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by Anonymous on August 26th, 2009
Learning words is the easy part. Learning the appropriate time to say them is the part that takes practice. I think any half-way intelligent person who has the word "Niggardly" in their vocabulary arsenal knows not to say it to a black dude. You wouldn't tell a hispanic person that their house was "spic and span", or tell a asian person they were being "yellow" would you?
by Broken on August 26th, 2009
I didn't know the term and would have thought that was a horrible thing to say. I think the teacher should have used some common sense in this situation and used a more appropriate word.
by Prunesquallor on August 26th, 2009
The people who accused the teacher were being both stupid *and* racist. The word is nothing to do with 'negro', and in fact is derived from an old Norse word. It means being over concerned with small matters.
People don't realise that when they object to innocuous terms like 'blackboard', they are demonstrating their own inverse racism.
by Wynper on August 26th, 2009
You know, it seems people are offended by more and more these days. There was a question on this site earlier that asked if anyone viewed the word "should" as mean or demanding. Is that is the next word people will come after?
Sadly the English language is being slowly diminished mostly due to those who are ignorant, who are lazy and who see opportunities to take offense in nearly everything they hear.
Someone in a writing class I was in accused another student of being a racist when they described a place "as dark as the black hole of Calcutta" It was bad writing but it was hardly racist.
Would i use that word? If I knew I was speaking to a person who understood the term then yes I would. Would I use it in a classroom? Yes, I think I would in order to expand the children's vocabulary. Would I use it in public? No, because there are just too many idiots milling around ready to be offended by what they don't understand.
by Factotum on August 26th, 2009
I have thought long on this as these things happen from time to time. It is a good thing when people avoid using non-offensive terms that might be mistaken for offensive terms. It is the polite thing to do (though there is something a little racist in assuming black people won't know the word 'niggard').
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But wait. It slips out. Someone says a risky word. Now what do we do?
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Well I'll tell you. We clarify. We assure the offended listener that we had no intention of offending.
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And then the listener says something along the line of 'no harm, no foul' and it's over.
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What we do NOT do is allow the offended listener to rewrite the dictionary, to demand an apology or to continue to adopt the position that he or she has been wronged. It's an unfair playing of the race card. It's gamesmanship. It's bullshit.
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Here is a not so cool instance of the misuse of the race card. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oc1zGRUPztc
by Dracool on August 26th, 2009
Yes, but WHY does that word mean stingy and WHY did that teacher choose it? The English language is rife with racist/sexist/classist terms which are better left in the past.
by Thriftymaid on August 26th, 2009
It wouldn't be my business as to why/how he handled his money. It was not the teacher's business either.
by Phillis - Zacks little sister on August 26th, 2009
I think she should have been fired for showing such poor judgement! No, I wouldn't use that word. For one thing, I have small kids who enjoy imitation. For another, even if I knew the meaning of the word, it is just in poor taste. That's what a thesaurus is for. She knew how to use one. +5
by Simply99 -- Not a fan favorite. on August 26th, 2009
That's a proper English that was used in the proper context by proper English dictionary definition.
by bolwerk on August 27th, 2009
It's not a racist term, but you have to be an idiot to use it because (a) most people don't know what it means and (b) it sounds awfully close to "nigger." And, uh, this has only happened like 3 times in the past 10 years?
by D-Sani on August 27th, 2009
not a racist word but im sure she knew what she was doin...there are so many other words that could have been used
by Dracool on August 27th, 2009
We live in a racially charged society. It could be argued that racial relations in this country are as bad as I've seen them in my lifetime. I worked in education for over 25 years, five of them at a university in N.M. that is 97% Hispanic. A teacher is charged with teaching, Mensan, and any teacher worthy of the title, has sensitivity for his/her charges. So here's a few questions for you. What did that teacher teach and what did that student learn? And to back this up, why didn't this teacher choose any of the other more contemporary words like miserly or frugal?
by Shemarq the Wamama on August 26th, 2009
The teacher should have used some common sense (and maybe purchase a thesaurus!). Some things you just don't say. An example: If I'm doing a quicky fix of something, I don't say I'm nigger-rigging it, I say I'm jerry-rigging it.
by buttman on August 26th, 2009
I do not know of the whole insident, or any part of it.
But based on what you have presented in your question,
I have some problem with the chosen word and here is
my reason. First, it seems a very poor judgment from a
professional.....bad timimg--to say the least. Secondly, if he/she was addressing to a black student,
she/he could easily have used another synonym--"tightfisted", for example--and not that particular
word. Granted that the term "niggard" means "being
stingy", did the black student new that? Did the teacher take into account that the student may not know the meaning of the word? How do we know that the
word was not used with full knowledge that the student
didn't know its meaning? How do we know that the word
was used with a sincere and genuine attempt of teaching its meaning, and not contemptuously? Was the teacher interested in stirring a little controversy for the sake of educating? Well, I don't know the answer to those questions--only the teacher does. But
these are just a few of many questions and controversies which could stem from being careless, or get carried away under the supposed attempt (we would like to believe) of edcucating. Teachers know--or should know--that they don't need that in a classroom.
Poor judgment in my opinion.
by Cantras on August 27th, 2009
It's not a word I use in conversation generally, since I have little occasion to ask people why they're being scroogy.
BUT
At Love's work the other day, he was told they are now "pads and easels," not "flip charts" -- he inquired with our real live filipina friend and she said that was the stupidest thing she'd ever heard.
by ZiggyStardust on August 27th, 2009
'Until folks learned that Niggardly = Stingy'... 'folks' should have already known, or not taken offence to a word they didn't know the meaning to..
The word Niggardly actually fell out of fashion BECAUSE it sounded too much like Nigger. When the word Nigger came into popular use.. Which wasn't all that long ago.
by DudeLer 2 on August 27th, 2009
I would not use that work with a Black man. I could get killed. There are other words, called synonyms that could easily say the same thing. people are so afraid of being racist, that they have lost sight of the meaning of the words we use. Black isnt even the right word, either. Colored used to be the word, and it is even closer to the truth.
What is your definition of the word "normal"? I seriously don't know what it means but maybe you can tell me.
by New Member on June 30th, 2007
| 2 people like this
Why is night called night?
by DudeLer 2 on May 17th, 2008
| 2 people like this
Origin of the term 'nerd'?
by sloroller on August 7th, 2007
| 4 people like this
Do you get naked or do you get nude?
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How many things can you think of that NMAD can stand for?
by New Member on June 11th, 2007
| 4 people like this
You're reading If you knew that a black guy was being kind of "tight" with his money, would you ask him why he was being so "NIGGARDLY?" (A Florida teacher asked that of a black student and was almost fired, until folks learned that stingy = niggardly.)
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Comments
VERY well said...+6
by Cotton 201 on August 26th, 2009
Good analogies there. Not necessarily P.C., but some common sense should prevail, IMO.
by Barcaluv on August 26th, 2009
Very well said, +6.
by buttman on August 26th, 2009
I ditto the praise.
+6
by Anonymous on August 26th, 2009
Please answer this question, too:
.
http://www.answerbag.com/q_view/1662607
by Anonymous on August 26th, 2009
on the contrary, i would rather say it in front of a black acquantence rather than use it in subterfuge, but of course not to someone I didnt' know. I've heard the word Jewish more than niggardly to express stingyness. Time and place for everything. in this or that context it can be hateful or just another expression.
by A Rock In Woolfs Clothing on August 27th, 2009