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- Newsgroups: alt.pagan
- Path: sparky!uunet!newsstand.cit.cornell.edu!cornell!uw-beaver!news.u.washington.edu!carson.u.washington.edu!rjb
- From: rjb@carson.u.washington.edu (LeGrand Cinq-Mars)
- Subject: Re: Faggots and witches (again)
- Message-ID: <1992Dec26.014535.2308@u.washington.edu>
- Sender: news@u.washington.edu (USENET News System)
- Organization: University of Washington, Seattle
- References: <1992Dec22.194238.16593@netcom.com> <ZeR0VB3w165w@brewich.hou.tx.us>
- Date: Sat, 26 Dec 1992 01:45:35 GMT
- Lines: 16
-
- Nevertheless, the use of the words "fag" and "faggot" to mean "male
- homosexual" is basically North American. It was first recorded in
- North America, and it isn't characteristic of British English at all
- (except perhaps in imitation of North American slang, and only very
- recently if at all).
-
- Don't you think it unlikely that a usage some people now claim to derive
- from European persecutions of several centuries ago should first be
- recorded in the late 19th century in North America? In English?
- And not Latin or French or Spanish?
-
- I recommend checking the Oxford English Dictionary. And not teriary or
- quaternary sources that have less reliability than the average urban legend.
-
- --LeGrand
-
-