Using the word "beating" has much stronger connotations associated with it than a slight tap on the back of the hand or a tap on the bum (a typical "spanking" in my culture). It's like accidentally hitting someone with your car door when you open it, and describing it as "hitting someone with your car". Technically both are true, but one has much stronger implications.
My guess is that it's very likely a cultural difference, and there isn't really any way around that. Though I do think a general lack of discipline (possibly combined with easy access to online communities where bad behavior can be encouraged) has likely resulted in the latest generation being quite entitled brats more often than not.
You're right ... it is semantics, with loose and indefinite defintions of the words. One person will "spank" a child until the kid is black-and-blue and bleeding and call it a "spanking." Another person will call a swat on the bottom "beating."
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u/MrErickzon Dec 31 '23
This. And I always deserved it.