This article may or may not be interesting to my readers: It contains no information of any value as such from a technical point of view. It is simply intended to clear up a particular misunderstanding.

In the following post I will veer towards the very edge of the subject of technology, at a point where the fields of technology and literacy attempt to intersect.

Sometimes the terminology and phraseology that I use is misunderstood. Here is one example of such an incident: -

Recently, when commenting on another blog, I used the term “32-bit-retardedness” which was instantly taken out of context by the blog’s owner.

The owner was saying in his article that in his opinion there was absolutely no need to move to a 64-bit operating system at this point in time, as 32-bit was still the standard.

My reply was that holding back on the migration from 32 to 64-bits, (Which I paraphrased, possibly unwisely, as “32-bit-retardedness”.) would just lead to a slow development of more 64-bit drivers and applications, making the inevitable transition slow and painful. (Those weren’t the actual words used, but the same meaning was attempted to be conveyed.)

Here is what I actually did say: -

Sharron Field says:

November 8, 2009 at 2:24 pm

No, no, no, no, no: Mr ***** you are encouraging 32-bit-retardedness; and if everybody thought the same way as you do then everybody would stick to 32-bit and no 64-bit apps will ever be developed: Just as happened with XP and Vista.

It’s not about “getting a … boner” or whatever. (Not all geeks can get a boner anyway.) – It’s about progress rather than stagnation; it’s about taking that step beyond rather than standing still because it seems more convenient at the time.

- Go forth, therefore; adopt 64-bit architecture and a 64-bit operating system: Leave the 32-bitters to their RAM-restrictions, technology of the past, and look towards the bright new horizons with confidence!

As it turned out, the guy who owned the blog seems to have decided that I accused him of being retarded, and said so publicly on PC Mech Live  at 8PM EST on Wednesday 11th November 2009. In doing so he tried to stop me from presenting my case, and replied that the matter was closed, after I apologised if he read it that way and stated that I had said that he was “encouraging 32-bit-retardedness”.

- So what did this term actually mean?

The word “retardedness” has several definitions; both as an adjective and as a verb. While the word “retard” is commonly-used in slang as an insult recently, the tern “retardedness” applied to someone or something doesn’t necessarily refer to that person or thing being retarded in a mental capacitative sense, as the slang insult form of the tern would convey.

http://en.wiktionary.org defines the term in numerous senses: -

Retardedness; to be retarded

Adjective

retarded

1. Delayed in development.

   retarded growth

2. (slang) Of a person, having mental retardation.
3. (slang) By extension, of a person or thing, stupid; senseless; irrational.
4. (slang) Under the influence of alcohol.

The word “retarded” can also be an adjective or a verb. In the term “32-bit retardation” it is meant to be conveyed as a verb: -

Verb

retarded

1. Past tense of retard; slowed.
2. Past participle of retard; slowed.

Further examination of the first definition of retarded as a verb gives us the following: –

Adjective

slow (comparative slower, superlative slowest)

Positive
slow

Comparative
slower

Superlative
slowest

1. Taking a long time to move or go a short distance, or to perform an action; not quick in motion; proceeding at a low speed.
2. Not happening in a short time; spread over a comparatively long time.

   These changes in the heavens, though slow, produced Like change on sea and land, sidereal blast. –Milton

3. Of reduced intellectual capacity; not quick to comprehend.

   John is very slow; he is ten seconds behind everybody else when it comes to math.

4. Not hasty; not precipitate; lacking in promptness; acting with deliberation.

   He that is slow to wrath is of great understanding. –Prov. xiv. 29.

5. Behind in time; indicating a time earlier than the true time.

   That clock is slow.

6. Lacking spirit; deficient in liveliness or briskness.

The term retarded’s meaning, as used in the phrase under examination, bears a comparative interpretation akin to #1 above:

“Taking a long time to move or go a short distance, or to perform an action; not quick in motion; proceeding at a low speed. “

- That is as in “Taking a long time to adapt or migrate from a 32-bit to a 64-bit environment; not being quick in doing so, proceeding at a low speed with regard to doing so”.

What it does not mean is that the person who takes a long time to adapt or migrate from a 32-bit to a 64-bit environment is [mentally] retarded. – To read it as such would be to take the meaning totally out of context, possibly deliberately reading it in such a way in order to have an excuse to give an unfavourable reaction to the phrase.

It was true that I was making the odd dig at him during the PC Mech Live show that evening because he had gone for 32-bit Windows 7 whereas I had gone for 64-bit Windows 7: But any such digs were meant in fun.

After I’d jibed that a problem he was having with a program he was running might be due to the fact that 4GB RAM wasn’t enough for the task, he launched into a rather brisk counterattack and went off on one, saying that I’d accused him of being retarded because he’d chosen a 32-bit operating system, in front of an audience of over a hundred people. He then attempted to make it as black as it could be for me, saying that I was rude and that I’d never get anywhere in business with an attitude like that (Whatever business has to do with it.)…etc.

Yes, I’ve written this post to cover my ass, and in order that I can direct any questions regarding the incident to this post as a reference, rather than launching into multiple copies explanations on a 1 to 1 basis. Also, if I ever use the term again, I can send anybody who starts getting into a mood to this blog post also.

In addition, it pre-empts the grapevine’s possible coverage of the event; in that it gives a clear explanation that It’s not rudeness on my part, but the ignorance of third-parties, that is at issue here.

- Now someone will accuse me of accusing someone of ignorance…

Comments are invited if anyone wishes to do so.