Some time in the early 1980s, I picked up a copy of _The Owl Service_, by Alan Garner.
I read and enjoyed it. It then went back on my shelve, where it sat until a few days
ago (including through three moves).

During my current read, I encountered the name "Dicky Nignog", possibly referring to
an author. I've always that that second name was an ethnic slur. Apparently not.

I searched on-line. Duck-Duck-Go sent me to the wikipedia page on _The Owl Service_,
which seemed promising. But, searching that page turned up no occurrences of the
string "Nig".

Now, I'm doubly puzzled. I still don't get the reference, and now I don't understand
why a search engine would think that the wikipedia page was relevant when it made
no reference to the name.

Any ideas?

<https://www.isfdb.org/cgi-bin/title.cgi?7705> <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Owl_Service>
--
Michael F. Stemper
Always use apostrophe's and "quotation marks" properly.

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On Fri, 25 Jul 2025 08:28:48 -0500, "Michael F. Stemper" <michael.stemper@gmail.com> wrote:

Some time in the early 1980s, I picked up a copy of _The Owl Service_, =

by Alan Garner.

I read and enjoyed it. It then went back on my shelve, where it sat =

until a few days

ago (including through three moves).

During my current read, I encountered the name "Dicky Nignog", possibly = referring to
an author. I've always that that second name was an ethnic slur. =

Apparently not.

I searched on-line. Duck-Duck-Go sent me to the wikipedia page on _The =

Owl Service_,

which seemed promising. But, searching that page turned up no =

occurrences of the

string "Nig".

Now, I'm doubly puzzled. I still don't get the reference, and now I =

don't understand

why a search engine would think that the wikipedia page was relevant =

when it made

no reference to the name.

Any ideas?

<https://www.isfdb.org/cgi-bin/title.cgi?7705> ><https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Owl_Service>

Bing produced <https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/nig-nog> which confirms
a racist use.
--=20
"Here lies the Tuscan poet Aretino,
Who evil spoke of everyone but God,
Giving as his excuse, 'I never knew him.'"

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"Michael F. Stemper" <michael.stemper@gmail.com> posted:

Some time in the early 1980s, I picked up a copy of _The Owl Service_, by Alan Garner.
I read and enjoyed it. It then went back on my shelve, where it sat until a few days
ago (including through three moves).

During my current read, I encountered the name "Dicky Nignog", possibly referring to
an author. I've always that that second name was an ethnic slur. Apparently not.

I searched on-line. Duck-Duck-Go sent me to the wikipedia page on _The Owl Service_,
which seemed promising. But, searching that page turned up no occurrences of the
string "Nig".

Now, I'm doubly puzzled. I still don't get the reference, and now I don't understand
why a search engine would think that the wikipedia page was relevant when it made
no reference to the name.

Any ideas?

<https://www.isfdb.org/cgi-bin/title.cgi?7705> <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Owl_Service>

When I lived in England in the 60s and 70s, 'nignog' was definitely a racial slur.

The Owl Service is a wonderful book. I also have very fond memories of The Weirdstone
of Brisingamen, and The Moon of Gomrath. The latter two are very location specific, and
you could track every movement on an Ordnance Survey map.

Pt

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On 7/25/2025 9:28 AM, Michael F. Stemper wrote:

Some time in the early 1980s, I picked up a copy of _The Owl Service_,
by Alan Garner.
I read and enjoyed it. It then went back on my shelve, where it sat
until a few days
ago (including through three moves).

During my current read, I encountered the name "Dicky Nignog", possibly referring to
an author. I've always that that second name was an ethnic slur.
Apparently not.

I searched on-line. Duck-Duck-Go sent me to the wikipedia page on _The
Owl Service_,
which seemed promising. But, searching that page turned up no
occurrences of the
string "Nig".

Now, I'm doubly puzzled. I still don't get the reference, and now I
don't understand
why a search engine would think that the wikipedia page was relevant
when it made
no reference to the name.

Any ideas?

<https://www.isfdb.org/cgi-bin/title.cgi?7705> <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Owl_Service>

I believe I've solved it.

First, 'nig nog'.

While I only ever heard it as a racial slur,
it has a much deeper history. It's mentioned in a
1698 dictionary of cant (I'd actually read an
original copy at college, but didn't remember this
word):

"From the cant word nigmenog, denoting a very silly
fellow, according to A New Dictionary of the Terms
Ancient and Modern of the Canting Crew (c.1698).[1]
Compare ning-nong."

https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/nig-nog

I've found other references to it being a non-racial
insult as well.

Apparently unrelated, there was a children's
"Nignog Club" in northern England in the pre
War years.


http://www.morecambeandwise.com/viewpage.aspx?pageid=360

How did it get in the book as 'Dicky Nignog?

Gwyn has borrowed a copy of the Mabinogian
from a detested teacher at school, whose
bookplates read:

"Ex Libris R. St. J. Williams. Llangynog"

R. is presumably 'Richard', hence Dick, and
Dicky.

Llangynog is a village in northern Wales.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Llangynog

The Wikipedia page includes audio of the
correct Welsh pronunciation.

While the 'nig' part isn't really there,
the 'nog' is, and its close enough for
English-speaking kids to turn it into an
insulting nickname for a despised teacher.

So, no racism required.

pt







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On 25/07/2025 19.56, Cryptoengineer wrote:

On 7/25/2025 9:28 AM, Michael F. Stemper wrote:

During my current read, I encountered the name "Dicky Nignog", possibly referring to
an author. I've always that that second name was an ethnic slur. Apparently not.

I searched on-line. Duck-Duck-Go sent me to the wikipedia page on _The Owl Service_,
which seemed promising. But, searching that page turned up no occurrences of the
string "Nig".

I believe I've solved it.

First, 'nig nog'.

While I only ever heard it as a racial slur,
it has a much deeper history. It's mentioned in a
1698 dictionary of cant (I'd actually read an
original copy at college, but didn't remember this
word):

"From the cant word nigmenog, denoting a very silly
fellow, according to A New Dictionary of the Terms
Ancient and Modern of the Canting Crew (c.1698).[1]
Compare ning-nong."

https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/nig-nog

I've found other references to it being a non-racial
insult as well.

Apparently� unrelated, there was a children's
"Nignog Club" in northern England in the pre
War years.

http://www.morecambeandwise.com/viewpage.aspx?pageid=360

How did it get in the book as 'Dicky Nignog?

Gwyn has borrowed a copy of the Mabinogian
from a detested teacher at school, whose
bookplates read:

"Ex Libris R. St. J. Williams. Llangynog"

R. is presumably 'Richard', hence Dick, and
Dicky.

Llangynog is a village in northern Wales.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Llangynog

The Wikipedia page includes audio of the
correct Welsh pronunciation.

While the 'nig' part isn't really there,
the 'nog' is, and its close enough for
English-speaking kids to turn it into an
insulting nickname for a despised teacher.

So, no racism required.

Wow! You covered all the bases. Thanks.

--
Michael F. Stemper
This post contains greater than 95% post-consumer bytes by weight.


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