Date:  Tue, 25 Oct 1994 11:26:41 -0400

From:  "Bethany Dumas, UTK" <DUMASB[AT SYMBOL GOES HERE]UTKVX.BITNET>

Subject: That word in the South



I have followd with great interest the discussion of offending words,

particularly the recent items on who uses n___ in the south. The word

is alive and well among the upper-middle-class speakers who belong to

or hang around Cherokee Country Club in Knoxville, TN. Such facts are

among the many reasons that I was not certain I could live in Knoxville when

I first moved here. I used to describe it as the most socially and politically

conservative place I had ever lived. Obviously, "conservative" is a

euphemism. But let me assure you that the word is alive and well among

many speakers who use it with full knowledge of its offensiveness and

with every intention of being offensive.