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I used the word "renege" in a meeting the other day (something like, "the vendor decided to renege on their offer of shipping replacement SAN disks"), and got a few wide eyes.

My supervisor sat me aside just today and told me that my word choice has racial overtones, especially in mixed company, and that I should avoid using it.

I've heard that "niggardly" is somewhat taboo, but should I stop using "renege" as well? Is there a less offensive word I can use?

Pacerier
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derekvinyard98
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    How did you pronounce it? – Martijn Pieters Jul 13 '12 at 19:29
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    I have heard people pronounce it as "reNIG"... and I can see how that could raise a question about the speaker's possible racial motivation. If it's pronounced "reNEG", then I'd say that any latent racism was on the part of the audience, not the speaker. It's from the same root as renegade, for crying out loud! – MT_Head Jul 13 '12 at 19:46
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    I wonder whether "ignoramus" is in your supervisor's vocabulary? – Gnawme Jul 13 '12 at 19:48
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    This is surely Too Localised! Are we expected to consider whether any word that happens to contain n-vowel-g is potentially racist in the mind of some nincompoop somewhere in the world? – FumbleFingers Jul 13 '12 at 23:14
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    If renege is borderline racist, then vinegar is going to be very problematic. – JohnFx Jul 14 '12 at 04:48
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    Use renege, don't use welsh – Hugo Jul 14 '12 at 07:45
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    Ask him what the forklift he thinks it means, and how is that racist... – MickeyfAgain_BeforeExitOfSO Jul 16 '12 at 04:01
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    I've heard people say something along the lines of "re-nigg." Obviously they change the word on purpose to link it to "nigger." – timramich Jul 20 '12 at 16:28
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    @timramich: "re-nigg" is a pronunciation of renege which has been around much longer than political correctness—I heard it used in the 1960s. But I agree that it's one that should be avoided near easily offended people. – Peter Shor Jul 21 '12 at 12:22
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    @timramich You fell victim to the same knee-jerk reaction as the original poster's boss. No one is changing words to make them offensive. That is how the word is pronounced! – ErikE Jul 27 '12 at 18:53
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    Yeah, the main problem with the word is that it's often pronounced "re-nigg", and that can't help but trigger the "n-word sensitivity" in some people. If one is careful to pronounce it "re-negg" then the word is far less likely to raise an eyebrow. – Hot Licks Nov 01 '15 at 14:42
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    My dictionary says 're-NEEG' or 're-NAYG'. This 're-NIG' pronunciation is probably non-standard (or perhaps American). – Angelos Dec 10 '15 at 19:41
  • @Nothingatall, http://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/english/renege doesn't have "ReNig" for the American pronunciation either. – Pacerier Aug 01 '16 at 13:09
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    @Gnawme, I wonder whether you happen to be a white American or a white non-American? – Pacerier Aug 01 '16 at 13:11
  • @FumbleFingers, And how does a localized question get way over 100k views? – Pacerier Aug 01 '16 at 13:15
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    @Pacerier: Because 100k people like to rubber-neck questions with possible racist overtones. But really this is a question about How dumb / illiterate / racism-obsessed can you be while still* managing to hold a position of "supervisor" at work?* – FumbleFingers Aug 01 '16 at 13:38
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    In [some] fairness to the supervisor, the fact that the comment caused 'some wide eyes' does suggest that the Supe was responding to the reaction of others, at least in part. of course, in my view the Supe should have kicked the reactors into touch but that is poor management skills rather than necessarily ignorance. – Spagirl Aug 01 '16 at 14:21
  • @Pacerier I'm a non-white literate American. (As if that matters.) – Gnawme Aug 01 '16 at 14:56
  • @Gnawme, And why wouldn't race matter? – Pacerier Aug 01 '16 at 18:20
  • @FumbleFingers, There are plenty of questions with possible racist overtones without anywhere near 10% of 100k views. So how does this question with possible racist overtone get way over 100k views? – Pacerier Aug 01 '16 at 18:22
  • @Pacerier: Where are you going with this? I think it's a crap question, but obviously my attempt to get it closed several years ago was unsuccessful, and I'm not going to bother trying again. If you like it, by all means upvote it, but I really think this would be too trivial even for ELL. – FumbleFingers Aug 01 '16 at 18:26
  • @Pacerier Race is immaterial to being an ignoramus who hears racism in syllables of words that have nothing to do with racist subjects. – Gnawme Aug 01 '16 at 18:28
  • @Gnawme, The race question is addressed to the poster "Gnawme", not the supervisor in the question. – Pacerier Aug 01 '16 at 18:55
  • @FumbleFingers, What do you mean by "going"? You think it's a crap question, so I simply asked why do you think so. – Pacerier Aug 01 '16 at 18:56
  • Huh, I always thought the g was soft. – JAB Mar 14 '19 at 03:03

4 Answers4

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Although I strongly agree with the answers given so far — no racial overtones to renege — you must bear in mind that the kind of people who frequent this site are linguistically aware and, therefore, not necessarily reflective of your supervisor or your work environment.

