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Originally Posted by Crowquill
Theres no real difference between the word nigga and ******, its just the intentions behind them.
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Isn't that what constitutes the differences between words?
My understanding of it is that using the word 'nigga' in a phrase highlights the fact that you're copying a speech pattern and phrase which you might hear when one black person is talking to another black person (the word '******' would be pronounced as 'nigga' by a lot of people anyway, but it just reinforces where you're referencing the word to). To an extent, by representing the word in a more phonetic manner (nigga) instead of the more literary version (******) makes it more contemporary and ties it with it's modern 'street' usage (esp. rap lyrics) rather than its historical usage (which, by association with slavery, is probably the main source of its insultingness).
Like I said, that's my understanding of it, and that understanding deems the word written
nigga much less offensive than the word written
******.
***got is pretty insulting, although I'd half-agree with Ethan, in that I'm not so shocked if I hear one person call another person it.