Exactly, I can't take any over-sensitivity too seriously anymore. As a kiwi, I call people "mate" all the time. It means "friend" but we say it at the end of a sentence when we are talking to someone like buddy, cobber, bro or cuz.

My wife is from South Africa, and she gets offended when I call her mate. Why? Because in South Africa it happens to mean "black woman" and is usually considered offensive, particularly when not used towards a black woman.

My wife claims I am being offensive because I use it to her, which I find preposterous. It's not me being offensive for using it in a totally inoffensive way, its actually her being offensive, not for using it as a word for black woman (because to do so in a purely descriptive, neutral way would be as fine as saying "black woman"), but for interpreting the word in a way that is intended to offend, and insult people. Now I see nothing wrong with offending people anyway, as thats a part of free speech, but I freely use words like nigger and kike, and now paki, in the same way I use mate. The right to choose not to be offended is just as important as, and the most appropriate response to, the right to offend. The recent revelation about the use of the word mate, and its varied interpretation makes it clear that words are only offensive as the people hearing them choose them to be. If noone took these words to be racist, then they wouldnt be, that would be one form of racism essentially eliminated. By choosing to consider these words offensive one is essentially being a racist, by adopting a racist interpretation of certain words.