So you have a word: poop. It in and of itself is okay to say. But ...Please review MAP's policy on masked profanity. A lot.
I suspect your last point is relevant to your question. Quite a bit of swearing is pretty nasty if you think about what is actually being said. Other, milder uses of certain words are going to be associated with more extreme uses. This discussion is going to be hard under the ToS.
Words independent of context are just sounds. Generally the culture/sub-culture you are operating within gets to decide what is and isn't offensive. MAP tends to assume a British cultural context, therefore a large number of words that would be considered inoffensive in other English speaking locales are banned here. On the flip-side, I am sure that some of the discussions on religion here would be considered offensive in certain countries. MAP is very strict on bad language, sexual content, nudity and anything that could be considered remotely likely to offend the British and their spawn, I am surprised that mention of beverages beyond "tea with a slice of lemon" is not similarly banned. However, even with the excessively restrictive nature of these boards, people still manage to upset and offend each other with astounding frequency. Although profanity is able to be regulated, it appears it is harder to regulate human nature.
I like where this thread is going. Slip in the swear fest late at night while the mods are sleeping, then they wake up to a Christmas tree of vulgarity! :evil: