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>The only place I can seem to find any real opinion other than the simple "Its bad" seems to be in stand up routines, so I want to hear what you have to say.

I have some suggestions.

Start with Randall Kennedy's book, and then watch the documentary "The N Word".

I also recommend this discussion between Cornel West and Michael Eric Dyson, hosted by Tavis Smiley.

There's more, but that should get you started.

There was a GIF making the rounds recently, in which a black woman says (to the best of my memory): "You want to say it, but you don't want the unemployment gap. You want to say it, but you don't want to get pulled over all the time for no reason. You want to say it, but you don't want poverty and discrimination." That pretty much sums it up for me.

The word has a long history of dehumanization and white supremacy, and while black folks have endeavored mightily to reclaim some of their humanity by turning it into a term of endearment for each other (much like gay people call each other "queers" in a loving way), I don't know of a single white person who has earned the right to say it in that way. (Well, maybe Tim Wise, but he wouldn't want to.)

As far as I recall, my student dictionary from school had that. I think it was a Collins dictionary.

Just had a look on Amazon and this one seems to be good:
Easier English Student Dictionary: Over 32,000 Terms Clearly Defined (Easier English) https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/0747566240/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_Scg8BbZA97SYR

As you have seen in the other responses there is indeed a large portion of lingusitics and anthropology and cognitve science and sociology devoted to how language has shaped cultures and vice versa . Indeed, there are many concepts for which some cultures have no words.

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Here's one list of some of the better known examples:

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https://www.rocketlanguages.com/blog/20-of-the-worlds-most-beautiful-untranslatable-words/

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There are somr fun books about this topic

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They Have A Word for It

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Lost In Transalation

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Other Worldly

I am sure there must be dictionaries or websites catering to readers of specific much-published authors. Such as Dickens, for example. These lists would only contain words no longer common today, as these are the only words that need explaining.

But there are a lot of books published that call themselves "dictionary" or "concordance", even though they do NOT contain any vocabulary! So beware what you buy!

I only found one book so far that really seems to concern itself with vocabulary (albeit not in an academical but in an entertaining manner): https://www.amazon.co.uk/What-Dickens-Distinctly-Dickensian-Words/dp/0762460776/

I'm reading this book now. Here is the link. https://www.amazon.com/Word-Detective-Evan-Morris/dp/1565122399/ref=sr_1_6?crid=1D02N8IX680AY&keywords=the+word+detective&qid=1565388490&s=books&sprefix=The+Word+Detec%2Caps%2C181&sr=1-6

Bogart is kind of obscure..

http://www.amazon.com/The-Boggart-Susan-Cooper/dp/0689869304/

I know it because of Yarrow by Charles Delint.

The book is The Word Project: Odd & Obscure Words- Illustrated by Polly M. Law

Quoted from Bernstein's Reverse Dictionary,




>awesome, imposing: august








>awesome, ominous: portentous












>awesome, intimidating, challenging: formidable