You Can't Save It

As an armchair historian and a degreed psychologist...  (What an odd thing to say).

I keep watching people trying to change the word being used for something to keep someone from being offended.

I've lived through three words to describe black people politely when the previous word had become a slur.

I used to have two editions of a textbook changing the names of specific diagnoses because the name of a diagnosis was now an insult.

I've watched an NCO reply to a Black officer with, "Sir," with little doubt that he meant, "CENSORED."

I wonder how long it will be before saying "n-word" carries the same weight as CENSORED.  Especially since you can tell what word was censored there, but it's OK as long as I only allude to it without actually saying it.

But you cannot avoid people insulting other people or disparaging them.

People throw slurs.

In the long run, it's generally better to let them so you can readily identify them and avoid doing business with their like.

You cannot change the words fast enough to keep someone from  being offended.  It's best to let them get accustomed hearing the slur until it loses its power to offend.

Being offended for someone is the absolute least helpful thing you can do about someone being offensive.  Let the target of the offense get offended, or not, as they wish.  Too often I find that the target dismisses the offense because they're familiar with the source only to have a third party cause a shit storm because they're all offended for the target who doesn't really care any more.