Why is the word Murzyn [eng. Nigger] offensive now? Considerations of a language historian

Abstract

In the article I discuss the development of the word Murzyn [eng. Nigger] from the earliest times up to the present in order to prove the thesis that the word, burdened with bad connotations in the Middle Ages, is humiliating and offensive today. This is evidenced by nineteenth-century uses in the sense of ‘slave, servant’. Today, for many, especially young people, it has lost its original meaning, and as the synonym of the words: bambo, bambus [bamboo], asfalt [asphalt], syfiarz [sloven], brudas [slob], złodziej [thief], gangster [gangster], niewolnik [slave], prostak [gaby] is associated with backwardness, primitiveness, animalization and banditry. It is used as an offensive term for depreciation, being often a tool of verbal aggression.