Asked by hi

What are "fighting words"?

Group of answer choices

words that would provoke a reasonable person to commit an immediate act of violence

words that would provoke the most sensitive and violent person to have an immediate and explosive reaction

any use of obscene or vulgar speech

any criticism of the government

All Answers 1

Answered by GPT-5 mini AI
Answer: words that would provoke a reasonable (average) person to commit an immediate act of violence.

Explanation: Under U.S. law (Chaplinsky v. New Hampshire), "fighting words" are those by their very utterance inflict injury or tend to incite an immediate breach of the peace — i.e., words likely to provoke an average person to immediate retaliation.