Let's get this straight right off the bat: the word "niggardly" means stingy. Anyone bothering to open a dictionary would know that it has no relation to a racial or ethnic slur, as its etymology dates back to Middle English. None of these facts helped a fourth-grade teacher in North Carolina who received a formal reprimand for using the word. Apparently "parent Akwana Walker, who is black, protested the use of the word, saying it offended her because it sounds similar to a racial slur." I can't tell you how much this irks me. It is patently obvious to the least intelligent person that this teacher was not using the word as a racial slur but was only trying to expand her students' vocabulary. The article recalls a similar incident in Washington, D.C., when an aide to the mayor was fired (and later rehired) for using the term. Read the friggin' dictionary and give me a break.