While I generally agree with the sentiment, you’re overlooking the inherently social nature of language. At the moment, that is a word non grata. Give it a decade on the euphemism treadmill, and it will become mostly acceptable to use in the contexts you outlined.
At the moment, I think you’re going to have a hard time using that word without offending someone outside of a musical composition situation. You’ll probably offend some folks using it in the context of musical composition too, but at least “retard” is the proper term for slowing the tempo in the middle of a composition.
While I generally agree with the sentiment, you’re overlooking the inherently social nature of language. At the moment, that is a word non grata. Give it a decade on the euphemism treadmill, and it will become mostly acceptable to use in the contexts you outlined.
At the moment, I think you’re going to have a hard time using that word without offending someone outside of a musical composition situation. You’ll probably offend some folks using it in the context of musical composition too, but at least “retard” is the proper term for slowing the tempo in the middle of a composition.