the n word: on its way out?

[Jonathan Lighter]

See, Burns was from a foreign land, Scotland, which allowed him to do things like this.

  The vowel was evidently / i: /, which is why the spelling is significant. Or vice versa.

  JL

Jesse Sheidlower <jester at PANIX.COM> wrote:
  ---------------------- Information from the mail header -----------------------
Sender: American Dialect Society
Poster: Jesse Sheidlower
Subject: Re: the n word: on its way out?
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------

On Thu, Mar 08, 2007 at 03:18:17PM -0500, Charles Doyle wrote:
>
> OK, I'll ask: What does it mean to rhyme with "vigour,
> rigour, tiger"?? Is the reference to Winnie the Poo's
> (fake)feline companion?

No, it just means that in the Burnes poem, the word "niger"
rhymes with these other words. The note was attached to this
specific quotation, not to the word in general.

Jesse Sheidlower
OED

------------------------------------------------------------
The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org



---------------------------------
It's here! Your new message!
Get new email alerts with the free Yahoo! Toolbar.

------------------------------------------------------------
The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org