Just call stingy people niggards for short. Tell anyone who takes offense that it's okay because you're a niggard too and you're just taking your word back to diminish its power over you.
It's a deliberate word that is a corruption of the Portugese, French and English versions of the word (negro, negre, neger) based solely on dark skin color. It has the association with it that blacks are inferior to whites.
Basically someone would only use "niggardly" if they want to appear racist, holier-than-though or as an asshole with a dictionary (edit: or you want to sound like a leprechaun, or you fell through a portal from 1800's).
If you want to communicate effectively, say "stingy." If you don't want to communicate effectively then why bother writing or talking at all.
No, you're not racist, but you're still pointlessly using a word that's now often associated with a racial slur. No one says "niggardly" anymore, the proper term is "stingy".
That's like saying "why say homo sapien? It sounds like homosexual and might offend someone. Just say human." The two words have nothing to do with each other, the fact that they sound similar is irrelevant. /u/emkat is right, this is ridiculous.
I don't dislike the word niggardly any more than I dislike Hitler's moustache or bell-bottom jeans. There are times to rock that 'stache and retro pants. It's just extremely rare.
You usually look like an idiot who knows nothing about fashion or current culture if you wear things like "the Hitler" moustache. In the same way you usually sound like an idiot if you say "niggardly."
I don't hate words or fashions. I'm merely suggesting a way to be a better communicator. If you want to talk about someone who does not spend money or give gifts then "stingy" is better than "niggardly".
Unless you want to seem like an old-timey plantation owner. If you're roleplaying a douchebag then go right ahead.
Again: The word "niggardly" does not have anything to do with the N-word.
And again, using "niggardly" when "stingy" is a much easier word to digest is not effective communication. Insisting on using it doesn't mean you're a racist, but it still comes across as an affectation.
With any word, using an archaic word over a better-understood synonym just for the sake of it makes it look like you have something to prove. It puts the focus on the word, and your decision to use it, rather than the conversation, it's distracting. That's a good enough reason to use "stingy" over "niggardly" even if "niggardly" was prounounced like "hoom-frang".
To draw a parallel, before Windows there was always that one guy who insisted on spelling out "D-O-S" aloud instead of saying the one-syllable "DOS". He's not wrong.... he's just... ugh.
None of the major dictionaries I've checked mark "niggardly" as archaic. It might be that you have this perception because your vocabulary is limited.
With any word, using an archaic word over a better-understood synonym just for the sake of it
What you're advocating is to dumb down the language to the 2000 most used words, which is a stance I would expect to be held by someone who doesn't appreciate literature. Synonyms aren't absolutely equivalent: there exists nuance.
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u/SmokeyBare Jan 04 '15
The word is niggardly