Warb, I think you're confusing the word ignorant. Again, it's not an insult. It just means a lack of knowledge. You admitted you did not know what niggardly meant. Therefore, you were ignorant to its meaning, just like I am ignorant in the realm of cars. "Reasonable" and "ignorant" aren't antonyms. They aren't in any way related, actually. If these "reasonable" people you mention didn't know what the word niggardly meant, they're still ignorant, no matter how reasonable they are.

My main problem is that this reeks of a reversal of "innocent until proven guilty." Just like in the Politics thread before, I get the impression that you take circumstantial evidence and assume someone is racist due to related, but not necessarily damning, information. Like when you insinuated earlier in this thread that a person who uses the word "niggardly" might just be using it because they're aware of its connection to the other word and have some hidden, racially insensitive meaning.

Just to make it clear, I'm not trying to call you out. I'm genuinely enjoying this debate, and I hope you are too. If not, or if you feel I'm saying anything out of line, let me know, and I'll lay off. But if you're willing to keep going, so am I, and you can feel free not to hold back.