What would you do if someone insulted people you care about?

Say, somebody, could be a relative, some not close friend or a stranger that starts talking trash about someone really important to you.

Personally I would tell them off, but in some cases that is not the best option.

It depends what they say really. If they say something notably bad I'd give them warning that if they don't knock it off I'm gonna be losing my temper with them

It depends on how helpless I think they are.
I would naturally be more protective of people I perceive as helpless and fragile(either in general or in a specific situation).

For example, I remember specific arguement I had with a high-school buddy many years ago, about how one should react when an idiot says something vulgar or mean about one's mother.
I was, and still am of the thought that 'My mom would probably laugh to their face and won't give a fuck about their stupid ass', which is why I was never offended at this crap and never understood people being extremely offended and defensive over their parents, the parents who at this point in their lives are their guardians and who are more likely to need to defend them than those kids would need to defend their parents in most cases.

Obviously that's all because I perceive my mother as a strong person who doesn't need me to protect her from insults, especially ones that she isn't even there to hear.
HOWEVER, if someone would do that to both our faces, and I would notice my mother isn't able to fend for herself or brush them off for any reason, I would definitely be protective and defensive of her and would stand up to the idiot who did that.

I would probably try to bring it subtly to them telling that's not really nice. If they don't get the hint, I'd ask them more directly to cut it off.

Depends on the situation.
If it's someone visiting my house, tell them to leave.
If we're in a store, I'd leave.
If it's someone online just tell them to stop or block em.

It depends on whether the insultee was present, and if they were in a place to defend themselves or were even going to. Either way, I'd get very huffy. Start ranting. Engage Soviet saltiness and all that jazz.

In dreams, if someone is slagging off someone I love or like, I will always speak up or get violent. I once had a dream about this Twitch streamer I consider awesome, and out of nowhere he FLIPPED out and started screaming abuse at my family. I screamed back. In other dreams, when a bald lunatic drags off a family member by the hair, I grab a baseball bat and go psycho. Ah yeah. A family that stays together, stays together. Quotes don't get more inspirational than that.

But anyway, I'm very fierce when it comes to that stuff. It's inherited.

My roommate was talking smack about my sister, who she barely knows, due to having been told of non-representative sample of behaviour by someone else. My sister has BPD and has thus a weird, arguably volatile, way of communicating, and she has a bad habit of saying things for shock value or for affirmation. I approached her about it and explained in plain language that I didn't appreciate her judging members of my family, especially when she has never met my sister, and that to spread what others were gossipping about is inappropriate. She lost it on me and oddly, I lost it on her, but it caused a ton of anxiety-related face twitching, shaking, and clear physiological distress. Then we didn't talk for two weeks. Super awkward in the house.

She never did apologize for essentially being a bully.

I'd mind fuck them so hard they'd remain silent in embarrassment.. Getting into someones head and revealing who they are based on their judgement and character is something you DON'T want me to do to you if you catch yourself on my bad side.
Some try to fight once I start breaking through cause I'm impacting them so hard, but they're slowly convinced by others they don't want that.

Staying on my good side gets you insight, wisdom, appreciation, advice, etc on life and many other things..
Just treat me and my friends/family with respect and no problems. Then again you just have them hard headed individuals that get a kick of starting shit just to be dramatic.. They're usually the easiest to pick apart.

I was driving with my Mom home from school when suddenly, a teenage girl with her three friends nearly rammed the back of our car. My mother, infuriated, took a picture of them to get their license plate. They got angry and yelled "f*** you" at my mother dozens of times. She tried to fight back, but they ignored her. I was terrified and didn't say anything the entire time. We called the cops on them and they scowled at her driving down the street a week later.

If something like this ever happened again, I probably would be too scared to do anything. One because I'm an extremely passive person, and two because I don't want to retaliate. Retaliation always comes off as hypocritical to me and I've never seen it do any good. Not with me and not with anyone else.

tell them to cut that shit out for one

and if it happens again, cut all contact with them altogether. as a rule of thumb though, im very careful with who i even talk to, let alone who i even tell about my life, so this doesn't really happen.

I'd tell the person to shut up & defend the said person I care about that the other person is insulting. ngl, people who resort to malicious insults are not good people.

Briefly use them as a learning opportunity by scientifically explaining their bad behavior to the person I'm with, and indirectly to the name caller who is in hearing range, then carry on with the tour. That's what I did when it actually happened.

How should you react when someone insults you or your friend in front of you?

How should you react when someone insults you or your friend in front of you?

This topic already exists. You could probably just bump that one instead if you wanted to discuss this topic.

Me? I would kick their butts

It's usually a silent reevaluation of our friendship for me, often with a cheap quip from me to assert my disapproval. I've had relatives talk smack of me to my face behind language barriers and generally it pisses my husband off, torching the conversation until the burn wears off in a bit.

I'd just ask them, politely, not to say these sorts of things in front of me, because I don't share that opinion.

Frankly, it's nothing to me what other people think of each other; it's not my business if two people I am acquainted with don't get along. Their problems are their problems and it's for them to sort out. What I will NOT tolerate is them making these things MY problem by expecting me to choose a side. I have had to deal with this a lot with both acquaintances and family members: people trying to one-up each other behind the other's backs, expecting me to act as the passive go-between, or an accomplice, or whatever. It's pathetic and childish and I've had enough of it.

I'm not going to force my perspective onto them, and I'd appreciate it if they didn't do the same. That's pretty much it. I don't have any right to start attacking them for it regardless of what my feelings are, because their opinion is their opinion and they are entitled to it. But that doesn't mean I have to tolerate it.

If it's someone expressing their dislike for my friend but nothing more then they're entitled to have their opinion but I'd tell them to keep their view to themselves. I'm not interested in people ragging on my friends and I'd lose my patience very quickly if someone couldn't respect that. I rarely get visibly annoyed at other people but insensitive insults about those I am close to would proably lead to me telling them to shut the fuck up and being very pissed off at them