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Politics : Sharks in the Septic Tank -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?


To: Rambi who wrote (35616)10/26/2001 10:35:42 AM
From: Poet  Respond to of 82486
 
Thanks! I couldn't find it. I had a feeling you or Karen would.

Do you use the term? I do.



To: Rambi who wrote (35616)10/26/2001 10:52:36 AM
From: thames_sider  Read Replies (1) | Respond to of 82486
 
Rambi, I thought it was derived from the Latin - niger, meaning 'black'. English (here) is not usually derived from Spanish.
I'm sure I've seen the word 'nigger' used in some fairly old books, so it goes back some way - I don't think it had any more connotations then than skin colour, no overtones. Although of course most blacks in England before 1750 or so would likely have been slaves (most of our trade would have been via middlemen - Mediterranean or Arabs - rather than directly.).
Even after that, until ~1950 or so most blacks seen by all but the most-travelled would have been slaves, enemies or colonial subjects... so the word would probably become disrespectful anyhow.



To: Rambi who wrote (35616)10/26/2001 11:02:34 AM
From: Bald Eagle  Read Replies (1) | Respond to of 82486
 
So, someone losing their job over using the word niggardly really is PC going out of control!