have a project car I’m working on, and the distributor timing was so far advanced that the engine would barely run, even when the adjustment was at full retard. I took the distributor out and re-installed it one gear tooth retarded, and now I can set the timing correctly.

      I couldn’t have told this story on reddit, my comment would have been removed.