niggardly 的词源

“sordidly parsimonious, stingy”，1560年代，来源于 niggard + -ly (1)。

It was while giving a speech in Washington, to a very international audience, about the British theft of the Elgin marbles from the Parthenon. I described the attitude of the current British authorities as "niggardly." Nobody said anything, but I privately resolved — having felt the word hanging in the air a bit — to say "parsimonious" from then on. [Christopher Hitchens, "The Pernicious Effects of Banning Words," Slate.com, Dec. 4, 2006]

我在华盛顿发表演讲，向一个国际化的听众讲述英国从帕台农神庙盗取埃尔金大理石的事情。我形容当前英国当局的态度为“niggardly”。没有人说什么，但我私下里决定——因为我感觉这个词在空气中悬挂了一会儿——从那时起要说“parsimonious”。[克里斯托弗·希钦斯，《禁止词语的有害影响》，Slate.com，2006年12月4日]

作为副词，“parsimoniously, grudgingly”，来源于1520年代。相关词：Niggardliness。