Is there a significant difference in saying someone is ACTING like a bitch vs BEING a bitch?

[_Raven]

On another thread, Is it offensive to call someone a “tard” or a “retard”?, I had remarked:

@_Raven

Wellll… it’s not just the root word itself, but how it’s used. Note that the clinical term “mentally retarded” really means “slowed down in progress”, a somewhat neutral way to describe what’s happened to someone, and it’s not a noun, not necessarily an encapsulation of the entire person (unless so used in a sentence). Make it a noun, call someone a “retard” or “-tard”, and suddenly you’re summing up their entire being; that’s what really makes it insulting.

I think the same observation is being made here, and I present the above example to reinforce it.