# Have you used niggardly in conversation?

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-used-niggardly-in-conversation/560291>\
**Category:** In My Humble Opinion\
**Created:** [November 11, 2010, 9:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-used-niggardly-in-conversation/560291 "2010-11-11T09:25:46Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 1\
**Showing post:** 9

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**Author:** ![orcenio](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/orcenio/32/1036_2.png) [@orcenio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/orcenio)\
**Post date:** [November 11, 2010, 12:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-used-niggardly-in-conversation/560291/9 "2010-11-11T12:58:58Z")

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> [@bengangmo](#):
>
> In another thread it was alleged that the word “niggardly” is too closely related to nigger to ever be used in polite conversation anymore.
> 
> And further, that anyone that does use it is deliberately race baiting.
> 
> Personally, I find the idea stupid, and would actually go a little further.
> 
> To suggest that a word, and its derivatives, that is not related to “nigger” become unusable due to an American racial slur is insulting to those of us that actually speak English (as opposed to American)
> 
> So have you ever used “niggardly” in a conversation? Would you? And is it too close to Nigger to be polite now"?

1. You don’t have my option up there: “I know but don’t use it.”
2. You should bother to [link back to the thread](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=585043) in question.  
Relevant quotes:

> [@Why the need to deny bias that others have experienced?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-the-need-to-deny-bias-that-others-have-experienced/560164/31):
>
> I’ve read (on this very board) of instances where people would use the word “Canadian” as a racial slur for Blacks; so I don’t think it’s a stretch to assume that someone who drops “niggardly” in casual speech is race-baiting (unless they are referencing Chaucer/Shakespeare).
> 
> Of course, they could be just naive; but that isn’t my first assumption…

> [@Why the need to deny bias that others have experienced?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-the-need-to-deny-bias-that-others-have-experienced/560164/34):
>
> No, but Kite is a commonly used word and toy. Niggardly isn’t known or used in any casual/formal speech. The only instances anyone has heard/used it, is in discussions of English literature or in reference to it’s similarity to Nigger.
> 
> So when I hear it outside of these contexts I assume someone is race-baiting. Not the same as Kite. Not even close.

> [@Why the need to deny bias that others have experienced?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-the-need-to-deny-bias-that-others-have-experienced/560164/35):
>
> I stand by my post. People who use ‘Niggardly’ may just be naive.

> [@Why the need to deny bias that others have experienced?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-the-need-to-deny-bias-that-others-have-experienced/560164/41):
>
> I don’t know a lot of words, but they’re used nonetheless. Niggardly isn’t causally used outside of Eng lit. and it’s comparison to Nigger.

If you (like I had repeatedly stated) accept that the only common usage of “Niggardly” is in comparison to “Nigger,” or in reference to middle-English literature, then it is naive to think that people won’t compare your usage of it to Nigger.

Try to think that, perhaps, people are more linguistically astute then you give them credit for. It isn’t smarter to take a strict **prescriptive** stance on the usage of “Niggardly” instead of a common **descriptive** stance on the word.

It’s naive.

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