Mind your language
I was looking at bird-feeders reputed to resist the attentions of squirrels as a suitable present for my husband, who already often sits in his armchair nursing his whisky glass and staring out of the window, when I came across a sinister outrage on the English language.
An advertisement for birdfood said: ‘To differentiate between the imported niger oilseed, used to feed wild birds, and thistle — as well as to eliminate any possibility of offensively mispronouncing the word “niger” — the Wild Bird Feeding Industry trademarked the name Nyjer in 1998.’ They might have done, if an industry can, but I’ve seen a packet of seed bearing the name of the British Trust for Ornithology, on sale at a garden centre, labelled ‘Nyger’ in big letters, which is neither one thing nor the other.
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Derek Smith
January 11th, 2008 1:32amEach participant in the football World Cup finals is given a three-letter abbreviation on scoreboards etc.; thus England in ENG, France FRA, Italy ITA. But Nigeria is NGA.
Corin
January 11th, 2008 10:18amWhen I was taught Latin at school, I was told that the Romans used the hard forms of 'C' and 'G'. I don't recall a letter 'K' or a letter 'J'. Thus 'Caesar' is identical in sound to 'Kaiser' and 'Julius' is actually 'Iulius' and closer in sound to the Spanish 'Julio'. If my teachers were correct, then the word is 'niger' and not 'Nyjer'. Isn't it about time people grew up and stopped being so PC?