I’ll try to keep this one short.
Of course words have power, I said nothing that ought to have indicated otherwise. I said they are not violence. Verbal assault is an entirely different thing and I think conflating that with all other speech is a disservice to those who have suffered from the former. What I have personally experienced or not is entirely immaterial to the argument and so I wont expand on that here.
I touched directly on your thoughts about language evolution, context and intention. This was never really about etymology and while such topics can be interesting I’m sorry but I felt like that was only detracting from the core of the argument.
Finally no need to worry as I do not take anything here personally, no attacking has taken place. I thought we were having a lovely if intense discussion on a sensitive topic. I am fairly certain we both actually want the same final goal, I’m just convinced that my path there is the correct one.