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Originally Posted by Cheese
YEEEEEESHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH Fly girl....Not much difference at all!!!! And I dont care how big your ass is!
of·fend
1. To cause displeasure, anger, resentment, or wounded feelings in.
2. To be displeasing or disagreeable to: Onions offend my sense of smell.
3. a. To transgress; violate: offend all laws of humanity.
b. To cause to sin.
1. To result in displeasure: Bad manners may offend.
2. a. To violate a moral or divine law; sin.
b. To violate a rule or law: offended against the curfew.
in·sult
1. a. To treat with gross insensitivity, insolence, or contemptuous rudeness.
b. To affront or demean: an absurd speech that insulted the intelligence of the audience.
2. Obsolete To make an attack on.
1. To behave arrogantly.
2. To give offense; offend: a speech that was intended to insult.
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I would say there's a huge difference when we're talking definitions 1 and 2 vs 1a, b and 2. To offend is mild, to insult is gross. Splitting hairs maybe, but I would imagine that if you told a Muslim you didn't believe in their religion and thought it stupid, they'd be offended, but if you take their scripture and attack it, that's an insult. And that's what they believe the cartoonist did. You may offend me with some of the things you say about religion, and that's your right. But when you insult me personally for my beliefs, you've crossed the line. I don't think Rushdie was telling people insulting others is okay. I'm quite sure he wasn't. Sometimes we offend others with our own beliefs, but that doesn't mean we need to insult them in the process.