Slurs are making a comeback on the left. Some say it's a reaction to tone-policing.

History famously repeats itself. Still, I never expected "retarded," the insult du jour of my youth, to come back in style — especially after it was canceled only years ago.

These days, mostly on X, I see liberal-identifying people dropping the word as casually as when I was a preteen in the mid-aughts. It's trickled into offline conversations as well, used to embellish how stupid a person, situation, or political stance is.