N-word - def. not covered

Fri Dec 2 08:16:59 UTC 2011

>From the video I detect no Southern accent, just standard US.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_Byrd
Robert Carlyle Byrd (born Cornelius Calvin Sale, Jr.; November 20, 1917 – June 28, 2010) was a United States Senator from West Virginia. A member of the Democratic Party, Byrd served as a U.S. Representative from 1953 until 1959 and as a U.S. Senator from 1959 to 2010. He was the longest-serving senator and the longest-serving member in the history of the United States Congress.[3][4][5]

Tom Zurinskas, Conn 20 yrs, Tenn 3, NJ 33, now Fl 9.
See how English spelling links to sounds at http://justpaste.it/ayk

>
> ---------------------- Information from the mail header -----------------------
> Sender: American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
> Poster: "Hunter, Lynne R CIV SPAWARSYSCEN-PACIFIC, 71700"
> <lynne.hunter at NAVY.MIL>
> Subject: Re: N-word - def. not covered
> -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
> And then there's John Lennon's "Woman is the Nigger of the World"
> (although I suppose usage in a song can't be considered "outside
> literature"). Here the emphasis seems to be as much on "servile" and
> "downtrodden" as on "contemptible" and "inferior."
>
> In defense of the song, which was banned in Britain for its word choice
> and not particularly well received elsewhere, (African-American)
> Congressman Ron Dellums is reported to have said, "If you define
> 'nigger' as someone whose lifestyle is defined by others, whose
> opportunities are defined by others, whose role in society is defined by
> others, the good news is that you don't have to be black to be a nigger
> in this society. Most of the people in America are niggers."
>
> Lynne Hunter
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From:
> Sent: Thursday, December 01, 2011 12:56
> To: ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU
> Subject: Re: N-word - def. not covered
>
> ---------------------- Information from the mail header
> -----------------------
> Sender:
> Poster: William Salmon <wnsalmon at D.UMN.EDU>
> Subject: Re: N-word - def. not covered
> ------------------------------------------------------------------------
> -------
>
> > On Wed, Nov 30, 2011 at 10:35 PM, Benjamin Barrett
> <gogaku at ix.netcom.com> wrote:
> >> OED
> >> 2b. Any person whose behaviour is regarded as reprehensible.
> derogatory.
> >>
> >> The AHD is similarly close:
> >>
> >> 2. Slang: Extremely Disparaging and Offensive . a person of any race
> or origin regarded as contemptible, inferior, ignorant,etc.
> >
> > Do these usages have any genuine existtnce outside of literature?
>
> This seems to be what Senator Robert Byrd is getting at with his use
> of "white nigger" in this interview:
>
> http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0FIBJt-c2o0
>
>
>
> > the wild, I've often heard, for lack of a better term, "loser-grade"
> > speakers from among members of the black underclass - we boojies don't
> > live in any such dream - attempt to redefine "nigger" as having this
> > kind of non-racist pseudo-meaning. I've already posted a paraphrase of
> > the mockery of this argument that occurs in the anime, The Boondocks,
> > spoken by the whigger, Gin Rummy: "When I say "nigger," I don't mean
> > no disrespect, 'cause, by 'nigger,' I mean 'a ignorant motherfucker'
> > and a ignorant motherfucker can be _any_ race."
> >
> > Well, needless to say, it's true that an ignorant motherfucker _can_
> > be "any race."
> >
> > But, in the United States, not a nigger.
> >
> > BTW, in some parts of the world, even "Negro" presents a problem for
> > some speakers. As I was reading the synopsis written by an Indian of a
> > Bollywood movie, I was startled to see one of the characters described
> > as a "Dravidian _Negro_."
> >
> >> Here, not only is being productive the issue, but apparently being a
> _recent_ African immigrant evidently > > > disqualifies him from fitting
> the definition.
> >
> > More likely, it's his being a Muslim that precludes the possibility of
> > his being, in his mind, any parts of "nigger." But, would a black
> > foreigner already be fully aware of what it means to be referred to as
> > a "nigger" and be prepared to defend himself against the charge?
> > Richard Pryor once posited as, presumably, a joke, the existence of
> > schools run by the INS to train the fresh-off-the-boat in the ways of
> > American racism.
> >
> > However, as, e.g. V.S. Naipaul, among others, has noted, in
> > sub-Saharan Africa and, IMO, even in the Middle East, Muslims,
> > regardless of their personal phenotypes, regard themselves as
> > absolutely non-black and non-Negro, in any sense of these terms
> > whatsoever, whether cultural or racial, even as they break-dance,
> > high-five, and rap. These things are, after all, _American_. They have
> > nothing whatever to do with any "niggertry," to borrow once more from
> > The Boondocks.
> >
> > Hasn't anyone here besides me ever actually _looked_ at photos of
> > random Saudi or, especially, Sudanese "Arabs"? Would former Saudi oil
> > minister, Prince Ahmed Zaki Yamani, look at all out of place at an
> > NAACP meeting? Are there any Sudanese "Arabs" at all fairer of
> > complexion than Johnny Mathis? Or even my own brothers, for that
> > matter? Did no one else see the members of the troupe of Berber
> > musicians on the Daily Colbert Hour, the other night?
> >
> > OTOH, there was the time when I casually mentioned to a Turkish
> > friend, Engin - you know him, don't you, Larry? - that, when I had
> > merely seen him around, I thought that he was some kind of black
> > person, possibly from the Caribbean, he. was. Absolutely. Fucking.
> > SHOCKED! STUNNED! MIND-BLOWN! His reaction was, in fact, so
> > overwhelmingly, surprisingly negative that, if we hadn't already
> > enjoyed a close friendship of over a quarter-century, I would have
> > immediately cut him out of my life. As it is, the revelation that, in
> > order to be my friend, he's had to overcome his "natural" antipathy
> > for the darker brother has permanently colored <har! har!> our
> > relationship.
> >
> > Despite the darkness of his complexion, the bluntness of his features,
> > and the curliness of his hair, it was simply beyond his comprehension
> > that it could be at all possible for anyone to mistake him for a
> > Negro. He forgot that "Negro" doesn't necessarily refer to the
> > tar-black-skinned, Brillo-haired, thick-red-lipped, flat-nosed,
> > blackamoor Sambo caricature in the United States, I reckon.
> >
> > The use of "n-word" in the subject nearly prevented me from realizing
> > that there was anything of interest to me in this thread.
> > --
> > -Wilson
> > -----
> > All say, "How hard it is that we have to die!"---a strange complaint
> > to come from the mouths of people who have had to live.
> > -Mark Twain
> >
> > ------------------------------------------------------------
> > The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org
> >
>
> ------------------------------------------------------------
> The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org
>
> ------------------------------------------------------------
> The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org

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