I wonder what phrase will replace "intellectual disability".
I'll bet on "brilliantly inexperienced"

eh doesn't sound positive enough.

Really?, over here it seems fine (IOM), of course if you're actually in special needs and you know why you are and people use the word against you then it could offend, I've seen that happen once or twice during my high school years.

In all my years I can't say I've heard mentally retarded used often here, at best we have mentally ill, handicapped, mentally challenged, special needs care etc. I have heard mentally retarded or retard used a lot more often on tv though or the internet in general.

I don't exactly find the word as offensive but I've seen those that are mentally challenged who do realise what the word means can find it offensive even if it is the truth, it kinda breaks them down mentally a notch when it's used to make fun of them and I have seen it affect them in various ways.

I could be wrong, I'm just going on what I've heard, I don't actually live in England. I think I just read an article about it once during my socio course.

I would simply be better if everyone avoided personal attacks... but I digress. Since we don't live in a fantasy world where people can disagree without trying to insult each other, the only way to mitigate the damage is to have rules in place to keep things in check.

As the participation trophy generation comes into power and starts making decisions about these things, we'll probably just have to call them "smart".

Bad words are always replaced with new bad words. No one can stop that unless this world goes full 1984 like the majority of politically correct people seem to want -some sort of New Speak variant. But in honesty I believe political correctness will calm down as more and more people see how retarded it is.

"Retarded" and "Mentally Retarded" have been banned since the 80s. This is not news. People like you disregarding this fact is also not new. Bullies will be bullies...people who receive great satisfaction from insulting others will always be there to remind other people what "being nice" looks like, by providing us with its polar opposite.

If you feel constrained by words being banned that don't allow you to properly insult someone, I'd advise getting a better vocabulary or a better hobby.

I really think people who are worried about the "PC police" are just mad that they're being singled out in a world where they are used to singling out others.

This actually a well studied form of political correctness known as the "euphemism treadmill". More internet ink has been spilled over this than a lot of subjects and is very political at its core, while when I was younger I used to get more upset over politics, but as I get older I just like to sit back and eat popcorn and watch.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Euphemism#Evolution

A very reasonable assessment.