Wednesday, October 3, 2012

Of all the Creole expression made with word nèg, is it possible that one of them is very denigrating. I don't want to use the wrong one.

I think some English speakers might think that there's a connection with the denigrating N word and the word Nèg in Haitian Creole.  Or... some people just want to be politically correct.
I haven't seen the Haitian Creole word nèg used in a damning way such as the N word.
The word nèg might translate man (black skin, light skin, or caucasian), black man, or negro.  And, it is politically correct in Haiti.

Some of the expressions I can think of (which are used in everyday conversation) are the following:
If you can think of more expression using the H. creole word nèg, please add to the comment section.  Thanks.
Grannèg → big shot, rich man
Nèg lespri → smart people with lots of knowledge
Nèg save → same as nèg lespri
Gwo nèg → big guy, brawny, big boned
Bon nèg → good (honest) man (just as move nèg means bad (not trustworthy) man
Neg sòt → stupid fellow
Nèg lakay (nèg natifnatal) → native
Nèg ginen → same as nèg natifnatal
Nèg pa’m → my pal, my buddy, my chum
Nèg mawon → runaway negro
Nèg mòn → country man
Nèg fèy same as nèg mòn, also people who act clumsily in public
Nèg kannay → an older man who's "robbing the cradle", acting much younger than he looks, dating a much younger person
Nèg vini → a man new to his environment, who hasn't gotten accustomed to his surroundings yet, who's not yet popular in his circle.
etc...

Haitian Creole ↔ English Reference, Look up Haitian Creole and English Words

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