| The term may be a corruption of Nigerian, but is also thought to be derived from "negger", the German word for ploughman. In ye olden times, the ploughman would walk behind the horse and plough and, as a result, become covered in mud. The term was then used to describe slaves, either because they had to do crappy and unpleasant jobs like ploughing, or because their dark skin was reminiscent of a muddy ploughman.
It does make Arnold Schwarzenegger's name somewhat amusing though! |