"katy" wrote
No, it's the fault of the clod who would use language like that, in
that time and space, in mixed company.

Perhaps, but why put oneself in a position to be abused? I was once addicted to
tobacco so going anywhere that didn't allow me to feed that addiction made me
very uncomfortable. Like some here, I could blame the folks who denied me the
'right to smoke', but that's stupid. I quit instead. Similarly, to weaken
oneself to the point that the sound of a word causes one discomfit is equally
stupid.

Do you recall Chessman, the red light bandit? He was executed because he forced
a victim to give him a BJ - something 1000 of women and gays do daily - but it
drove her crazy and she spent the rest of her life in an institution. Punish
chessman? Sure. But who's fault was it that she was so injured by a common act?

You obviously understand nothing about the powers of words.

Wrong - I go a step farther to understand *why* words have power - power that is
purely in the mind of the listener. If I shout "WOP" at somebody who had never
heard the word they wouldn't be offended. Being called "WOP" is only offensive
if, a) you despise Italians and don't want to be called one or b) you are
Italian but ashamed of it. Same goes for Jew, Mick, et cetera. What if the
shouter hates Italians and intends to insult you? Hey, that's his problem - he's
the one being eaten up and limited by hate. Why join him? The best answer is to
laugh at his anger. But it is idiotic to allow oneself to be pained by it or
any word, epecially when no insult was intended.

Fight your Pavlovian responses and ask yourself *why* "Jew down" would discomfit
anyone. Because its a "bad word" or because of the listener's conditioned
response to it? Obviously the latter else "chocolate" and "pizza" would effect
them the same way. Capisca?