People often use language without thinking about the literal meaning of what they are saying and without considering what the person on the receiving end is thinking.

BBC: Is it acceptable to call someone 'babe'?

As scientific instruments go, they're highly imperfect: they ignore distinctions of meaning, their counts can be inaccurate, and they're not necessarily representative of the language that people use when they're kicking around political issues with their co-workers or at the breakfast table.

NPR: 'Talking Right': Why the Left Is Losing, Linguistically