[Slartibartfast]

I really don't want to start a fight, but there has been a lot of talk about the fact that simply using the word ****** is offensive no matter what the motive or context.

Yet I've seen a few people use the term "coloured" in a few different threads. This term is actually considered quite offensive as well these days. Maybe not as inflammatory as the "n" word but still considered to be inappropriate:

The American English term (spelt as colored) had a related, but different meaning and was primarily used to refer to African Americans - except in the State of Louisiana, where it legally denoted people of mixed European and sub-Saharan African ancestry. The use of term in this way is now considered archaic and offensive in most contexts; nonetheless it remains part of the title of the NAACP, a prominent African-American organisation, and has been employed by some members of the African-American community as a legitimate ethnic/racial label when intentionally self-chosen and used in a respectful manner. "People of color" is currently used more frequently than "colored", but in the American usage, the phrase refers more generally to all people who do not describe themselves as "white", including people of Asian, Native American and African descent. In a British context "coloured" has also been used to refer to black people, although this is now regarded as an old-fashioned and somewhat offensive usage

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coloured