ganoncrotch said:
More or less the same as if you were to type Niger or Negro you probably wouldn't first jump to the river or the latin for the colour black? Maybe you would. |
Well, in portuguese we also have both meanings for the translation of this word (mentally challenged person/slowed something down), but I've never seen someone getting confused with it. This may be because the percentage of usage of its slang version is more balanced with its dictionary version, but still. We usually know the real meaning of what we are saying, even when that's not what we mean.
A good example would be the word "sinistro": we use it as "cool!" but we usually know it actually means "freaky"/"spooky" or even "left handed"...
I can't say I'd first jump to the meaning the speaker intended, but the context should help in situations like this, as in your example, in understanding what you mean by saying Niger. Unless people really don't know the longest river in the world (or even the country). XD
