Your thoughts on the word "niggardly"

Originally posted by skywalker: I believe the word used today has an "a" at the end instead of an "er" and means something different. (Though I may be splitting hairs here.) Mark

You aren't splitting hairs, really. You are right in some sense that with the "a" at the end, it is understood as being a friendly thing, and that the "er" makes it offensive no matter who says it but there are lazier speakers who will use the "a" in just as an offensive manner...it really depends on what part of the country you are in.
The South is still vastly different than the North, which is different than the Northeast...the West contrasts from the Northwest as well as the Southwest, which are also vastly different from each other. I imagine it is hard for people from smaller countries to comprehend that even though this is one country, it has vastly different regions, dialects, traditions and cultures. In spite of the obvious melting pot it has become to itself over the last few decades, major differences still exist and there are still many social rifts that need mended in all of these areas.

[Morgan_Corbesant]

how is it that blacks hate that word so much, and yet they walk around saying it to one another on a regular basis?! its in cRAP music, and on black television shows!! its like the guy in new york, who is trying to get America to pay out money to ALL blacks in the country, simply because their ancestors were slaves. well i tell you what, they need to go to egypt and whine to them, because the egyptians were the first to enslave them. their ancestors built the pyramids in egypt. yes, slavery was wrong and should never have happened, BUT; why would i have to spend money on taxes, just so people in our "society" can get said money, simply because their great great grandfather had to toil in the fields. it rediculous and America's "society" is going to crap because of people like this. our education system is already a joke, as seen in the post. as the saying goes, "ignorance is bliss". these people must be in a state of euphoria i tell you!!!

* this paragraph is in no way meant to be racist or biased.

Originally posted by Morgan_Corbesant: how is it that blacks hate that word so much, and yet they walk around saying it to one another on a regular basis?!

Its not that they hate the word (I am assuming you mean nigga, or ■■■■■■, as opposed to niggardly, an entirely different word). Its that they hate it when it is said by a white person in reference to them because it is usually meant as a racial slur when coming from whites who aren't their close friends. The same way white people know when "cracker" is being used in an offensive or a friendly context.

Originally posted by /)eathKiller: if the word's been aroudn that long i see no problem in teaching it.. it's not like the kid's are going to grow up being told that it's similar to a degrading and racist comment. As long as their parents raise them properly and they learn that it isnt related to something bad then perhaps we could see a change

Exactly. Its all a mattter of erasing ignorance.
Good Luck.

[FelixJaeger]

i cant remeber where this thread got to so im just gonna say, i dont care about being politically correct becuz to appease everybody would mean technically doing nothing (not with nobs like the guy who wanted to ban interacial marriages anal/oral sex and porno's....what? it was on a post in here! honest)

so everybody can be like me be unpolitically correct and stuff what y'all thinks
Felix

p.s. i agree with Moni the odd thing is i see a group of white ppl with only one single 'half cast' person and they refer to each other as "n" (i dont use that word as i have afro-carribean (cool word or what) family that would be offended by it)word and im like wtf? its like me calling my self a fish! well maybe not that bad but you know what i want to say and i want to say what i mean.....

[ 09-05-2002, 03:08 PM: Message edited by: FelixJaeger ]

[Attalus]

Besides, word usage depends so much on context. Frank Sinatra and Dean Martin used to call each other dagoes and guineas, but woe betide a non-Italian who followed suit. If a African-American called me a honkey, and I was not friendly with him, I would perceive it as an insult, whereas if one of my friends did, I would just laugh. Also, the relative placement of any group in the social structure seems to take the sting out of epithets. U.S. Marines don't mind being called "gyrines" or "jarheads" except by Navy or regular army men on leave, mainly because they perceive themselves to be an elite group. The same goes for ethnic groups who have only mildly been stigmatized. Mike Royko wrote amusingly of how he didn't mind being called a "Polack." He was a successful Pole who was proud of his heritage.

[Hiram's Ghost]

I like big words and I cannot lie.

Sorry...Sir Mixalot moment there. I have a healthy vocabulary due to spending years in a library. Many of us repugnant, monobrow, socially inefectual people do that.

I've learned that many of the larger or outdated words should not be used in normal conversation. They are fun to know but can cause another to feel inferior. Regarding this word "niggardly", I wouldn't use it because the English language is replete with synonyms that say the same thing without fear of reprisal or affrontery. Regarding teaching children to use this word in everyday language, I don't really have an opinion because I have no offspring. See comments about how I look etc.

[Downunda]

Just wait'll us whiteys can't refer to the country of Nigeria without being *smacked* on the wrist. And how about niggled (I think it's a word [img]tongue.gif[/img] ) or niggle? Are we "allowed" to speak these in public?

Originally posted by Attalus: Personally, I don't care who gets offended when a word is used properly. BTW, the word "niggard" is used in LOTR in ROTK, when Aragorn, speaking of Eowyn's impending marriage to Faramir, says, "No niggard are you, Eomyr, to give away the fairest thing in your realm." Are you going to ban that, too? It's like Twain's use of the "N-word" in Huckleberry Finn, that PC people get bent out of shape about every few years. The trouble is that Huckleberry Finn is probably the greatest novel ever written by an American. Rationalize that. [img]tongue.gif[/img]

Don't look now Attalus but Twain has been banned in many public school systems...if not all. Eventually every piece of literature will get banned then all the lessons of history will be forgotten and a new generation will have to learn them all over again.

Cerek, the word Niggardly is in NO way connected with the N word of OJ fame. The etymology is completely seperate. Its not a matter of one word being a bastardization of the other.

Sorry I havent kept current with this thread but I could not get in from work all day for some reason.

Originally posted by Tanoch Thas'ala: Neither Huck Finn, nor LOTR, will be banned, or edited. More than likely such books will be used as a comentary on the times in which they were written and their subject matter.

Umm don't look now, but All of Twains works have been banned in many of the public schools in this country as material not fit for children or young adults.