full retard

English

Etymology 1

From the 2008 film Tropic Thunder, in which "going full retard" is used to describe an actor growing to identify too much with the mentally subnormal character he played.

Noun

full retard (uncountable)

1. (slang, derogatory, offensive) A state of engaging in extreme levels of stupidity.
   • 2018, Joe Dixon, The Insanity Wars: Why People Are Crazier Than Ever:

     Everyone is on both sides is going full retard about this Executive Order from Trump. No one is thinking rationally.

   • 2019, Mark Romel, The Seer of Unreality:

     They say never go full retard. America, thanks to democracy, eagerly embraced exactly that fate.

   • 2024, Thomas Corcoran, Six Feet from the Edge:

     "You're a real fucking character, John-O," he indicated as he began chuckling out loud seeing his friend being to perform what they both called the "full retard."

Usage notes

• Mostly expressed as to go full retard.

Etymology 2

Noun

full retard (uncountable)

1. (machinery) The setting on a magneto when the ignition spark occurs as late as possible, just before the piston reaches top dead center.
   • 1911 December, “Intensifying the Retarded Spark”, in Ignition and Accessories, volume 1, number 3, page 85:

     It is characteristic of the usual magneto to give an ignition spark at a somewhat lower speed with the spark control in the full advance than in the full retard position.

   • 1915, H.A. Minturn, “Generator-Battery Ignition”, in The American Chauffeur, page 165:

     Briefly, the objectionable features of the magneto are that the intensity of the spark depends directly upon the speed of the magneto—that is, the hottest spark comes at the highest speeds and the thin spark at the low speeds, that there is a difference in the intensity of the spark in the rang of full retard to full advance, and that with the use of the magneto there is the extra electrical unit that must be cared for.

   • 1918, Charles Brian Hayward, Automobile Ignition, Starting, and Lighting, page 155:

     Interrupter set back of center at full retard, ½ inch.