Ah, I FINALLY found how to get to the blog... I'm guessing too late for anyone to see this comment.

As a linguist and a language inventor, I want to point out that it's not what word a person uses which is most important, nor how the word is meant, but rather how the word is percieved to be meant. If you know a word can and likely be taken the wrong way by many people, it's generally a good idea to pick a different word. You can't make people not use a word, but you can caution them to consider the potential consequences. The terms "nigga" and "nigger" were being discussed, which are to some people two different words, to other people two spellings of the same word with the same range of meanings, and to yet other people two variations of the same word with slightly different ranges of meanings, but regardless, they are modern descendants of an oppressive slur, and in any form are almost guaranteed to carry at least some of that old derogatory meaning for at least some people. The origin of the division between the two forms under discussion is a simple matter of spoken accent, which tended and to a lesser extent still tends to be divided along cultural lines. People who use or describe one form as endearing and the other form as demeaning when speaking to their friends or relatives, and especially to their children, should be careful to point out that such a distinction is not something you can expect people with a different accent or dialect or cultural background to understand in the same way, and may cause confusion and misunderstanding.

Thanks for your post on language function. We have little general understanding of this basic human tool and would do well to develop an informed public wise to things like propaganda techniques now so pervasive in our culture.

Regarding the recent program comment re the adoption of solar power in the third world, women spend time gathering firewood daily which could be better spend on other tasks. (Side effect - reduced deforestation!)