This thread may not go well.. but it has to be said...

[JDPriestly]

19. It's just a cultural thing. If you came to America and did not know the language, you would not

recognize the "naughty" words as "naughty." The words that are found so offensive are only offensive because both the user or speaker and reader or listener believe them to be offensive. Words in and of themselves are neutral. That is why I am not so bothered by the use of this word or that word. The "naught" words are just noises that express frustration.

I very much agree with you when you write: "name calling happens when the name calling is the first resort to a reasonable reply. Name calling does not "win" the discussion and reflects badly on the poster."

Name calling is just noise-making, just like screaming "Ahhhhhh."

I grew up in a home in which there was utterly, and I mean utterly, no profanity. I was not taught to use or think in profanity. I couldn't read one of the books by James Joyce when I started college because there were a lot of words I did not understand. It was almost like a foreign language and I saw no point in reading it. People are offended by "naughty" words because they are trained or taught to be offended by them. People like me who are not offended by them probably don't have the same emotional or subconscious baggage associated with the words as those who are offended.