On Sep 10, 2013 2:40 PM, "G Mann" <g2ma...@gmail.com> wrote: > > Technically... the term to "De Nigrate" > .. or to be "Denegrating" is not > politically correct.. the foundational > history of that word is to compare > someone of the "n word" status by > action, deed, or intent...
Close, but no cigar. "Denigrate," like most ten-cent words in English, comes from Latin via Old French. The root is indeed "denigrare," meaning "to darken," but the connotation is a figurative one, a close cousin to the expression "blacken one's reputation"--i.e., to denigrate someone or something is to imply that it's shady, unwholesome, evil, as in "blackball," "blackguard," or the "Prince of Darkness." Nothing to do with race. Alex "amateur linguistics student" _______________________________________ http://www.okiebenz.com To search list archives http://www.okiebenz.com/archive/ To Unsubscribe or change delivery options go to: http://mail.okiebenz.com/mailman/listinfo/mercedes_okiebenz.com
