Green’s Dictionary of Slang

1. a derog. term for a black person.

1828		T.D. Rice Jim Crow x: De Nigs in ole Virginny Be so black dey shine [DA].
1844		‘Dandy Jim from Caroline’ 🎵 An ebery little nig she had, / Was de berry image ob de dad.
1856		Life in Boston & N.Y. (Boston, MA) 25 Oct. n.p.: Aunt E., leave that nig alone and reform before his Satanic Majesty calls for you.
1857		Bell’s Life in Victoria (Melbourne) 14 Mar. 3/6: Pompey: Come Samby — pay me you nig — you owe me two dollar.
1862		E.K. Wightman letter 29 Sept. in Longacre From Antietam to Fort Fisher (1985) 46: We have little nigs (under 12 years).
1869		C.G. Leland ‘Breitmann in Battle’ in Hans Breitmann’s Party 8: I’m greener ash de clofer-grass; I’m shtupid as ashpoon; / I’m ignoranter ash de nigs — for dey takes de Tribune.
1873		J. O’Connor Wanderings of a Vagabond 384: He concluded that ‘Georgia,’ [...] would try some masquerading scheme upon the ‘nigs’.
1880		Bulletin (Sydney) 11 Dec. 9/4: Douglas is the personification of mildnerss, except when ‘nigs’ are about.
1887		G. Devol Forty Years a Gambler 295: I would post some old ‘nig’ what to say when I went on board.
1890		Dead Bird (Sydney) 9 Aug. 2/2: He hired a little nig. to go up there with a pigeon.
1895		J.S. Wood Yale Yarns 73: I’m a worryin’ myself fer fear them nigs ’ll eat all the paint off my new waggin’.
1900		Bulletin (Sydney) 10 Nov. 24/3: Yankee reps. had a heap the best of the deal with their army of trainers and colored ‘rubbers’ [...] They weren’t even asked to think for themselves; trainers did all that and instructed the nigs. how and when to groom their men.
1908		Sun. Times (Perth) 27 Dec. 4/8: Supposing that Johnson the nig., / Who yesterday battered Burns / [etc.].
1914		Sport (Adelaide) 18 Dec. 5/3: [of Native Australians] Frank C and Dusky G, the two nigs, will give a corroboree shortly.
1915		F. Garrett diary 20 Dec. 🌐 The nigs quite deserved it [i.e a beating]. They try to take down at every opportunity and charge exorbitant prices.
1916		T. Burke Limehouse Nights 258: I was hustling the match with Flash Fred, and we took a big nig off the water for the works. I stood for the finish on him, and it listens like good music to me, cos he don’t tip me. Fred spotted him an officed me to pull the rough stuff. Rough’s my middle name [...] But the nig was fresh and shouted for the blue boys. Well, we handed out some punk stuff, and then I levanted, and now I’m lying cavey a bit, see?
1919		in Columbia Press Yank Talk 9: Look he’ nige [...] bette’ not fool with me.
1924		Gippsland Times (Vic.) 15 Sept. 1/4: So now you brainy white man don’t look upon the nig [i.e. Aborigine] / As some strange kind of biped related to a pig.
1929		K.S. Prichard Coonardoo 170: He and his mate, with loaded guns behind the nigs.
1934		A. Russell Tramp-Royal 255: The ‘nigs’ . . . poor devils [...] We ran a cordon round the hill an’ pepperd ’em until there wasn’t a ‘nig’ showing.
1934		C. Drew ‘Shakespeare Harry’s Runner’ in Bulletin 27 June 50/4: Regan [...] beat the nig. by half a yard.
1939		J. Cary Mister Johnson (1952) 127: Haw, haw. Scuse me, Wog – always makes me laugh to ’ear a nig talk of England as ’ome.
1947		E. Rutherford 3 Apr. diary in Garfield Our Hidden Lives (2004) 375: Alas for the poor nig who jumped on the royal car in South Africa.
1959		W. Hall Long and the Short and the Tall Act I: Stand still, you nig!
1965		F. Pollini Glover 278: You still seeing that Nig? No kidding, hon?
1981		A. Weller Day of the Dog 48: They hate us nigs, if that ain’t the truth.
1993		B. Moore Lex. of Cadet Lang. 243: nig (also nigger) 1. a negro, a black; an Aboriginal; any person whose skin has more melanin than a ‘white’s’, e.g. an Asian.
1997		E. Little Another Day in Paradise 183: ‘Your [sic] talking nigs that are armed to the teeth.’.
2006		F.X. Toole Pound for Pound 142: Sykes is a tough nig.

