Don't Say The F-Word

What exactly is the point of censoring swear words? I don't mean like where they just totally cut out the audio or completely blank out the screen. I'm talking about partial censorship. I think you know what I'm talking about. If I type out "f*ck", what exactly is the difference between that and just using the damn word? "F*ck" leaves nothing to the imagination. You know exactly what I mean, and you pronounce it that way in your head, automatically inserting the "u" for yourself. So what the f*ck's the difference?*

It's even weirder when you hear the audio equivalent. That's when you can clearly hear somebody saying it, but they put up about one millisecond of a "beep" noise so as to not offend your grandmother. I've seen this in movies a lot too, when they've already used up their one allotted f-bomb per PG13 rating, so they "cover it up" with a loud noise,** "cover it up" being in sarcastic air quotes due to the fact that you can ALWAYS hear exactly what they're saying. But arbitrary rating requirements will be arbitrary rating requirements, so I guess it's okay.***

Of course, these complaints only apply when you're not already going with the "It's just words, chill out." argument. Oh, and by the way, it's just words, chill out.****

*Eh, you can come up with your own lampshade-hanging footnote. Get creative.
**My favorite example of this is from Live Free or Die Hard. "Yippee ki yay motherf*gunshot*er!"
***Still trying to work out how the sixth Harry Potter movie was rated PG. Damn Inferi...
****Could've sworn here. Didn't. CLASS.