Swearing?!

[Hardy Boys UB Fan]

Well then- all you really need to know is that it is considered a racially derogatory term for African Americans and you should never use it.
(Of course, I have no idea why some black rappers choose to use the word in their music, but anyway...)
   You have to understand that in the 1920s, though not everyone was necessarily a racist or agreed with "how things were", people did commonly use the word. And in the instances that I've seen Frank and Joe use it (so far, just once in the original text version of The House on the Cliff - they were using it as part of a common phrase of the time, apparently meaning that they were caught unawares. It was not necessary, but I imagine that Leslie McFarlane and Edward Stratemeyer didn't think anything of it at the time because that is what was commonly accepted at that time. It doesn't make it right but there you have it. And in Frank and Joe's defense, at least in this one case, I really don't think they were trying to be racially demeaning- it was probably just a common phrase they had heard, and like the rest of their society, they didn't think anything of it.

I know. Now that you mention it, I was reading Nancy Drew, Nancy's Mysterious Letter, (original text version) and it had some racists comments in it. I was like, "Whoa, this isn't like the 1960's version at all."    

[SDLagent]

I know. Now that you mention it, I was reading Nancy Drew, Nancy's Mysterious Letter, (original text version) and it had some racists comments in it. I was like, "Whoa, this isn't like the 1960's version at all."    

Never heard of it.

[Hardy Boys UB Fan]

Never heard of it.

Must have the wrong book, then.

[tomswift2002]

in the 1927 version of The House On The Cliff Fenton Hardy uses the phrase "Sounds like there's a nigger in the woodpile", which wasn't a swear word or swearing term at the time, but was more like someone saying "Out of the fire and into the frying pan" nowadays when referring to trouble.  Now then it could've been turned into a swearing phrase if someone had inserted some other colorful language in the sentence, but back in the 20's it was just a way of saying that there was trouble.

[Hardy Boys UB Fan]

in the 1927 version of The House On The Cliff Fenton Hardy uses the phrase "Sounds like there's a nigger in the woodpile", which wasn't a swear word or swearing term at the time, but was more like someone saying "Out of the fire and into the frying pan" nowadays when referring to trouble.  Now then it could've been turned into a swearing phrase if someone had inserted some other colorful language in the sentence, but back in the 20's it was just a way of saying that there was trouble.

Thanks! That makes sense!