They aren't slurs when used in certain contexts. Here's the internets new favorite primer on linguistic context: My father’s name is William Paul Coates. I, li

They aren't slurs when used in certain contexts. Here's the internets new favorite primer on linguistic context: My father’s name is William Paul Coates. I, like my six brothers and sisters, have always addressed him as Dad. Strangers often call him Mr. Coates. His friends call him Paul. If a stranger or one of my father’s friends called him Dad, my father might have a conversation. When I was a child, relatives of my paternal grandmother would call my father Billy. Were I to ever call my father Billy, we would probably have a different conversation. I have never called my father Billy. I understand, like most people, that words take on meaning within a context. It might be true that you refer to your spouse as Baby. But were I to take this as license to do the same, you would most likely protest. Right names depend on right relationships, a fact so basic to human speech that without it, human language might well collapse... http://www.nytimes.com/2013/11/24/opinion/sunday/coates-in-defense-of-a-loaded-word.html?_r=0 http://www.nytimes.com/2013/11/24/opinion/sunday/coates-in-d...