"Nigga" untrademarkable?

[Orin K. Hargraves]

-----Original Message-----
From: American Dialect Society on behalf of Charles Doyle
Sent: Fri 3/17/2006 8:50 AM
To: ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU
Subject:      Re: "Nigga" untrademarkable?
 
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>Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
>Poster:       Charles Doyle <cdoyle at UGA.EDU>
>Subject:      Re: "Nigga" untrademarkable?
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>A few years ago, after discoursing with a Shakespeare class
>about The Merchant of Venice, I was informed by a student
>that she found offensive my using the noun "Jew."  Taken
>aback, I asked what designation she would prefer; she
>replied, "Jewish person."
>
>How widespread is that sentiment?  (Though it isn't quite
>parallel, the Yid/Yiddish pair reminded me of my student's
>distinction.)

It would be interesting to know whether the student who objected to this usage
was herself Jewish; I think there may be a divide along ethnic lines regarding
the perception of this, although not always a consistent one. 

I had perceived at one point that this is a difference in Brit/Am usage —
namely, that Americans sometimes find “Jew” offensive and take pains to avoid
it, while Brits don’t: perhaps (speculation only) because of semantic spillage
from the slang verb “jew (down),” which has little currency in Brit. However,
an eminent US lexicographer who read my book about Brit/Am usage, and who is
himself (ethnically but not religiously) Jewish, has insisted to me that, for
him at any rate, “Jew” has no negative connotations; it is a purely descriptive
term in the circles he travels in.

Orin Hargraves

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