> If you would like to know why it's offensive to some people, I could educate you. In this context? I'll agree that recede might be a better choice in this ca

> If you would like to know why it's offensive to some people, I could educate you. In this context? I'll agree that recede might be a better choice in this case, but as an undergrad in physics I hear the word retard being used in similar contexts all the time in the sense of slowing down. It crops up especially often in classical mechanics problems.