# Innocent words that happen to contain "the n word"
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/innocent-words-that-happen-to-contain-the-n-word/404592
**Category:** In My Humble Opinion
**Created:** [May 18, 2007, 1:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/innocent-words-that-happen-to-contain-the-n-word/404592 "2007-05-18T13:53:56Z")
**Posts on this page:** 9
**Page:** 3
### Author:  [@pinkfreud](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pinkfreud)
#### Post date: [May 24, 2007, 10:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/innocent-words-that-happen-to-contain-the-n-word/404592/41 "2007-05-24T22:19:34Z")
[QUOTE=NJ\_Kef]
Is this a NJ thing? I live in NJ, but I’m not from NJ. An ex-friend who grew up in NJ told me about “n- babies.”
[/QUOTE]
I grew up in Oklahoma in the 1950s. N\*\*\*\*r Baby candies were one of my favorite treats. They were made by Necco, one of the biggest candy manufacturers. My father (who was of mixed race) used to joke that this candy was made by “Niggo.”
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### Author:  [@Rick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rick)
#### Post date: [May 24, 2007, 11:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/innocent-words-that-happen-to-contain-the-n-word/404592/42 "2007-05-24T23:51:16Z")
Then there was the time [Niger Innis](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/0/07/Nigger_Innis_MSNBC.jpg) appeared on CNN.
:eek:
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### Author:  [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)
#### Post date: [May 25, 2007, 1:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/innocent-words-that-happen-to-contain-the-n-word/404592/43 "2007-05-25T01:26:01Z")
There are several species of fish known as “niggerfish”; I don’t know why.
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### Author:  [@Annie-Xmas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Annie-Xmas)
#### Post date: [May 25, 2007, 12:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/innocent-words-that-happen-to-contain-the-n-word/404592/44 "2007-05-25T12:01:32Z")
[QUOTE=pinkfreud]
I grew up in Oklahoma in the 1950s. N\*\*\*\*r Baby candies were one of my favorite treats. They were made by Necco, one of the biggest candy manufacturers. My father (who was of mixed race) used to joke that this candy was made by “Niggo.”
[/QUOTE]
I grew up in Boston, and Necco (New England Candy Company) is huge there. I remember those little candies fondly.
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### Author:  [@Paul\_in\_Qatar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Paul_in_Qatar)
#### Post date: [May 25, 2007, 12:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/innocent-words-that-happen-to-contain-the-n-word/404592/45 "2007-05-25T12:52:57Z")
I swear they must have gone away because of the name. I honestly had no other name for them.
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### Author:  [@Potato\_Pancakes](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Potato_Pancakes)
#### Post date: [May 25, 2007, 10:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/innocent-words-that-happen-to-contain-the-n-word/404592/46 "2007-05-25T22:19:34Z")
[QUOTE=HubZilla]
I heard this, but it sounds UL-ish. Niger Seed is spelled Nyjer Seed on seed packets at places like Home Depot.
Then again, [this may be true](http://www.ebirdseed.com/nyjer_niger_thistle_birdseed.html)
[/QUOTE]
This makes sense in the same way that calling rapeseed oil canola oil makes sense.
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### Author:  [@Ignatz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ignatz)
#### Post date: [May 25, 2007, 11:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/innocent-words-that-happen-to-contain-the-n-word/404592/47 "2007-05-25T23:57:12Z")
[QUOTE=ParentalAdvisory]
Naggers?
[/QUOTE]
See “The Farmer’s Dayvorce” at
[http://www.gather.com/viewArticle.jsp?articleId=281474976835098](http://www.gather.com/viewArticle.jsp?articleId=281474976835098)
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### Author:  [@TJdude825](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TJdude825)
#### Post date: [May 29, 2007, 8:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/innocent-words-that-happen-to-contain-the-n-word/404592/48 "2007-05-29T08:11:02Z")
[“Spelling Bee”](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G2nTbqbtGug) (NSFW unless you have headphones)
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### Author:  [@Intravenus\_De\_Milo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Intravenus_De_Milo)
#### Post date: [May 30, 2007, 6:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/innocent-words-that-happen-to-contain-the-n-word/404592/49 "2007-05-30T06:57:41Z")
[QUOTE=pinkfreud]
In my part of the country we are plagued in the summertime by itchy bites from mite larvae commonly called “chiggers.” When I was a Girl Scout camp counselor, we were instructed not to use the term “chiggers,” but to call the nasty little bastids “harvest mites.” Apparently some people find the word “chigger” offensive, presumably because it rhymes with the forbidden ‘N’ word. Or maybe there is a bigger – er, excuse me, larger – reason.
[/QUOTE]
When I was little, I thought that “chigger” was the LOL-iest word ever. I don’t know why; maybe it’s because I thought the word was onomatopaeic, as in, that’s what the little guys do once you get them, they go “chig-chig-chig” on (and in) your skin. Even thinking about it now, I’m tee-heeing a little bit 😃
FWIW, “chigger” apparently \*\*doesn’t \*\* have any racist roots, but is a corruption of the word "[chigoe](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chigoe_flea) ", the name of a flea native to the tropics and also locally called “chigger”.
As for “nigiri”…I once heard a waiter refer to it as “nee-HEAR-ee”, which I’m pretty sure isn’t how it’s pronounced in Japanese, but I couldn’t decide if he was trying to be politically correct or just pretentious. You know, like the Ralph Lau-REN crowd.
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