[Ads-l] "bugger"

[Baker, John]

I don't read James Landau's post as necessarily suggesting that "nigger" can be used as a term of endearment by white people.  He said that it can be so used "in certain times and places."  I suspect this means, at a minimum, that we are talking about certain in-group uses.


John Baker


-----Original Message-----
From: American Dialect Society [mailto:ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU] On Behalf Of Salikoko S. Mufwene
Sent: Wednesday, July 13, 2016 5:32 PM
To: ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU
Subject: Re: "bugger"

In 2002, Randall Kennedy published a very informative book about this 
term, including legal perspectives: /Nigger: The Strange Career of a 
Troublesome Word/. It includes useful anecdotes that suggest a lot of 
caution to non-community members, regardless of race.

Sali.


On 7/13/2016 3:27 PM, Wilson Gray wrote:
> On Wed, Jul 13, 2016 at 3:09 PM, Laurence Horn <laurence.horn at yale.edu>
> wrote:
> On Jul 13, 2016, at 12:58 PM, James A. Landau <JJJRLandau at NETSCAPE.COM>
> wrote:
>
>> It seems to me that just about every derogatory term for a person (even
>> the N-word) is used, in certain times and places, as an endearment.
>
> Is "even the N-word" used as a term of endearment by white people? Do you
> think that there is the least possibility that you could persuade me that
> it is so used?
>
> When you speak of the use of the word, "nigger," you have not the least
> idea of what you're talking about, unless of course, you're using as a
> racist pretending not to be using it as a racist.
>

-- 
**********************************************************
Salikoko S. Mufwene                    s-mufwene at uchicago.edu
The Frank J. McLoraine Distinguished Service Professor of Linguistics and the College
Professor, Committee on Evolutionary Biology
Professor, Committee on the Conceptual & Historical Studies of Science
University of Chicago                  773-702-8531; FAX 773-834-0924
Department of Linguistics
1115 East 58th Street
Chicago, IL 60637, USA
http://mufwene.uchicago.edu/
**********************************************************


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