Let’s be honest here, the only time people use the word niggardly is to tweak people perceived as overly PC, or to talk about “that time someone got in trouble for using niggardly”
It’s an archaic word whose usage is driven entirely by it’s resemblance to a vulgarity.
“People”? I know of one person from that stupid incident, what, 10-15 years ago?
Anyway, are you going to respond to the OP? Is there a recent taboo of using the N-word under ANY circumstances? I’ve already cited two places where it was used – current rap songs and the Jackie Robinson movie, so my view is that the OP is wrong, but I’d be interested in counter cites.
I can’t speak for the OP, but I don’t think rap or the Jackie Robinson movie are good examples:
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Most rappers are black. There is a societal understanding that it’s OK for black people to use the N word and not okay for non-blacks to do so.
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The Jackie Robinson movie only “got away” with it because it fit several narrow criteria: Everyone understood that it was an anti-racist movie, and also that the movie would have gotten far more flak for substituting “N-word” for “nigger” or “African-American” for “nigger” (if the actors had said to Jackie, “You fucking AFRICAN-AMERICAN,” it would have been downright farcical.) Whereas a school teacher faces criticism for pronouncing the word “nigger” out loud while reading Huck Finn because there is a perceived alternative - he/she can opt to say “N-word” instead of nigger.
I think you should take that up with the OP, since he/she was asking about the taboo under ANY circumstances.
(Bolding mine.)
Please note the lack of widespread condemnation.
Hmmm, that must also not be a “circumstance” according to the OP.
Quite possibly, today. But I’ll note at a little over 50 I learned it as a regular word and I never even noticed the similarity until the first controversy came around about 20 years ago.
I’m not sure I understand the distinction you’re drawing here. Why is it farcical for a film to self-censor but totally reasonable for a teacher to censor great American literature?
The film, for what it’s worth, could also have bleeped out the word. Which seems like a reasonable choice if you’re threading the needle of verisimilitude and propriety.
And what about Tarantino’s movies. They basically all use the word, and while they certainly have something of an anti-racist vibe, Django Unchained is the only one where that’s the central focus.
I think it’s clear that context is relevant, but also that people avoid using the word even when it would be contextually reasonable because it’s so easy for things to be taken out of context, and why open yourself up to that?
Does this extend to people who have their children circumcised?
‘Snigger’, on the other hand…
On the TV Show QI, they pointed out that an English word with many meanings is “jigger” (though most are variations of saying “thingy”). I think that word will probably die out too.
And IMO it’s normal and not a big deal.
It’s like how “clean <pronoun>'s clock” is becoming pretty rare IME. It sounds too close to “cock” in this kind of sentence, so people use some other substitute.
“Lost jigger of salt” is a pretty famous line from a pretty famous song, so I doubt that’s going anywhere. It’s a pretty standard drink measure. And, I have no idea where you come up with “clean someone’s clock” sounding like “cock” – that’s just bizarre.
Dude. Knock it off.
[/moderating]
Which part is bizarre: whether the word “clock” and “cock” sound similar or that in this context some people would find it an awkward phrase to voice?
Well, not in some warehouses. “Jigger” is a common name for a pallet jack. I’m not aware of any effort to start using the term “jegro” instead.
…former President of the United States Barack Obama used the n-word in a public venue which was widely reported. It was relatively uncontroversial. It appears that intent and context does matter. Can you make a case that it does not?
The situation is not analogous to blasphemy - because African-Americans aren’t imaginary beards in the sky, but real human beings with real feelings.
Perhaps I should have been more specific: the taboo is for white people to say the word under any circumstances.
I believe the line is “Searching for my lost shaker of salt”.
I’m saying I’ve never heard of anyone not using that phrase because clock sounds like cock. It’s a pretty old-fashioned phrase, so it might be going out of favor, but I’d like a cite that it’s going away because of the similarity of those words. Do people avoid referring to shih tzu dogs or shiitake mushrooms? How about Suffolk County or Norfolk Virginia?
Anyway, I had forgotten about that other use for jigger that Bryan Ekers brought up. When I was in manufacturing, it was used all the time.