This Niggardly Discussion -- Again?

[benadam -at- CYBERDUDE -dot- COM]

Am I the only one who remembers that we had this
discussion not long ago?

The word "niggardly," regardless of what it originally
meant and/or means according to Webster, is best avoided
today simply because of how it can be misconstrued. The
average listener will not rush to look up the definition
of something that sounds offensive, even if it isn't.

There are many terms that have fallen into disfavor with
the changing times; some, on the other hand, improved
with age. The word "gossip" is a case of the former; the
word "pretty" is a case of the latter. There are so many
examples that we would again spend a lot of time
brow-beating the English language, which, after all, is
a living thing spoken by living individuals. Ergo, it is
always subject to change without notice.

For those of you who really love linguistic stories
about how language creates unpredictable situations,
here's one that I know from real life. An American woman
I know was forever burying herself alive with her
English mother's Britishisms that sounded so strange to
her friends. "Laying the table with serviettes" raised
eyebrows with her friends, who had no idea that all she
was doing was setting the table with napkins. And so it
went for years.

However, when the two visited New York City, the
daughter was dumbstruck when her mother called the front
desk to request a wake-up call and said, "Please come
knock me up tomorrow at eight."

Guess you had to be there...

- Maury

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