Debate: Ill

To find the general perception of the word ill, I searched up the word on one of my favorite search engines, Urban Dictionary.  Urban Dictionary is a wikipedia in form of a dictionary, meaning that users can define any words in any way that they feel is correct.  Basically, the word ‘ill’ was used to describe either sick or unbelievably awesome.  There seems to be no strong oppositions to the word, and rather strong positive connotations seem more frequent.  Even in Public Images Network, the word ill was described to be a better choice of a word than retarded when describing the mentally handicapped person.  Unlike the word retarded, the word ill seems to give a more thorough and fit definition to the situation the patients.   A comment in Ask.com even stated that the mentally ill seems to be curable and treatable (or at least ameliorate the situation).  However, the word retarded seems to be a innate and permanent disorder that is much worse in severity.  I just believe that people tend to choose the word ill, since the word isn’t used frequently enough to develop a harsh connotation.

http://www.publicimagesnetwork.org/diff.htm
http://www.ask.com/answers/219774881/what-is-the-difference-between-mentally-ill-and-retarded
http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=ill