Posted on 02/09/2014 10:38:36 AM PST by nickcarraway
A black Brit on his way to the U.S. wants to know if his use of the word will be offensive—and whether he should care.
“Niggardly.” Go on, I dare you. Say it. Savor those syllables. Let your tongue caress those consonants. If you’re black and reading this, you may well have just laughed, smiled knowingly, been confused or even taken offense, depending on the size of your vocabulary. If you’re white and reading this, you will probably have just experienced a mild frisson of linguistic danger, as you are either fully aware of the ramifications that your verbalizing the word might have if misconstrued, or dumb enough to think that you’re being genuinely offensive.
When, exactly, is it acceptable to use the word “niggardly”? I speak as someone who loves language, but also as someone who loves people. I’m an ardent humanist and would never seek to offend another’s feelings gratuitously.
I speak, too, as a black Briton about to move to New York to pursue his career in the U.S., but also as a proud heir to the ornate vocabulary of some of our greatest English writers, like Chaucer, Shakespeare, Milton, Johnson, Gibbon and Dickens, all of whom have used the word in their respective works.
Let us be very clear at the outset. “Niggardly” means parsimonious or stingy and is derived from the Old Norse language. “Niggardly,” as you will thankfully already know or will doubtless be relieved to hear, is not related to the Latin word for black—“niger”—and thus is in no way etymologically connected to the deeply pernicious, pejorative racial epithet known in common parlance as the n-word.
(Excerpt) Read more at theroot.com ...
sooo... don't call Jews "hook-nosed shifty-eyed Kikes"... when they are just being niggardly, right?
Stupid people aren’t going to look it up. They are simply going to take offense.
I once said in a business meeting that, "I like Condoleeza Rice, she calls a spade a spade." Someone said that was probably a poor phrase to use with her, and it dawned on me that this phrase I'd grown up with in Louisiana had racial overtones.
In fact, there are a lot of phrases I grew up with that I've had to expunge from my vocabulary. And I wouldn't be surprised if I don't still use some that I should have dropped.
Bulletpoints... on the money. Words have meaning. Words make impressions.
Reminds me of David Howard resigning for using the word niggardly. The DC mayor accepted the resignation, then the homosexuals went nuts and the mayor rescinded the resignation.
can't make this stuff up
You can also continue to call an outdoor meal a picnic. A story floating around in recent years that "picnic" has racist origins turns out to be an urban legend.
I love slipping that word in to conversation. The reactions are priceless.
Nah, we just always called my dad an old Scrooge. ;)
weird
your dad was my dad
lol
Haha! Dad really isn’t that bad, but we always liked to kid him when he was trying to save money.
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