| VEGANGELICA |
02-22-2012 03:12 PM |
Quote:
Originally Posted by VEGANGELICA
(Post 1157561)
However, the word "***got" as a slur originated because of homophobia and so can be perceived as derogatory toward gay people and as perpetuating discrimination against gay people whenever it used as a putdown, even if the speaker doesn't intend the word to be a putdown of homosexuality.
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Quote:
Originally Posted by skaltezon
(Post 1157566)
I disagree about the origin. English is a fluid language where context is often all-important.
And 'fag' or 'faggot' has never been exclusively a homosexual slur.
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I wasn't looking back at the meaning of the word a century or two ago, but at how it was used in the U.S. in the 1980s around the time of the Dire Straits song, "Money for Nothing."
Like Engine said, I think the slur stems from homophobia. I meant that in the Dire Straits song, the use of "***got" as a putdown of someone regardless of that person's sexual orientation was a broadening of the meaning of the slur, "***got," that was also used around that time to refer specifically to gay people. I remember how "***got" was used in the '80s as a general putdown of any disliked person, and the reason the term was a putdown is that it implied the person was gay (even if the speaker didn't believe this), which was supposed to be bad and humiliating.
I don't think the word "***got" that Dire Straits use in the song relates directly to a bundle of sticks (fa ggot) or a cigarette (fa g), because fa ggot meaning a bundle of sticks is pretty much obsolete in the U.S. and fa g meaning cigarette is mostly used in Britain. |
