Dot Wordsworth

Mind your language | 12 January 2008

I was looking at bird-feeders reputed to resist the attentions of squirrels as a suitable present for my husband, who already often sits in his armchair nursing his whisky glass and staring out of the window, when I came across a sinister outrage on the English language.

issue 12 January 2008

An advertisement for birdfood said: ‘To differentiate between the imported niger oilseed, used to feed wild birds, and thistle — as well as to eliminate any possibility of offensively mispronouncing the word “niger” — the Wild Bird Feeding Industry trademarked the name Nyjer in 1998.’ They might have done, if an industry can, but I’ve seen a packet of seed bearing the name of the British Trust for Ornithology, on sale at a garden centre, labelled ‘Nyger’ in big letters, which is neither one thing nor the other.

There is also a standard blurb that birdseed merchants copy on to their websites, both in Britain and America. The section on escaped specimens of niger has been updated, but some websites also preserve both the older version in rather comical juxtaposition, thus: ‘Occasionally a fertile seed slips in that is capable of sprouting and people may find that the yellow flowering plant growing under their Nyjer feeder is indeed Guizotia abyssinica, which will make their finches very happy! This is not necessarily good news because even though niger (Nyjer) is not a weed, it spreads like one and produces zillions of seeds.

Comments

Join the debate for just $5 for 3 months

Be part of the conversation with other Spectator readers by getting your first three months for $5.

Already a subscriber? Log in