What you’ve stumbled across in your supervisor is the “eggcorn” phenomenon, where speakers who are (partially) ignorant of some word give it a false etymology that accords with their (partial) understanding of its meaning. (For instance, acorn sounds like it’s made up of corn and a. But what’s an a? In dialects where egg rhymes with vague, it’s easy to reinterpret this as the (eponymous) compound eggcorn, as acorns are vaguely egg-shaped.)

In the case of renege, I bet your supervisor thought, “It means something negative, so it must be related to the racist derivatives of negro.” (As you correctly point out, the same thing has happened to niggardly, which is as stigmatized by some speakers as the derivatives of negro are.)

As a linguistic process, though, the phenomenon is ancient. The word bridegroom is a case in point. Historically, it ought to be bridegoom: the goom, ‘man’ (cognate with the hum part of human), of the bride. But, when English eventually lost the Anglosaxon root guma, bridegoom ceased to make intuitive sense to English speakers and was replaced by the current, somewhat bizarre compound suggesting that women marry stablehands.

Eggcorn etymologies of the sort you’ve encountered occur at the phrasal or idiomatic level too. Black magic (as opposed to white magic) and dark day are felt by some to have racist overtones or implications (Ossie Davis famously makes this case in “The English language is my enemy”, for instance) — though advocates of this view generally (universally?) ignore the fact that black and white have the same metaphorical extensions (bad versus good) in traditional Igbo and Luganda proverbs. An op ed in the The New York Times (from 1988) consequently urges prudence, or self-censorship, here.

So, though you are right, you should be aware of people’s propensity towards misconceptions in this domain.

Daniel Harbour
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    This is a good answer. – Daniel Jul 17 '12 at 21:59
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    It does not matter that the people on this site are more linguistically aware than the supervisor referenced in the question. The people on this site are right about the definition, and the supervisor is unambiguously wrong. This answer seems to be advocating that some leeway should be given to the supervisor for their completely misguided outlook. There is no justification for tolerating someone bringing uninformed racial sensitivity in the workplace. It's just as wrong as if the supervisor had said something genuinely mildy racially insensitive. Both fully deserve clarification. – Questioner Jul 20 '12 at 18:19
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    Some people are more willing to fight when they're right than others. Others prefer to drop it. – Daniel Nov 01 '15 at 13:01
  • @Questioner, Is this site prescriptive or descriptive then? – Pacerier Aug 01 '16 at 13:12
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    @Pacerier Yes, it is. – Mitch Aug 01 '16 at 13:26
  • @Mitch, ?​​​​​​​​​​͏͏͏͏͏͏͏͏ – Pacerier Aug 01 '16 at 18:23
  • @Pacerier It depends. If someone asks is X right or wrong?', the answer may be easy and there is only one common version. But if there are common alternatives in other varieties, then often we'll present those too. The best way is to label things as standard/non-standard or formal-informal or label the alternatives and varieties. Sure there are mistakes, but also we wouldn't have Modern Standard English if people speaking Middle English hadn't made lots of 'mistakes'. – Mitch Aug 01 '16 at 18:29
  • @Pacerier, I'm not saying anything about the site in general. Other questions and answers may be prescriptive or descriptive or both, or whatever. The point is only that in this case, for this question about this particular circumstance, the people writing here that "renege" has absolutely no racial connotations whatsoever are completely correct, and the person described in the question who got upset is wrong without any room for doubt. – Questioner Aug 02 '16 at 02:38
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This reminds me of when my friend and I were 8 years old or so, and he got all upset when I said that he was tittering, because he knew he'd get in trouble if his mom heard us saying tit.

I say educate them on the word, its meaning, and its roots. Then use it. Don't let 8-year-old-level keyword-driven knee-jerk reactions force you to elide a perfectly good word from your vocabulary.

Ask your boss if he thinks there are no tables in the Notables product line. Ask him if he thinks that pistachios have piss in them and whether Aster is aware her posterior is in motion. Ask him if he thinks doing something by fiat means driving around in a car. Check if he thinks despicable, The Whopper™, and nip it in the bud also have racist overtones. Will you be accused of sexual harassment if you speak of dictators? Will your boss be offended if you call an overweight coworker indefatigable? Do I wish to unfairly marginalize certain people when I discuss propagation?

The cure for ignorance is education. Do it. Save the world from them. Don't let them destroy the language.

