MovieChat Forums > Fame chimica (2004) Discussion > The word 'N' (In English)

The word 'N' (In English)

posted 15 years ago by davidtraversa-1
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David Traversa
Although this is a very late comment to Cris Knipp's critic, I want to clarify a wrong notion expressed in his comment. He says that in this movie, some characters used the word "Negri" (Plural of "Negro"), the equivalent of the "N" word in English, as he puts it. This is not so. "Negro" is the Spanish word for "Black", whose plural is "Negros". Obviously in Italian they italianized the word that specifies the race, with its plural form "Negri". "Nero" being the italian singular, not for the race, but as the name of the color "Black". "Negro" indicates a color in Spanish (as Red, Yellow, etc.), and it ALSO indicates de race, but by no means it has the pejorative meaning of the word "N"!!! (Wow! I hope I made myself clear!).

[–] nikcav-212-691116 8 years ago

I don't know how you could say this. I'm Italian, and I can confirm Knipps's take: in Italy "Negro" is used as a derogatory term for black people, and is used exactly like the N-word in English. Of course, it can be used as a "term of endearment" within the black community (as Q-Tip once put it in ATCQ's Sucka N****), just like the N-word in English. And there's some (limited) debate about if, since originally the term was used just to denote a "race", the term should be used more freely in order to deprive of any force its derogatory use (something like what Lenny Bruce mantained eons ago about the N-word). But, today just like in 2004, "Negro" is still considered a pretty nasty word, and in no way is considered a neutral term to denote a "race".

[–] davidtraversa-1 8 years ago

David Traversa
Gentile Nikcav: I wrote what I wrote after many years of experience living in Spain and now in Argentina, that I left for many-many years and now I'm back home again.

I don't know about your experience with that word. I just can talk from MY point of view, what I had lived.
Although I lived in Italy for a few years, I don't remember EVER having heard that word in any place, so, mi dispiace, I couldn't have had the experience that you obviously had.

But I can assure you that in those two other countries I mentioned above, the word NEGRO indicates a COLOR, LIKE ANY OTHER COLOR OF THE RAINBOW and it also indicates a nickname for men, as NEGRA is used as a nickname for women, and believe you me, there are NO NEGATIVE CONNOTATIONS in using that nickname AT ALL.

I must clarify that it's in Argentina where NEGRO is used very-very often as a nickname, I think that in Spain is less usual and maybe less casual too (colorwise, they use it all the time).

I explained in my first comment that NEGRO is a SPANISH word and has no connotations whatsoever with race or prejudices (by the way, neither Spain nor Argentina hate black people at all and less yet with the fury they are hated in the USA, and I lived there for a looooong time, the longest time compared with those other countries).

The husband of one of my unties had that nickname (he was caucasian, jet black hair and gray-blue eyes) and the Negro nickname was due to his jet black hair, NOTHING ELSE.

I'm so sorry that our experiences diverge so much, but i keep firmly stated what I said.

Arrivederci caro Nikcav!