'Abuse' vs 'Call names'

[Tom]

Hi

Do the red words carry the same meaning?

1- He abused me badly in front of my family.
2- He called me rude names in front of my family.

Tom

[Yankee]

Abuse is often physical, Tom.
To be clear about this type of abuse, people usually say "verbal abuse".

How about something like this:

He hit me with a barrage of verbal abuse in front of my family.

Amy

[Jamie (K)]

It's possible to verbally abuse someone without calling names. A person who knows a language well, and knows human psychology well, can be very abusive without calling a person any names at all, or even using a bad word.

[Conchita]

[Jamie (K)]

[Alan]

And that's exactly what happens in 'Gaslight'

A
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