Yeah, we should all be careful about whatever we say anyway. People who don't know the REAL meaning of the word (or any word)can understandably take this term the wrong way. When I was a kid the word 'queer' meant simply 'different' or 'odd'; but as time went along it was derogitorily used toward gay people. So much so, that it seemed no longer to mean simply 'different'.
A friend of mine who is black told me of a meeting at work that he attended and someone used the word 'niggardly' which means reluctant to give or spend; stingy; miserly. This being a government meeting and funding always being an issue, the term was in a sense appropriately used. However; when a certain inflection is placed in the voice or eye contact is made with the only black person in the room when it was being said, even this can be inflametory.
