David Howard was trying to use an academic approach, but was interpreted with emotional appeals by the audience. Many people in the audience assumed Howard’s use of the word “niggardly” to be misleading and offensive because of resemblances to a racial slur. Unfortunately, the connotative definition of niggardly took effect, instead of the denotative definition. Although, there was a misunderstanding, Howard’s pressure to resign is unbefitting. Indeed, he should have chosen to use a synonym of the word and become aware of his audience and surroundings. However, he expresses his guilt for the incident in an interview with New York Times, “'I should have thought, this is an arcane word, and everyone may not know it,' he said apologetically.”