I don't insult people anymore, mostly because I am really really good at it. I was never beaten up as a kid. This is not because I didn't make people angry, it's because if anyone actually looked ready to punch I could make them angry enough that they had trouble controling themselves enough to retaliate. In my youth, I was scary good at insults.
People think insulting is easy, there's a fine art to it. Tone of voice counts, expression counts, how you ennunciate, whether or not and exactly how you gesture, distance from target, which rhetorical devices you use. There are a lot of things to keep track of but when it's done correctly, it's infinitely more effective than any punch could dream of being.