> Not only has the person been insulted, they've been insulted in front
> of others. I note that some forums have a "rude word" filter and
> either warn or prevent the user from posting the message.

A warning seems like a good idea, as it could help solve most problems
before they occur, while still allowing people to express themselves
colorfully if they wish.  After all some people may be unintentionally
offensive, for instance even with a typo.  (I tried to read it as "word
count"!)

In such a case, people would have to be just a bit more intentional in
order to be rude.

This seems important, partly because if someone DOES end up being
uncivil, the recourse is complicated and might not work.

 «Civility is part of Wikipedia's code of conduct and one of its five
 pillars.»

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Civility

Nevertheless:

 «Sanctions for civility violations should only happen when nothing else
 would do.»

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Civility#Blocking_for_incivility

 «3O is only for assistance in resolving disagreements that have come to
 a standstill.»

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Third_opinion#How_to_list_a_dispute

This leaves:

 «Before requesting community comment, at least two editors must have
 contacted the user on the user's talk page, or the talk page(s)
 involved in the dispute, and tried but failed to resolve the problem.»

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Requests_for_comment#Request_for_comment_about_the_conduct_of_another_user

(Finally!)  But... is this really going to work out in the case where
someone is being directly insulting or just unduly crass?  Assuming the
insulted party finds the page mentioned above, would they then have time
to follow through on the somewhat elaborate process that it recommends?
Where will they find a supportive editor to back them up?  And if they
go through all the steps, would an apology really be forthcoming?  Is
that even what's wanted?

IMO from a research standpoint, it would be interesting to understand
the process - if it works at all.  E.g. was there any followup of this
nature on any of the usages identified by Laura Hale?  My guess is
something close to 0% of the cases would end in a "positive" resolution,
however that's defined.

Definitely seems like a case where an ounce of prevention would be worth
a pound of cure.

That said, if people are intentionally cutting as opposed to just
thoughtlessly crass, the follow-up still needs significant tuning.

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