End the word (was: a word from "Huck Finn") faggot etc.

[Michael Newman]

This reminds me of when I taught high school back in 1996-1997. The students all knew I was gay, and they also knew I objected to their use of "faggot," "fag," "queer," and "homo." With the ninth graders in particular, a routine developed where one would call one of his (always his) classmates one of these names, and then turn to me and say, "sorry Mike." (alternative school, so we used first names for teachers.) They didn't apologize to each other because none of it was serious, and I didn't make them because it just too funny. Any way, it got to the point that they would do it just so they could say, "sorry Mike."  The only time the word was used seriously in my memory was when a somewhat troubled kid I did not have but was essentially babysitting in my class so he wouldn't be running around the halls causing mischief, said apropos of nothing I can remember, "I hate faggots." I asked him if he hated me, and he confessed he thought it was a only a rumor. Of course, all of u!
 s including the social worker thought he was actually really gay.




Michael Newman
Associate Professor of Linguistics
Queens College/CUNY
michael.newman at qc.cuny.edu



On Mar 3, 2012, at 5:29 PM, Jonathan Lighter wrote:

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> Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
> Poster:       Jonathan Lighter <wuxxmupp2000 at GMAIL.COM>
> Subject:      Re: End the word (was: a word from "Huck Finn")
> -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
>> Are you sure people using those two pairs were from the same planet?
>
> As whom?  As each other, surely. The torrent of foul language I first heard
> in the 7th grade was a world apart from anything I'd ever heard before.
> That it was a boys' school may have had something to do with it.
>
> But if you mean "the same planet as us today," recall that "The past is a
> foreign country. They do things differently there."
>
> "Fag" and "faggot" were fairly routine insults that nobody, so far as I
> could see, took literally, though everybody (except me at first) knew
> the literal (i.e., originally metaphoric) meaning.  Unless said in obvious
> anger, nobody bridled much at "motherfucker," either, etc., etc.  One kid
> got furious at being called a "son of a bitch" because, like speakers of
> decades and centuries past, insisted on interpreting it as a slur against
> his mother. AFAICT, the bystanders thought he was nuts and simply spoiling
> for a fight.
>
> "Bastard" was almost as common as "motherfucker," with "son of a bitch"
> third.  There were also "turd" and "little shit."  "Stupid fucker" was also
> in use. Nothing as surreal as what can be found at Urbandictionary.com.
>
> Note to future generations: though it was clearly occurring beyond my
> ken in 1959 (see HDAS), I don't recall hearing  "asshole" used as an insult
> until 1964.  Point: nowadays one hears it several times a day - as English
> imperceptibly evolves.
>
> JL
>
>
> On Sat, Mar 3, 2012 at 10:57 AM, Victor Steinbok <aardvark66 at gmail.com>wrote:
>
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>> Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
>> Poster:       Victor Steinbok <aardvark66 at GMAIL.COM>
>> Subject:      Re: End the word (was: a word from "Huck Finn")
>>
>> -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>>
>> Are you sure people using those two pairs were from the same planet?
>> Because they certainly would not be today--they are separated by several
>> degrees of magnitude on the insultability scale. It's like a difference
>> between "snotnose" and "motherfucker".
>>
>>    VS-)
>>
>> On 3/3/2012 8:23 AM, Jonathan Lighter wrote:
>>> When I was in 7th grade in NYC (1959-1960) _spaz_ (n.) and _spastic_
>> (n.&  adj.) were the dismissive male insults of choice, with_fag_ and
>> _faggot_ tied for fourth.
>>>
>>> I hadn't heard any of them before. But I hadn't heard "motherfucker"
>> before
>>> either, which was also up there in popularity.
>>>
>>> JL
>>
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