Personally I think if you have to ask that question, then the answer is 'no'...

...but privately I suspect you already knew that!

I use it once in a while when it is part of a joke with somebody I know it doesn't offend, or as an in-joke. For example my best man, who is a Sikh, and I have a running joke in which I will call him a nigger and he will reply most indignantly that he is not a nigger, but a wog. This goes down particularly well at high-brow establishments where nobody knows us ;-)

Funnily enough, I don't think I have ever used the word without directing it at a black friend who is present (i.e. I never use the word to talk about other people). OK, the one exception is if I am using it to describe or ridicule the dubious racial views of somebody else.

And again, if you have to ask or to think about it, then it is probably good to assume it is NOT OK to use.

Posted By: Steve in Holland, Jun 8, 13:36:37