# "That nigger's crazy" **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [December 1, 2003, 6:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/that-niggers-crazy/216208 "2003-12-01T06:18:04Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![Who\_me\_1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/958977/32.png) [@Who\_me\_1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Who_me_1)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2003, 7:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/that-niggers-crazy/216208/61 "2003-12-02T19:23:06Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by commie\_sho \* > \*\*I figured that shizzle, nizzle, etc (snoopspeak) was so common nowadays that people had been exposed to it. If you’re exposed to snoopspeak enough, you should be able to figure out that the snoopizations all share a pattern. Take random words like “Great debates” and it becomes “Graytizzle Debizzle”, etc. It’s easier than pig latin, which most kids are able to pick up easily. > > I guess it comes down to your media exposure to it. I still think that it’s more a matter of cultural difference and fear of the unknown than it’s enigma-killing complexity. You won’t understand snoop-speak or any other ebonics stuff if you don’t try to figure it out from context, or assume you can’t figure it out if you try. (No, “Oh, I just don’t understand that stuff.”) > \*\* What if you just don’t care? People can -izzle me any time they want. They just should learn that if they want me to listen, they may want to try to use something other than Snoop-Dog made up words. Of course, I wouldn’t be going around offending people using made up words I don’t know either. ---
**Author:** ![El\_Cid\_Viscoso](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/41988e/32.png) [@El\_Cid\_Viscoso](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/El_Cid_Viscoso)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2003, 7:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/that-niggers-crazy/216208/62 "2003-12-02T19:44:21Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Jomo Mojo \* > > **Mr. B** , very clever… 😉 One qualification, I was using “Athabascan” to roughly classify an ethnic group. _Lekin kitne log yeh amriki hindustani bat samajh sakte haiM?_ Namaste, **Jomo**. Your question displays the force of _prakriti_. 🙂 Yes, I believe Americans can understand the language of the Indian. Lacking actualization, though, words are simply the darling buds left to wither in darkness. ---
**Author:** ![scout1222](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/34f0e0/32.png) [@scout1222](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/scout1222)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2003, 8:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/that-niggers-crazy/216208/63 "2003-12-02T20:13:46Z")
Well, I’m another one of those unhip white folks that had no idea where the word nizzle came from. I guess I never really thought about it. But then, I don’t generally go around assuming that every word I hear is steeped in some sort of offensive origin. Really, I just thought it was nonsense, mumbo jumbo. Hell, kind of a long the lines of Jabberwocky. I’m glad to know that there are many of us who didn’t know it. It may be shocking to you, but these things don’t always get explained, you know? So I guess we’ve at least obliterated a tiny bit of ignorance… ---
**Author:** ![sghoul](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/3ec8ea/32.png) [@sghoul](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sghoul)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2003, 10:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/that-niggers-crazy/216208/64 "2003-12-02T22:02:38Z")
> [@](#): > > figured that shizzle, nizzle, etc (snoopspeak) was so common nowadays that people had been exposed to it. If you’re exposed to snoopspeak enough, you should be able to figure out that the snoopizations all share a pattern. Take random words like “Great debates” and it becomes “Graytizzle Debizzle”, etc. It’s easier than pig latin, which most kids are able to pick up easily. Sadly, this is easier than piglatin because the rules make no sense. By your rules “nizzle” could mean nigger, niagra, nirvana, and a myriad of other Ni words. As an informal poll, I emailed my office. out of 70 people, only 1 knew what nizzle meant, and he wasn’t black. The black folks here were as clueless as the white. ---
**Author:** ![Johanna](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johanna/32/8318_2.png) [@Johanna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johanna)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2003, 11:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/that-niggers-crazy/216208/65 "2003-12-02T23:22:27Z")
Well, sizzle my pizzle. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![commie\_sho](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/db5fbb/32.png) [@commie\_sho](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/commie_sho)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2003, 2:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/that-niggers-crazy/216208/66 "2003-12-03T02:18:53Z")