2. a Native American.

1856

Life in Boston & N.Y. (Boston, MA) 11 Oct. n.p.: We would like to say a few words about the Indian meeting [...] Jack, you will have the heaves if you don’t leave the nigs alone.

3. (US) used non-pejoratively of a black person or as the name of a (domestic) animal.

1863		Chicago Tribune 29 Sept. 3/3: A sorrel horse ‘Tom,’ [...] [a] black horse ‘Nig’.
1864		‘Edmund Kirke’ Down in Tennessee 112: Whot fools ye poo’ white folk kin make o’ yourselves. Loike as ef Tennessee nigs ’ud ’sociate wid dem white trash.
1886		Eve. Star (Wash., DC) 13 Mar. 4/2: Lost Yesterday, A Black Terrier Dog, named ‘Nig’.
1887		Nebraska Signal (Fairmont, NE) 6 Jan. 9/3: I will sell the property [...] One black horse named ‘Nig,’ one set double harness.
1888		M.D. Woodward Checkered Years (1937) 232: Yesterday our cat caught a bird [...] I could have killed old Nig!
1892		Indep.-Record (Helena, MT) 3 Sept. 4/4: A good-natured black dog named ‘Nig’.
1902		Agricultural College of Utah (Logan, UT) 158: [of a horse] Nig drank a daily average of 4.1 pounds more water when fed lucern.
1915		E.L. Masters Spoon River Anthology n.p.: Together in this grave lie Benjamin Pantier, attorney at law, / And Nig, his dog, constant companion, solace and friend.
1922		‘Kept Busy’ in T.W. Talley Negro Folk Rhymes 109: She’s de sweetes’ thing in town; / An’ when I sees dat Nig / She makes my heart go ‘pitty-pat’.
1931		B. Lubbock Bully Hayes 173: He liked ’em black, hefty square-built woolly-pated nigs from the New Hebrides.
1992		Eble Campus Sl. Apr. 6: nig – black woman’s boyfriend: ‘Let me introduce you to my new nig.’ Used only by African Americans.

4. a white ‘nigger minstrel’.

1889

Music Hall & Theatre Rev 6 Apr. 120/2: ‘Silence and Fun’ is provided by Griffon and Marks, smart ‘nigs’ both.

5. a term of address to a black person, usu. derog.

1897		Irving Jones ‘Take Your Clothes and Go’ 🎵 Then this coon got raving mad! she said ‘Nig, now don’t get bad, for an ambulance will carry you away!’.
1935		Z.N. Hurston Mules and Men (1995) 44: ‘Shet up, Nig.’ ‘Seaboard’ Hamilton pretended to be outraged.
1961		L. McMurtry Horseman, Pass By (1997) 114: Turn over here, nig.

6. a nickname for a white person; cit. 1944 refers to the ‘humorous’ nickname of a Caucasian surnamed White.

1944		R. Olds Helldiver Squadron 78: One of the Hornet vets was Lieutenant Harold (Nig) White, a giant from Florence, South Carolina, and former all-American football star [...] Nig, with a big grin on his face, was walking toward Moe.
2002		A. Duff Jake’s Long Shadow 76: Then Nig got killed in the gang fight. [...] Beth and I gave him that nickname because very young he had an ear for black music.

7. a derog. term for an East Asian.

1977

(con. 1969) M. Herr Dispatches 40: You ever catch one of those li’l nigs just pinch ’em. Pinch ’em hard.