Re: Word usage in group versus out of group.

Abrigon Gusiq <mike_adams61@...> wrote:
>=20
> I do know the word "Nigger" when used by a non-black (Afro-American) is=
 not
> a good word to use. But its related word "Niggah" or it self is often u=
sed
> by some if not many Afro-Americans amoungst themselves.
[snip]
>=20
> Not using this to offend, this is the only example that comes to mind, =
but I
> am sure thre is others. Just wondering how many other words in language=
s are
> used by a group amoungst themselves, but only amounst themselves, and i=
f
> used by others maybe in a insulting/derogetory/etc manner.=20
I don't think there's need to apologize for writing
a word like "nigger", or mention it as "the n-word" or
with asterisks (but I'm not an American so maybe I don't
get the PC issue...)

Well, in Spanish (my dialect at least) the word "negro"
(as a noun) is often used by otherwise sensitive people as
a derogatory term for (1) dark-skinned people (mainly
descendents of natives not assimilated by the conquest)
and (2) people of lower social classes -- those two
items often overlap. But it may be used within groups
(friends, family, etc.) as a nickname or a vocative for
people that are close to you. This has no relationship
to the meaning of the word ("black") except that it's
usually not used for blond or redhead people (redheads
and very sanguineous <sp?> people are often know as
"Colo" or "Colorado" ["red, vermillion"]).

Then there's "mamita" -- diminutive of "mam=E1" ("mom")
that often gets shortened to "mami", and is used by
children; but the same word, when used to address
another woman, has a very rude connotation.


--Pablo Flores