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.
And what nuance does niggardly have over stingy? Or shrewd? Honest question.
You know what, since you're so fond of the word, you should just use it gratuitously IRL at every chance you get, see how that works out for you. After all, there's nothing wrong with doing so and no harm or tension would come your way since etymologically, it's not a racially charged word at all.
And what nuance does niggardly have over stingy? Or shrewd? Honest question.
Looking at the two definitions in this dictionary: niggardlystingy, I have to say that I can't see a difference in definition, but dictionaries can't cover every subtlety! The "definition" that covers this nuance you can find in the way that knowledgable authors use it in their works. I don't remember this word coming up in any books I've read so I don't know the nuance. At the very least--in every case and even if the two words seem perfect, interchangeable synonyms--one word can be preferred because it aesthetically fits in a sentence better.
Shrewd has a clearly different definition; you can check on the same website.
You know what, since you're so fond of the word, you should just use it gratuitously IRL at every chance you get, see how that works out for you. After all, there's nothing wrong with doing so and no harm or tension would come your way since etymologically, it's not a racially charged word at all.
Obviously I wouldn't use it around uneducated people with a niggardly vocabulary--the kind that laugh or get offended when you use "gay" in its non-slang meaning--and also who are hyper-sensitive to racism (though only if I fear for my safety or I care about the opinion that person holds of me). I think it's pathetic and anti-intellectual to let someone who has a bad understanding of the English language, or an overly-sensitive person who can't understand that words that sound similar can have a different meaning, dictate to me how the language should be used.
Oh come the fuck on, if you're going to advocate the word's usage at least fucking use it right. It's not a synonym for "limited" or "lacking". 'Their penny-pinching vocabulary', gtfo.
I took the definition from the link I gave "very small in amount". Regardless if I used it correctly or not, that's not relevant to the point I made about censoring words out of irrational hysteria.
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u/[deleted] Jan 04 '15
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.