In a message dated 97-07-11 14:43:50 EDT, you write:

(BTW, are there any examples of Ranma really insulting Ukyou or Shampoo?)

 Not really... but the other girls are "generaly" nice to him. I seem to
 recall Ranma telling Shampoo off once (Curse of the Contrary Jewel...
 I'll have to watch it again). Of course, his exposure to the other girls
 is a lot less. I suspect that Ranma would probably get offensive with
 them too if he were stuck living with them for any periode of time. Well,
 maybe not Ukyou, but he would get pissed off at Shampoo fairly quickly.

I found this sort of strange. I don't think it's the fact that he's living
with Akane. I mainly think the reason Ranma and Akane seem to hate each other
is due to that old saying... Remember in elementry school? If a boy and a
girl are fighting and yell they hate each other... let me see if I can
remember the saying. I think it's "If a boy and a girl act like they hate
each other, than they are in love... unless they really do hate each other."
Hmmm... just trying to add my thoughts... ta ta