Date: Mon, 31 Oct 1994 00:03:34 CST
From: "Donald M. Lance" ENGDL[AT SYMBOL GOES HERE]MIZZOU1.BITNET
Subject: Re: offending idioms
Charles Juengling claimed that "Neger" has "absolutely no negative connotations
whatsoever." When I was in Germany in 1978-79, I was told (more than once)
of a gaffe committed by a particularly klutzy President of BRD who was
giving a speech in some former German colony in Africa and began his
address with "Meine Damen und Herren, Liebe Neger,...." The teller of this
tale said no more than these words, then rolled his/her eyes and sighed.
Could Herr Juengling be misinformed about the way Germans actually use this
term?
One of the nagging little questions that has occurred to me from time to time
is to wonder about 'Negro' coming from Spanish and 'n---' from the French
form 'neger'. A good research project for someone; I'm frying other fish for
a while. DMLance