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Kind of a shame that us Americans have taken a word which is pretty fun and lighthearted form of obscenity in the rest of the Anglosphere and made it like the be all end all of the worst things a person can say.
I’m still salty that I once was banned from /r/askanAmerican for using the word cunt with an Australian who came to ask a question.
I wouldn't say "cunt" is a lighthearted form of obscenity in the UK. It is one of the three words you really can't say on TV (along with "nigger" and "Paki"). Using the term to refer to actual female genitalia or to insult a woman would be shockingly misogynistic. Using it to insult a man in earshot would be fighting words. You wouldn't use it to rib a casual acquaintance the way you might in Oz.
The difference between the British and US contexts is that the word is permitted to insult people who it is okay to offer otherwise-unpardonable insults against, such as the manager of your team's arch-rivals or the Prime Minister. There is no misogynistic connotation when the word is used to insult a man.
I am 50-50 on whether "nigger" will turn out to be acceptable (obivously only in the UK) in this context if the Tories elect a black leader, which is less likely than it was a fortnight ago but still very plausible (Jenrick has overtaken Badenoch as the bookies' favourite, but she is still 9-4 and Cleverly is still in the race).
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Now you know how Cajuns feel about coullion.
The point is words with the same definition can have different valences from culture to culture.
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