Key for the less obvious examples above:

  • Aster: ass stir
  • despicable, The Whopper™, nip it in the bud: each contains a common single-syllable racial slur
  • dictators: dick is slang for the male sexual organ
  • indefatigable: contains the word fat in it
  • propagation: gay shun
ErikE
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    Excellent answer, especially loved all those examples. – Bravo Jul 14 '12 at 12:14
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    Ha, fun examples. I'll scream them to my boss... in my head... perhaps saving education for a day when I'm not in such a need for a job! – derekvinyard98 Jul 17 '12 at 17:32
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    I'd +1 this many times if I could. The bizarre over-sensitivity to racial issues that leads people (particularly in the US) to get confused over words like niggardly is dumb enough, but renege? That's so unfathomably stupid that it must be stood up to. Education: when done properly, there is no defense! – Questioner Jul 20 '12 at 18:07
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    Honestly, if the OP had just laughed his boss out of the room, it probably would have worked. – ErikE Jul 21 '12 at 16:40
  • @DaveMG - agreed. Yet, try to use the word niggle in conversation and things might not go well. – JTP - Apologise to Monica May 10 '14 at 21:32
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    @JoeTaxpayer, that is exactly the kind of fight I am talking about. Cowering in anticipation of how things "might not go well" is exactly the reason why stupidity runs rampant. Yes, it could be awkward, but that is not your fault for using the word, it's their fault for being uneducated. Stand up for yourself and educate them. – Questioner May 11 '14 at 01:12
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    This answer is funny, but be very careful what you say to your boss, how you say it and don't say it in front of a 3rd party. If you feel you must say something to your boss about "renege", apologize for using a word "that some of the others weren't familiar with" and ask for his guidance on how to educate them. In other words, suck up. Sorry, unless you are indispensable, independently rich and/or your boss is the greatest ever, you are going to have to suck up once or twice before you reach retirement age. – ab2 Nov 01 '15 at 14:43
  • @ab2 Some people live in fear. Others don't. Using a word others aren't familiar with is never something to apologize for, if it is truly the right word for the situation and not done for shock value. I don't need my boss's guidance on "how to educate people". The ignorant need to suck up, not the erudite. Sure, we all play the political game and bow to appearance over substance and all that—but simple English words that an educated person ought to know? No. We have to draw the line somewhere. – ErikE Apr 14 '16 at 13:17
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First off, congratulations for knowing what the word means and using it! Double points for knowing how to pronounce it.

To my ear, there is nothing racial or offensive about the word renege. Just because one racial slur contains a particular syllable, it does not in my opinion tarnish all words containing that syllable. (Think enigma and denigrate.) However, as your supervisor clearly did not like the term, you should probably use it with caution around him.

Don't stop using it - just play it by ear when you do use it, and be sensitive to sensitivity. Another option you have is pronouncing it differently. The other pronunciations in Dictionary.com are /rɪ ˈnɛg/ and /rɪˈnig/ (ri-NEG and ri-NEEG). Also note that in writing, the word will (understandably) not be nearly as controversial, in any case.

A substitute in the context you provided is go back:

The vendor decided to go back on their offer of shipping replacement parts.

I would have a similar approach to niggardly; though I don't find fault with it, others do sometimes.

Daniel
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    It's also pronounced /rəˈneɪg/ in British English, which does avoid the problem. – Andrew Leach Jul 13 '12 at 20:00
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    -1 For proposing that people stop using correct words in order to appease people with incorrect assumptions. – Questioner Jul 21 '12 at 04:19
  • @Questioner hey it's the OP's (and any reader's) call. I said "Don't stop using it", but if they are directly told by their boss not to use it, and they wish to comply, whether it be because they're not very diplomatic or because they're just tired, then a synonym is the way to go. Why risk your standing with petty pedantry? – Daniel Nov 01 '15 at 12:57
  • @AndrewLeach Is the ‘aig’ part an unusual sound for American English speakers? I’ve noticed that the name ‘Craig’ seems to be generally pronounced Cregg in the US, or at least the parts of it that I see on various screens. – Spagirl Aug 01 '16 at 14:30
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I've never heard it used with racial overtones.

Medieval Latin renegare First Known Use: 1548

My guess would be they were overreacting to the 'nig' syllable.

I would concur with Daniel and just make a different word choice with those people.

mikeY
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    -1 For proposing that people stop using correct words in order to appease people with incorrect assumptions. – Questioner Jul 21 '12 at 04:19
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    @ Dave M G +1 for demonstrating how life must be in isolation, where one has no interaction with the real world. – mikeY Jul 24 '12 at 20:48
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    Your sarcasm is noted, but actually I find the criticism to be based on a misconception of what I'm saying. If you think about it, what I am promoting is dialogue: to communicate with the supervisor and talk about the real meaning of words, and the intentions behind them. So quite the opposite from isolation, I'm saying that one should engage other people and work with them, and educate them if need be, so that offense based on ignorance can be wiped out. – Questioner Jul 25 '12 at 02:22
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    From my experience, attempting to educate / enlighten others in these situations with rational argument and historical evidence often doesn't work, and it can backfire too. You can be accused of rationalising - so as to cover your gaff. And the reality seems to be that organisations believe that their reputation is more at risk from a single complainant, than from thousands of people who don't complain at all. I expect the supervisor would say: "Yes, I agree with you that it is ridiculous, but the word is controversial and therefore I prefer you to not use it again.", or similar. – Cargill Nov 26 '15 at 21:19