They already stole “gay” from us. Likewise “niggardly”
the loss of gay was bad enough; it already feels so strange to use it in some other context; but I’m drawing a damn line at ‘niggardly’...carry on niggards, I say...
and what about the novelist Carla Neggers...? Hmmm....
>> I’m drawing a damn line at ‘niggardly’..<<
There is no substiute word. “Gay” has happy, carefree, and many more.
“Niggardly” has no easy substitute. “Miserly” isn’t the same. Likewise “cheap,” “tight,” “stingy” or any other similar word.
“He gave his compliments out in a niggardly fashion, as if each one came out of a very limited bag infrequently refilled.”
None of the substitutes really works in that sentence.