Originally Posted by James

Using words loosely and humorously is one of the best ways to take away from their power. If you joke around with a word enough it's not offensive anymore. At least that's how I see it.
Though I have a friend who's lived both here and in the US. He hates the word but says that it mainly comes from his time in America, that word is not a big deal here. Or at least not where I am.

Originally Posted by J.R.R. Tolkien

There is only one bright spot and that is the growing habit of disgruntled men of dynamiting factories and power-stations; I hope that, encouraged now as ‘patriotism’, may remain a habit! But it won’t do any good, if it is not universal.