"On the other hand, some people really are assholes. They deserve to be called what they are." This is why I love this show ;) lol!
But on the topic, these two words are very well contrasted by Prof. Taylor!
one word tied to your own character as an individual, the other, is tied to a history of institutionalized and socially sanctioned oppression!

In honor of Martin Luther King Jr. and All those who have fought and died for freedom, I would call mankind no matter its color or greed Equal and the Lion as is his tail as is the Universe simply and most beautifully just One.
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The oft-spoken abbreviated version of the A-Word was too much for some listeners on KUCR, or maybe just one UC administrator. Your show today (Jan 22) was cut off 5 minutes after its start, and replaced by a musical interlude.

Ernie is right; Michael lost me after his first sentence; and Fred should do more some more research. "As far as I know" and "I doubt if it ever has" are unconvincing statements in any discourse where some level of enlightenment is at least a hope; if not an expectation. Derogation, whether it is profane (he is an asshole) or more benign (your mother was a chimpanzee), is essentially a tactic of distraction---used when the detractor has run out of relevant input and/or neutral witticism. Name-calling is probably about as old as language itself: detractors have always ran out of relevant input, etc. It is, further, linguistic artifice, intended to elicit reaction: the object of derogation must decide how he will respond to the asshole confronting him: walk away (asshole wins); deliver a snappy retort (50-50, or better for the object); or, beat the detractor senseless (positive outcome

Though Joe was getting on in age, he had never given up the recklessness of his youth. He ate the wrong foods, smoked, had no use for exercise, liked to spend his time in bars and, still being single, continued to chase after young women who long ago had become far too fast for him to catch. Increasingly frequently some body part or other of Joe's rebelled, but when that happened Joe simply went his doctor and got a pill or, in more serious insurrections, a shot, and the troublesome body part was zonked into quietude.
One night, while Joe was asleep, his body parts held a meeting. Noting how disastrously Joe was neglecting them, they quickly agreed that drastic action was urgent. They all agreed that they would all do their individual utmost to keep Joe functioning. They also agreed that they should make someone the boss to ensure that no body part was slacking off while the others were toiling, and they agreed that the body part with the most important function should be the boss.
Then the body parts began to make the case why they should be boss. The right hand made a particularly good case but then the heart spoke up and made an even stronger one. But then the brain spoke up and pointed out that it was the communication center of the body and sent out the messages that kept the hand and heart and other body parts operating in harmony.
Just when it seemed the brain was certain to be the boss, the rear end, who had been fuming because it had been ignored, piped up with, "I'll show you who's boss!" With that it plugged up so that nothing at all would pass.
Within a few days the right hand was swollen and unable to work; the heart was beating faintly and irregularly; and the brains messages were going astray or being largely ignored. An emergency meeting was held and the rear end was made boss.
Moral: You don't have to be a brain to be the boss; you just have to be an asshole.
And might not that say much about the state of the world today?

One of my favorites is "Pusillanimous Pile Of Protoplasm."
)))((((((
(·)...(-)
....u....
[____]

Oh yeah, I always attempt to replace "Ass-hole" with "Hemorrhoid" for were we denied having an anus we would soon sorely miss that biol-feature. An ass-hole is quite important.
I also use, rather than "I don't give a rat's ass-hole," ...a muridaes' sphincter.

Thanks Arvo. I had forgotten that story. And, it is as true now as it was before.
Respects,
The Carpenter.

I only heard the last few minutes of the show but it seems something important was skipped over. Language is self-expression and it is through expressing ourselves in any manner that we form our self-concept or identity. So if we use the F-word, the A-word, the c-s-word, the s-b-word often, what are we saying about ourselves? That we are s-heads? Rather than raise our consciousness to moral, empathetic, feeling people, we stay as neanderthals, because what we express reciprocally affects how we behave and think-or don't think if we are so limited in our self-expression.
It is also an issue of semantics. If we resort to name calling or a regular use of vulgar langage, we do not really articulate anything. Yeah, we vent some annoyance, even anger perhaps, but your wife calling you an a-hole, even in private, is not the same as "You were insensitive to Trump when you ask him for his brand of hair spray in front all those people." You cannot understand much with "a-hole," other than be angry back at your wife. A full sentence about your foolish question to Trump though gives you a handle on how others might percieve you. That reframing gives the husband a better handle on reality.
So, if we are a nation that more openingly uses vulgarity and name calls, who are we? Are we regressing culturally?

