responding to harsh words in office environment

me and my colleagues were discussing the ways to respond to harsh and rude words pointed at you in the office setup.

1. some believed that you should respond in the same tone and let the offender face the reality.
2. some believed that you should not react and just ignore the subjective remarks and stick to the main issue or object of debate. such people tend to respond to the subjective remarks later in a more appropriate situation.
3. some believed that you should respond immediately by adding some humour to your response. but never the less let the offender know that you didnt get affected by his/her remarks.

all of us agreed that we should keep such reactions highly localised and not let out the anger later to the wrong person.

we also agreed that the way we respond is also highly dependent on our nature. but i feel that even if i am a short-tempered guy I should NOT react in the same manner or tone. diffusing it tactfully would be a better and more mature way of dealing with such morons.