I've never heard the term as a New Zealander (perhaps not in right social circles though).
From first search:
The n-word pronounced with the final ‘r’ sound, as opposed to a softer pronunciation that often omits this sound
Over the decades, the n-word has evolved, with the softer version being reclaimed by some within the Black community as a term of endearment or camaraderie. However, the “hard R” variation remains a symbol of hate and discrimination.
A fecking weird distinction given that it depends on your accent. Hard-r is rhotic and here in NZ I think we mostly are non-rhotic and don't pronounce the r at the end of words: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rhoticity_in_English
Because I'm guessing the term "hard-R" only makes sense in some sociolinguistic US accents. As an outsider I can't really have an opinion. As an NZer I can say that unfortunately we sometimes get judged according to US language rules in some contexts - so the rules affect us so it sometimes helps me to know US practice.
My comment explains what hard-R means from the point of view of someone outside the states, and gives enough context for a non-native English speaker to understand the term. The subtleties of English are hard even for those with English as a mother tongue.
From the Wikipedia article:
Among certain speakers, like some in the northeastern coastal and southern United States,[6][2] rhoticity is a sociolinguistic variable: postvocalic /r/ is deleted depending on an array of social factors,[7] such as being more correlated in the 21st century with lower socioeconomic status, greater age, particular ethnic identities, and informal speaking contexts.
> As an NZer I can say that unfortunately we sometimes get judged according to US language rules in some contexts
I knew an American who, on his first visit to NZ, described how much he enjoyed eating kiwis to his horrified hosts. Of course he meant the Chinese gooseberry, which in US grocery stores is labeled a “kiwi”.
> However, in the late 20th century, the word was seen as a hurtful racial slur in English. It was called hate speech. "Nigger" was seen as very offensive to say or hear which caused many to not use the word at all. They instead called the word "The N-Word". It is said with a "hard R", because the word ends in 'er' instead of 'a', as in the word "nigga".
It was explained to me that it was an attempt for some in the black culture to "take back," that word in an attempt to declaw it by swapping out the -er for an -a and using it colloqually rather than insultingly. Other people in the black culture think that word shouldn't be used at all, hard R or not, because it is so historically disparaging. I tend to agree with the latter.
I always wondered why that word had such negative connotation over other pejoratives. I believe it was Maya Angelou who said, paraphrasing, "it's so hurtful because it was the last word people heard before the noose tightened around their neck."
> as far as I can tell they are used interchangeably.
They are not.
> Any chance the distinction existed long time ago"
What is "long time ago"? This stuff isn't exactly gone.
You really need to realize that American slavery really wasn't that long ago. It was only 1975 when the last survivor of American slavery died. Generational effects last and the reverberations of years of oppression still reverb very, very loudly today.
Linus thought "hard r" meant "retarded", when it actually means "nigger" (a really really bad slur, as opposed to soft-r, "nigga"). It was funny when everyone realized he didn't mean what they thought he meant.
> It was funny when everyone realized he didn't mean what they thought he meant.
this very much illustrates that blacklisting (sic) words leads to nothing but confusion, not mutual understanding to each other's speech, let alone understanding each other's position. is it what social justice warriors want to bring about general compassionating with?
I don't either. What does it mean?