Damon, You Silly "N...a"

Wayans, whose application was submitted early last year, could argue that the word he hopes to trademark, "Nigga," is different, says Todd Boyd, a professor of critical studies at the University of Southern California and author of the book "The New H.N.I.C.: The Death of Civil Rights and the Reign of Hip Hop."

"I don't think it's the same thing," Boyd says. "Hip-hop has redefined the word. It can mean a number of things. It can be a term of admiration. It can be a term of recognition."

Earlier this month, for example, a mostly white jury in Boulder, Colo., cleared a man of ethnic intimidation for using the N-word during a fight in which he broke a black man's jaw, but some younger jurors didn't think the word was offensive because it's so conversational in hip-hop culture.

Hip hop has "redefined" the word? I am not sure I agree with that. Redefined it to mean, what? Is it "redefined" like, say, the word "bitch?" Has hip hop redefined bitch?

This is silly, but, so is Wayans.