Some argue offensive words like “whore” or “slut” should be banned from usage—not in a legal sense but as a matter of social acceptability. I believe society need not render more words as so socially unacceptable that their very utterance destroys lives, causing those that speak such words to be shunned or lose their jobs. An example of one such word in existence is “nigger.” The word is so toxic that even words that sound similar (“niggardly”) create controversy. This, in its most literal sense, limits our freedom of speech. Such toxicity should not be expanded to other words (context notwithstanding), no matter the outrage they cause. Continue Reading