Talk:Faggot

Never heard this pejorative used against women

I question the veracity of the assertion in the article that the term is used as a pejorative for lesbians, or for women of any sexual orientation. I have never heard the term used in this way, I think this is a simplification to suit the LGBT category. Hylobius (talk) 17:55, 2 February 2010 (UTC)

Spin off List of usage of the word faggot (slang) in popular culture?

Considering the length of the list, should the guidance of IPC apply and the embedded list spin off as another article in its own right? This may result in the section being trimmed down to three or four choice examples with the separate list becoming the obvious dumping ground for drive-by editors.—Ash (talk) 11:33, 22 November 2009 (UTC)

I wouldn't think so, the whole article is quite short. Maybe we can mitigate the seeming imbalance. -- Banjeboi 02:46, 23 November 2009 (UTC)

Origin of pejoration against homosexuals

I was taught that during the witch hunts the christians believed the only way to send a witch's soul to hell was to burn her on a pire of homosexuals. They bundled the homosexuals in kindling, much like the original definition of faggot. And later ignorant people who took little care in their speech and/or education chose to use the word faggot to refer to the homosexuals regardless of whether or not they had yet been bundled in kindling. -- 71.195.37.19

Well, whoever taught you that was an idiot, and his or her lunatic theories have no place in the article. Not only is this, of course, untrue, it's not even a significant myth (or a "commonly taught theory" as you put it) that would deserve a mention in the article. It's just one person's original stupidity. -- Zsero (talk) 23:25, 22 November 2009 (UTC)

WP:Don't feed the trolls. -- Banjeboi 03:32, 23 November 2009 (UTC)

I have also heard the theory that the meaning of the word faggot relating to homosexual derived from the practice of throwing homosexuals onto the fire when heretics were burnt. I would like to know how extensive this theory is and not simply be dismissed with words like – “whoever taught you that was an idiot” and “It’s just one person’s original stupidly”. — Preceding unsigned comment added by W-big-a (talk • contribs)

Hi, W-big-a, please remember to sign your posts by typing four tildes after them (~~~~)! Zsero was perhaps rather harsh in his reply, but he's right that there's no historical basis to this claim. The idea that homosexuals made up the pyre rather than being burnt at the stake themselves is a new one on me too, but I've heard similar claims before, which indeed are mentioned in the article. However, they appear pretty clearly to have no basis in history, and various sources (referenced in the article) specifically debunk the myth. Now, if you can find a good, reliable source (see WP:SOURCES for details of what constitutes a reliable source) that mentions the myth about building pyres of homosexuals, then it might be worth a mention in the article. Otherwise, however, I'm no more convinced than Zsero that it's significant enough to be mentioned. garik (talk) 14:04, 31 January 2010 (UTC)

Etymology

The latin word fasces means bundle of sticks and precedes the word faggot. Therefor, I find it much easier to believe that it is the root of the word rather than "finocchio". -- 71.195.37.19

The article doesn't claim that "faggot" derives from "finocchio". garik (talk) 12:01, 27 November 2009 (UTC)

The bit about "finocchio" has, however, been unsupported by any source for over a year and a half now, so I've removed it. garik (talk) 12:03, 27 November 2009 (UTC)