[Ads-l] [Non-DoD Source] "Niger" or "Niger"?

MULLINS, WILLIAM D (Bill) CIV USARMY RDECOM AMRDEC (US) william.d.mullins18.civ at MAIL.MIL
Thu Oct 19 15:34:10 UTC 2017


> 
> In my day, people said "NYE-jer." Nowadays, except for a courageous journalist in the Rose Garden recently, they're all saying "Nee-ZHAIR."
> 
> Sounds so much  more sophisticated, _non_?
> 
> When was the big switch? The Random House College Dictionary of 1982 gives only "NYE-jer."  I first heard Nee-ZHAIR" in the early '80s.
> 
My wife used to buy thistle seeds for her goldfinch feeders.  Then they started calling it Niger seed.  Now it's trademarked as Nyjer .  

"The name was trademarked as Nyjer ® in 1998 by the Wild Bird Feeding Industry, however, to clarify proper pronunciation (NYE-jerr)."
https://www.thespruce.com/nyger-seeds-for-finches-386574

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


More information about the Ads-l mailing list