niggardly

Extended context of one of them:

<<<" Oh, no, " squeaked Buckwheat before dropping into the deep baritone and Standard English he uses except when he's in character. " You mean the Society for Turning Up Phony Issues and Diversions, that secret outfit that goes around making us black folks look like fools by stirring up dumb racial controversies like the idiotic fuss in Washington last year over the word niggardly? Cut the Ebonics, Kingfish! If there's another STUPID racial fight going on, it's a serious issue. " >>>

And here's the article:

http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,995956,00.html

I remember a TV show where Dick Cavett was interviewing Muhammed Ali. Cavett used the word "niggardly" (on purpose, I'm sure), and Ali feigned indignation. Then he said smiled and said that he knew the word--I think he mentioned reading it in the Koran.

Unfortunately, the PC crowd is not reasonable as Ali was, so I would be careful about using it. There are enough synonyms (stingy, parsimonious, penurious, miserly, etc.), that you use.

And remember, there are plenty of words that fall into this category. One SHOULD be able to use the word "gay" to mean merry or lively, but other than the set phrase "Gay 90s," you'll likely be misinterpreted. (Most young people who hear the song "Jamaica Farewell" interpret the line "Down the way where the nights are gay" as "Down the way where the knights are homosexual.")

("Down the way where the knights are homosexual.")

Those gay Jamaican knights are some crazy cats.

<<<<Unfortunately, the PC crowd is not reasonable as Ali was, so I would be careful about using it. There are enough synonyms (stingy, parsimonious, penurious, miserly, etc.), that you use. >>>

And how about: black-balled, blackboard, yellow fever, etc?

<<And how about: black-balled, blackboard, yellow fever, etc?>>

Those are colors. The main meaning of those words is just associated with colors. On the other hand, the main meaning of nigger is just associated with a racial slur.

<On the other hand, the main meaning of nigger is just associated with a racial slur. >

Note the difference:

nigger
niggar

They are both /nɪgɚ/ (if with rhoticity) right? If so, there's no difference, and that's why some people don't want to hear or use that word (thinking it's got something to do with the word "nigger"). That's the problem. Or are you saying you would like to change your name to "Dik Sukar"? Hey, there's absolutely nothing wrong with that! Note the difference. You could try. I'd like to know if it would be easy to convince people there was nothing funny about your new name. LOL

I am black, and I take no offense to the word.

It has nothing to do with an ethnic slur. However, there are many stupid people who will have a problem with that word. Stay away from it and just replace it with the following words:

cheap, close-fisted, costive, hard-fisted, miserly, parsimonious, penny-pinching, penurious, petty, pinching, tight, tightfisted

The word niggard predates nigger by several hundred years. I remember hearing about some guy in Washington who got fired for saying "niggardly".

You guys don't seem to get it. Which one was around first is IRRELEVANT. That one is not offensive in meaning is IRRELEVANT. The ONLY thing that matters is that they sound similar and the non-offensive one is uncommon so is likely to cause offence.

Let's ban the use of the word "niggardly" entirely because it sounds so much like "nigger". We should also come up with another way to refer to "fairy tales" to avoid offending homosexuals.

<<You guys don't seem to get it. Which one was around first is IRRELEVANT. That one is not offensive in meaning is IRRELEVANT. The ONLY thing that matters is that they sound similar and the non-offensive one is uncommon so is likely to cause offence.>>

*Thank* you! That should be obvious to everyone, but apparently it hasn't up until now because we've only had 3 long pages of posts on the subject!

Well, maybe people will take offence, but what does that matter? Why should we change the English language to accomodate their ignorance, if they can't even speak their own language well then what position are they in to take offence to a word? It's their problem.

There are people stupid enough in my school to think that 'Chinese' is a type of food, and that's all it is. Perhaps we should rename the entire nationality and language just so that they don't get confused.

<<Why should we change the English language to accomodate their ignorance, if they can't even speak their own language well then what position are they in to take offence to a word? It's their problem. >>

In principle, yes. Though I can say I would rather not get into a public argument with some meaty black guy who wants to beat me up. In that case his problem becomes your problem, whether you like it or not. Good luck explaining to him your reasoning: "it's not my fault you're so ignorant you don't know that word"... yeah he's gonna take that even better! Sure not all black guys are ignorant or violent but there are some.

It's their problem when it gets to court if they assault you.