Nirvana would be “nirvizzle”. 🙂 How old are the people that work in your office? (I think snoop-speak is supremely stupid, it’s a sad day when I’m being an ambassador for a super-obnoxious trend like that.) ---
**Author:** ![Black\_Train\_Song](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/4da419/32.png) [@Black\_Train\_Song](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Black_Train_Song)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2003, 4:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/that-niggers-crazy/216208/67 "2003-12-03T04:03:16Z")
Man, I crack one joke in a serious topic months ago and I get pitted by a tight-ass but this has become the “snoopdog” thread and that’s fine?..where’s unumondo to defend my somewhat good name? sheesh ---
**Author:** ![ekow2kn3](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/ecc23a/32.png) [@ekow2kn3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ekow2kn3)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2003, 7:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/that-niggers-crazy/216208/68 "2003-12-05T07:33:18Z")
context clues its the same way “bee” and “be” and the letter “b” can mean different things… homonyms! ---
**Author:** ![Walloon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/fbc32d/32.png) [@Walloon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Walloon)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2003, 11:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/that-niggers-crazy/216208/69 "2003-12-05T11:19:58Z")
Treasured memory: Richard Pryor appearing on singer Dinah Shore’s daytime talk show in 1974 when his comedy album _That Nigger’s Crazy_ came out. Dinah, a genteel Southerner from tip to toe, said, “I’m having trouble saying the name of your new album.” Pryor bluffed with, “Which word, ‘Crazy’?” ---
**Author:** ![PetW](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/d2c977/32.png) [@PetW](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PetW)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2003, 11:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/that-niggers-crazy/216208/70 "2003-12-05T11:40:41Z")
Sorry I’m going back to the Eminem hijack, but he did say “nigga” in one of his old songs, “Watch Dees” [http://www.musicsonglyrics.com/E/Eminem/Eminem%20-%20Watch%20Dees%20lyrics.htm](http://www.musicsonglyrics.com/E/Eminem/Eminem%20-%20Watch%20Dees%20lyrics.htm) ---
**Author:** ![PetW](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/d2c977/32.png) [@PetW](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PetW)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2003, 11:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/that-niggers-crazy/216208/71 "2003-12-05T11:57:50Z")
Hmm, it doesn’t show up in the lyrics now that I look at them, but if you listen to the song you’ll hear Eminem say it in the background after one of his rhymes ---
**Author:** ![yola](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/48db29/32.png) [@yola](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/yola)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2003, 12:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/that-niggers-crazy/216208/72 "2003-12-05T12:40:12Z")
Richard Pryor uses the word nigger a lot in his monologue. His skit about Cock-eyed Junior is hilarious. The white boss is cock-eyed so none of the niggers know who he talking to. The boss says nigger and so they all jump. Debating about how funny Richard Pryor jokes are will stitch you up. Whether they are refutable in this time and age I wouldn’t say no one has used the word nigger, let alone said the word nigger unless it was in a joke. I don’t know how blacks feel about about the word nigger, but I’ve heard more blacks use the word nigger, as sounding to me more like complimentery than racist. ---
**Author:** ![LouisB](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/dfb087/32.png) [@LouisB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LouisB)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2003, 1:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/that-niggers-crazy/216208/73 "2003-12-05T13:55:18Z")
> [@](#): > > I don’t know how blacks feel about about the word nigger, but I’ve heard more blacks use the word nigger, as sounding to me more like complimentery than racist. I used to work for a black guy and we got to be fairly good friends, to the extent that we hung out a lot. It took a while, but most of his black friends eventually accepted me. Anyway, they threw the word “nigger” around like candy, but I never supposed their use of it empowered me to use it. It was interesting to me that when I first began hanging out with those guys that whenever one of them used the word, they all seemed to be rather self-concious about it. As time went on, they used it as if I weren’t there–I never knew if it was because they accepted me or just decided to ignore me. ---
