I was just wondering when "Faggot" came to mean "Homosexual male" and when it came to have its negative connotation, because as I understand it (Since I started reading the Lord of The Rings) it just means a pack of cigarettes in England. :eusa_thin
Well now days people say 'fag'. I hear the words 'I need a fag' about 20 times a day. I actually feel really uncomfortable when I hear that. I live in England, but I grew up in spain, and it might be said I wasn't exposed to much slang IRL, and so everything I learnt was online. Needless to say, I grew up thinking 'fag' was a terrible word.
Side note, if you're out of cigarettes and you ask your mate to have one of theirs, you would say "can I bum a fag?" Oh, the hilarity.
No, sorry, I meant that as more of an addition to the linguistic coincidences related to the word 'fag'
people say that "faggot" used to mean a bundle of sticks, like to be used as kindling. that meaning makes the meaning switch to "pack of cigarettes" pretty clear, but not to "homosexual male." some think that it's a reference to burning gay people to death, which would definitely explain the negative connotation.....
I just looked up the words. It appears faggot goes back to 1914 or so. Webster says: "earlier and dialect, contemptuous word for a woman or child, probably from fagot." The Free Dictionary says about the same time for earliest known use, but unknown origin. Also note that in the US "fagot" (one g) is the word for sticks, and "faggot" (double g) is the word for gay male. "Faggot" for sticks is British. Not that I'd use fagot...it's too likely to be confused. As I well recall from high school when one classmate discovered that "faggot" wasn't just a word used to insult other boys....