People’s resilience and ability to not be physically harmed by words is not a reason to perpetuate demeaning and hateful expressions, even if they’ve lost some of that ugliness over time. I get what you’re saying here (they’re only words, right?), but this concept of “people just shouldn’t take it the wrong way” is…

Counterpoint: My parents never asked me about my day. I promise you, that is far far worse.

Thanks for taking time to share your thoughts!

I taught college for 20 years, then changed careers as a web developer. I often have to speak about what I do or what our division is working on, both internally and at conferences.