Faggot (epithet)

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Faggot or fag, in modern American, Canadian and Australian English usage, is a generally pejorative term for a gay or effeminate man. Its use has spread to varying extents elsewhere in the English-speaking world.

Contents 1 Etymology 2 British meanings 2.1 "Faggot" 2.2 "Fag" 2.3 The American Meaning in Britain 3 Earliest written uses 4 Usage in popular culture 5 See also 6 References 7 External links

Etymology

The origins of the word in this sense are rather obscure.

It is often claimed that the derivation is associated directly with faggot meaning "bundle of sticks for burning", since homosexuals were supposedly burnt at the stake in medieval England. This, however, was never an established punishment for homosexuality in England, although, according to one source, those accused of homosexual acts were sometimes doused in fuel and used in place of sticks for the burning of supposed witches.^[1] However, this practice, if it ever indeed existed, ended centuries before the word faggot became associated with gay people. ^[2]

The word has also been used since the late sixteenth century to mean "old or unpleasant woman", and this would appear the most likely derivation.^[3] Female terms, it should be noted, are often used with reference to homosexual or effeminate men (cf. nancy, sissy, queen). The application of the term to old women may be a shortening of the term "faggot-gatherer", applied in the nineteenth century to people, especially older widows, who made a meagre living by gathering and selling firewood.^[4] It may also derive from the sense of "something awkward to be carried", an etymology that is more plausible if one considers the use of "baggage" as a pejorative term for old women.^[5]

The Yiddish word faygele, lit. "little bird", is claimed by some as the origin of the word. The difference in form between the two words makes this unlikely to be true, although it may have had a reinforcing effect.^[6]

British meanings

"Faggot"

The primary traditional meaning of the word is indeed 'a bundle of sticks for burning' . Another meaning, especially common in Wales and the Black Country, is a kind of pork meatball covered in gravy. See Faggot (food).

The word faggot is occasionally used in parts of Britain to denote a silly or foolish person, presumably as an extension of its earlier association with old women. In the pilot episode of the 1960s British comedy In Loving Memory from Yorkshire Television, undertaker Jeremiah Unsworth is killed in an accident at work. After the funeral, widow Ivy receives the condolences of her old friend Amy Jenkins, who says, "He heard the call. He answered it. And he fell in the line of duty. No man can ask for a better epitaph than that." Ivy thanks her, says good-bye, and then turns to her nephew, Billy, as soon as the door is shut and says in reference to Amy, "Silly old faggot! 'He heard the call?' 'He answered it?' The only call your Uncle Jeremiah ever heard was, 'Time, Gentlemen, please!'."

"Fag"

In British English the term fag (though not faggot) most commonly means a cigarette. A military marching song popular with the British army during the First World War featured the line "while there's a Lucifer (matchstick) to light your fag...". This is derived from the original meaning (OED 1) of "fag-end" :"the last part of a piece of cloth", which by extension became used (OED 2, 1st citation 1612) for "the last part or portion of anything". When cigarettes were invented, this was applied to the unsmoked part, and then came to mean the whole cigarette. But the various historic British uses of "fag" and "faggot" were always distinct.

"Fag" was a term used for a junior boy who acted as a servant for a senior boy at Eton College, near Eton, Berkshire, and other British public schools. This practice, known as "fagging", was ended in the 1970s. Since the homosexual meaning was not common in the UK at this time and seems to have been first attached to faggot, not fag, this is not a likely origin for the American use of the word.

The American Meaning in Britain

Originally confined to the United States, the homosexual sense of "fag" and "faggot" has been spread by American popular culture to other English-speaking countries, where it has partly displaced terms such as "queer" or the British "poof" as colloquial or abusive terms for gay men, particularly among heterosexual youth. However, the continuing use of "fag" and "faggot" with other meanings in the British isles has severely limited adoption of the American usage there.

The use of fag and faggot to mean homosexual have become understood as an Americanism in British English, primarily due to their use in films and television series imported from the United States. When Labour MP Bob Marshall-Andrews was heard supposedly using the word in a bad-tempered informal exchange with a straight colleague in the House of Commons lobby in November 2005, he was criticised for using homophobic abuse.^{[citation needed]}

Earliest written uses

The earliest known reference to the word in print was in the 1914 Jackson and Hellyer A Vocabulary of Criminal Slang, with Some Examples of Common Usages which listed the following example under the word, drag:

"All the fagots (sissies) will be dressed in drag at the ball tonight."

The word was also used by a character in Claude McKay’s 1928 novel Home to Harlem, indicating that it was used during the Harlem Renaissance. Specifically, one character says that he can't understand:

"a bulldyking woman and a faggoty man"

Usage in popular culture

Historically, "fag" and "faggot" have been offensive terms when addressed to American males. However in recent years, both terms have been reclaimed by gay men in a defiant, self-consciously empowering or self-mocking way, much in the way some African Americans have taken to using the word "nigger" among themselves. A common example of this would be usage of the term "fag hag" to describe a woman who associates with (and may prefer as non-sexual social partners) gay men, though this use, too, was originally pejorative. When used as a pejorative, however, it is still a term of abuse. The term has also been used to describe lesbians or other homosexual women.

The Dire Straits song "Money for Nothing" makes notable use of the epithet "faggot", although later version of song have the offending lines excised,^{[citation needed]} and in live performances Mark Knopfler will use such minced oaths as "mothertrucker" in place of "faggot".

In the early 1990's, Sebastian Bach, lead singer of the band Skid Row, created a controversy when he wore a t-shirt with the parody slogan "Aids: Kills Fags Dead".^[7]

In 1995, former House Majority Leader Dick Armey referred to openly gay congressman Barney Frank as "Barney Fag" in a press interview. ^[8]

On July 27, 2006 American Republican pundit Ann Coulter said that the former Vice President of the United States (Al Gore) was a "total fag", and that former President of the United States (Bill Clinton) was a "latent homosexual", while being inteviewed by MSNBC's Chris Matthews^[9]. Coulter caused a major controversy on the LGBT community; and GLAAD and other gay rights organizations demanded to know the reason why such an offensive usage of the word was permitted by the network.

In October 2006, Grey's Anatomy star Isaiah Washington called his co-star T.R. Knight a "faggot" on the set during an argument with Patrick Dempsey. According to Knight, the incident led to him publicly coming out of the closet.^[10] Washington again made another outburst using the epithet, this time backstage at the Golden Globe Awards. In January 2007, Washington issued a public apology for using the word "faggot" and went into rehab to help him with what the show's creator Shonda Rimes referred to as "his behavioral issues."^[11]

In 2007, Ann Coulter created a controversy when she made an off-color joke: "I was going to have a few comments on the other Democratic presidential candidate John Edwards, but it turns out you have to go into rehab if you use the word 'faggot,' so I'm kind of at an impasse, can't really talk about Edwards..."^[12][4] Her comments using the "f-word" has triggered a huge response, including a campaign initiated by a gay rights group and media watchdog to persuade mainstream media outlets to dump her for good. There is now an on-line petition with 40,000 signatures to pressure Universal Press Syndicate and newspapers that publish Coulter's words to drop her.^[13]

See also

• Batty boy
• hate speech
• hate mail

References

External links

• How did "faggot" get to mean "male homosexual"? on The Straight Dope.
• Entries for faggot on Urban Dictionary.