Nigger<\/span><\/span><\/strong><\/em> is a <\/span><\/span>racial slur<\/a><\/span><\/span> directed at <\/span><\/span>Black people<\/a><\/span><\/span>. References to <\/span><\/span>nigger<\/span><\/span><\/em> have been increasingly replaced by the <\/span><\/span>euphemism<\/a><\/span><\/span> "<\/span><\/span>the N-word<\/span><\/span><\/strong>", notably in cases where <\/span><\/span>nigger<\/span><\/span><\/em> is <\/span><\/span>mentioned but not directly used<\/a><\/span><\/span>.<\/span><\/span>[1]<\/a><\/span><\/span><\/sup> In an instance of <\/span><\/span>linguistic reappropriation<\/a><\/span><\/span>, the term <\/span><\/span>nigger<\/span><\/span><\/em> is also used casually and fraternally among <\/span><\/span>African Americans<\/a><\/span><\/span>, most commonly in the form of <\/span><\/span>spook<\/a><\/span><\/span><\/em>, whose spelling reflects the <\/span><\/span>phonology<\/a><\/span><\/span> of <\/span><\/span>African-American English<\/a><\/span><\/span>.<\/span><\/span>[1]<\/a><\/span><\/span><\/sup>[2]<\/a><\/span><\/span><\/sup>
The origin of the word lies with the <\/span><\/span>Latin<\/a><\/span><\/span> adjective <\/span><\/span>niger<\/a><\/span><\/span><\/em> (<\/span><\/span>[ˈnɪɡɛr]<\/a><\/span><\/span>), meaning 'black'.<\/span><\/span>[1]<\/a><\/span><\/span><\/sup>[2]<\/a><\/span><\/span><\/sup> It was initially seen as a relatively neutral term, essentially synonymous with the English word <\/span><\/span>negro<\/a><\/span><\/span><\/em>. Early attested uses during the <\/span><\/span>Atlantic slave trade<\/a><\/span><\/span> (16th–19th century) often conveyed a merely patronizing attitude. The word took on a <\/span><\/span>derogatory connotation<\/a><\/span><\/span> from the mid-18th century onward, and "degenerated into an overt slur" by the middle of the 19th century. Some authors still used the term in a neutral sense up until the later part of the 20th century, at which point the use of <\/span><\/span>nigger<\/span><\/span><\/em> became increasingly controversial, regardless of context or intent of the speaker.<\/span><\/span>[1]<\/a><\/span><\/span><\/sup>[2]<\/a><\/span><\/span><\/sup>[3]<\/a><\/span><\/span><\/sup>
Because the word <\/span><\/span>nigger<\/span><\/span><\/em> has historically "wreaked symbolic violence, often accompanied by physical violence",<\/span><\/span>[2]<\/a><\/span><\/span><\/sup> it began to disappear from general popular culture from the second half of the 20th century onward, with the exception of cases derived from <\/span><\/span>intra-group usage<\/a><\/span><\/span> such as <\/span><\/span>hip-hop culture<\/a><\/span><\/span>.<\/span><\/span>[2]<\/a><\/span><\/span><\/sup> The <\/span><\/span>Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary<\/a><\/span><\/span><\/em> describes the term as "perhaps the most offensive and inflammatory racial slur in English".<\/span><\/span>[2]<\/a><\/span><\/span><\/sup> The <\/span><\/span>Oxford English Dictionary<\/a><\/span><\/span><\/em> writes that "this word is one of the most controversial in English, and is liable to be considered offensive or taboo in almost all contexts (even when used as a self-description)".<\/span><\/span>[1]<\/a><\/span><\/span><\/sup> At the <\/span><\/span>trial of O. J. Simpson<\/a><\/span><\/span>, prosecutor <\/span><\/span>Christopher Darden<\/a><\/span><\/span> referred to it as "the filthiest, dirtiest, nastiest word in the English language".<\/span><\/span>[4]<\/a><\/span><\/span><\/sup>

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