Did you read Portly's posts? That was really the point of mine – to introduce you to and point you at hers.

From Portly's third post:

I've seen discussions about whether the word "niggardly" is racist or not, whether or not the origin of the phrase"rule of thumb" refers to domestic violence, and whether the term "lame" has entered common usage to the extent that people who have difficulty walking should just stop being offended and shut up about it, already.

Now, I know that the word "niggardly" is not etymologically derived from a racial slur, but so what? If my listener/reader doesn't know this, do I really want to derail from whatever topic it is I'm addressing by pressing that debate, just so I can sound like a Dickens character?

The point of my post was simply to direct you to hers, not argue about the etymology of my particular example… which is why I originally said "Let's just go with the example, okay?"