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by cduzz 601 days ago
There's obscenity and there's violence.

Some words imply the person you're insulting is unsavory. Some words imply "I have power over you such that I can do anything I want and you can't stop me."

The degree to which this violence is allowed in a culture also conveys the power of the word in play.

1 comments

I just saw your response to this - that's an excellent and concise way to explain this. Thank you.

There're many categories of violence, and semantic violence can evoke any and all of those.