**Author:** ![Black\_Train\_Song](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/4da419/32.png) [@Black\_Train\_Song](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Black_Train_Song)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2003, 3:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/that-niggers-crazy/216208/74 "2003-12-05T15:30:49Z")
Remember that eddie murphy skit on SNL (back when SNL was funny) where Eddy disquises himself as a white guy to see how he’s treated. He goes into a store to buy a paper and reaches into his pocket for his money and the clerk gives him a funny look, peers around to see if there are any “niggers” and the says something like…“go ahead, take it. There’s none of them around.” …As if the whole money thing were some kind of scheme white people had against blacks. There were other parts to that skit but I can’t remember the rest. Pretty funny. ---
**Author:** ![Walloon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/fbc32d/32.png) [@Walloon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Walloon)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2003, 6:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/that-niggers-crazy/216208/75 "2003-12-05T18:05:59Z")
And when Murphy’s riding a city bus as the white businessman, as soon as the last black passenger gets off, a cocktail party breaks out, with a waitress serving hors d’oeuvres. P.S. I don’t believe anybody said “nigger” in the skit, though. ---
**Author:** ![Black\_Train\_Song](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/4da419/32.png) [@Black\_Train\_Song](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Black_Train_Song)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2003, 10:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/that-niggers-crazy/216208/76 "2003-12-05T22:21:54Z")
You’re right…I should have put that in parentheses instead of quotation marks. ---
**Author:** ![pseudotriton\_ruber\_ruber](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/a9a28c/32.png) [@pseudotriton\_ruber\_ruber](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pseudotriton_ruber_ruber)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2003, 10:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/that-niggers-crazy/216208/77 "2003-12-05T22:31:34Z")
Are we that far from the day when a fair-haired, fair skinned person uses the word “nigger” in a casual, colloquial way and then, when the predictable shitstorm ensues, defends himself by saying “I’m part black”? Who’s going to call him a liar? When I’m online, with no one having a clue as to my heritage, is it okay if use the word, if I’m so inclined? How about if I insist that a) you don’t know my family background? b) I don’t really know my family background beyond a generation or two? Can adopted people toss the word around freely? Is there an arithmetic formula deciding who may and who may not use the word? ---
**Author:** ![El\_Cid\_Viscoso](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/41988e/32.png) [@El\_Cid\_Viscoso](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/El_Cid_Viscoso)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2003, 10:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/that-niggers-crazy/216208/78 "2003-12-05T22:35:39Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Rooves \* > > Man, I crack one joke in a serious topic months ago and I get pitted by a tight-ass but this has become the “snoopdog” thread and that’s fine?..where’s unumondo to defend my somewhat good name? Just a little friendly insight: diverting the topic to Eddie Murphy jokes doesn’t exactly elevate your standing. > [@](#): > > He goes into a store to buy a paper and reaches into his pocket for his money and the clerk gives him a funny look, peers around to see if there are any **“niggers”** and the says something like…“go ahead, take it. There’s none of them around.” …As if the whole money thing were some kind of scheme white people had against blacks. Emphasis mine. Quotes or parentheses, that’s tantamount to whispering the word. Would you like an opportunity to clarify your position? ---
**Author:** ![Black\_Train\_Song](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/4da419/32.png) [@Black\_Train\_Song](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Black_Train_Song)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2003, 5:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/that-niggers-crazy/216208/79 "2003-12-06T05:29:26Z")
My position: I don’t have one. I certainly don’t feel oppressed because I don’t use the word “nigger” but I do think that it shouldn’t be so taboo that you have to call it “the N word” when referring to it. **LouisB’s** post about being around his black friends made me think of the Eddie Murphy thing. ---
**Author:** ![Black\_Train\_Song](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/4da419/32.png) [@Black\_Train\_Song](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Black_Train_Song)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2003, 5:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/that-niggers-crazy/216208/80 "2003-12-06T05:32:11Z")
Also, my complaint was somewhat sarcasm. I understand that people have no way of knowing when I’m being sarcastic if I don’t say it. My fault. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/that-niggers-crazy/216208.md?page=3) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/that-niggers-crazy/216208.md?page=5)