A simple Way to clean up One's life is to clean up One's own vocabulary,
The good life is this Way.
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Yawn. I'll let my comments stand on their own. Inasmuch as writing is not my profession, I would not expect kudos for sentence structure or participial prowess. If some find my ideas/comments inane or poorly expressed, I take solace in the knowledge that other people find them interesting. Occasionally, insightful. No worries here.
(note to Ken: I have tried, sincerely, to not be an asshole. Thanks for your tolerance.)
The Carpenter.

To John, of the Big River: Culture is difficult to track, in terms of progression or regression. In any traditional sense, we might say that our culture IS regressing. However, given the ever-present influence of popular culture, traditionalism is rapidly evaporating. We have enabled and embraced popular culture, while also adhering to racial and religious biases and stereotypes. It is a deadly mix. And, mostly, we do not even notice. I could say more, but if you agree, you can connect the dots. If not, you may (or have) construct(ed) your own model.

(1) Remember the good old use-mention distinction? It applies here. We should be able to mention "nigger" in quotes without being thought to be using the word. This "N-word" stuff seems childish.
(2) There's a purely descriptive sense in which one can speak of --these days metaphorically--"field niggers" and "house niggers." If the "one-percent" are running the show in this country, then the rest of us are niggers in the descriptive sense. The question then would be:
who's in the field and who's in the house? And then it occurs to us: "OMG, Obama's in the house, the White House, that is, and he (in George Carlin's sense) "happens to be black" (well, more like mulatto, but let's not put too fine a point on THAT).
And, like, almost everyone gets offended at this line of talk!

Having read and re-read the comments on this blog topic, and having called upon past knowledge and experience, I decided to say something about "the totality of the circumstances"---a quasi-legal term employed by associates of mine when I worked in a quasi-legal environment. I'll try to keep this brief, and, non-confrontational. Quite simply: words are weapons when employed as such. On an individual level, they have recently led to suicides among children who have been bullied, either face-to-face or over that modern wonder we call the internet: social networking soon becomes anti-social in the hands and minds of indolent, indulgent morons (oops). Long story short, if you can't say something nice, keep your trap shut. And don't try to convince the rest of us that words do not matter. History is not on your side.
The Doctor.

I am fascinated by the etymology behind name calling as it's, very often, not what one might expect. I also think it's very interesting how an offensive word may be mundane several years later... A very interesting topic for most people who are interested in languages.

"(1) Remember the good old use-mention distinction? It applies here. We should be able to mention "nigger" in quotes without being thought to be using the word. This "N-word" stuff seems childish."
Unless the memory of your grandafther's lynching is still fresh.
That argument cuts both ways, i.e., it could easily be seen as childish to refuse to alter a single word to a more palatable form, one that does not invoke the potential dialogue distorting effect of the word-concept being alternatively signified - is it that big a strain?
It took me more words to describe it than to do it.
It's just a word, but it is associated with a fairly predictable negative emotional response in certain contexts.

Everyone has an opinion about this issue. Clearly. And that is where we are, culturally: because we are educated differently, seeing the world in a multitude of contexts---we are thereby compelled to react, based on those educated contexts. Some old yahoo said: The pen is mightier than the sword. A recent case here was driven (pun intended) home when a state law, effective today, said that texting while driving is unlawful. Oddly (to me, anyway), the application/enforcement of the new law will be decidedly unequal. Teenage drivers who are apprehended and convicted of driving while texting will face a $150 fine and six month suspension of their driving rights. Adults convicted of the same violation face a different, "secondary offense" punishment---which would appear to say: do like I say; not like I do. Kids recognize and hate hypocrisy. I know I did.
So, this comment does not have a direct connection to name-calling? No, I suppose not. But, do we want our children to call us morons---more often than they already do? So many of the issues we encounter in our modern world are closely intertwined with one another. Complexity, I guess. What we write---what we say, affects those around us. Any denial of this, is, in a word, unconscionable. Or worse: foolish.