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