Controversies About The Word "niggardly"
In the United States, there have been several controversies concerning the word "niggardly," an adjective meaning "stingy" or "miserly," due to its phonetic similarity to the racial slur "nigger." Etymologically the two words are unrelated.
Read more about Controversies About The Word "niggardly": Word Origins, David Howard Incident, University of Wisconsin Incident, Wilmington, North Carolina Incident, Mendocino County, CA Incident, Publicity and Racial Use
Famous quotes containing the words word and/or niggardly:
“Reason sits firm and holds the reins, and she will not let the feelings burst away and hurry her to wild chasms. The passions may rage furiously, like true heathens, as they are; and the desires may imagine all sorts of vain things: but judgement shall still have the last word in every argument, and the casting vote in every decision.”
—Charlotte Brontë (1816–1855)
“Art can never match the luxury and superfluity of Nature. In the former all is seen; it cannot afford concealed wealth, and is niggardly in comparison; but Nature, even when she is scant and thin outwardly, satisfies us still by the assurance of a certain generosity at the roots.”
—Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)