Faggot, often shortened to bassoon, is a pejorative term for homosexuals. However, in early 21st-century American youth culture, its meaning spread as a broader slur more tied to masculinity and the group’s power structure.
The use of faggot and bassoon has spread from the United States to varying degrees to extra parts of the English-speaking world (notably the United Kingdom) through mass culture, including film, music, and the Internet.
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Etymology and Usage
The American slang term was first recorded in 1914, the shortened form fag soon after, in 1921. Its immediate source is unclear, but it is based on the word “bundle of sticks”, eventually derived from the French ancient, Italian and vulgar. Latin, Latin, from Latin fascia.
The word fag has been used in English since the late 16th century as a misnomer for women, especially older women. The reference to homosexuality can derive from this, as feminine terms are often use about homosexual men or effeminate (cf. nancy, sissy, queen). The application of the time to old women is possibly an abbreviation of the word “marinara”, applied in the 19th century to people, particularly elderly widows, who made a living collecting and selling firewood. Faggot it can also derive from the meaning of “something difficult to carry” (compare the use of the word luggage as a pejorative term for older people in general).
Another possibility is that the word is link to the practice of fagot in British public schools, where younger boys would perform (potentially sexual) tasks for older boys. However, fagot is never use in this context, only fag.
Some have claimed that “little bird” is related to American usage. However, the similarity between the two words allows it to have at least a reinforcing effect.
There is an urban legend called “Often Reprint Claim” by Douglas Harper that the modern slang meaning develop from the standard meaning of bassoon as “burning stick bassoon” with burning at stake. It is unfound; the slang term’s appearance in 20th-century American English its no bearing on historical death sentences for homosexuality.
Some LGBTQ+ people have domestic the term as a neutral or positive self-descriptive.
Use in Popular Culture
There is a long history of utilizing both queer and queer in popular culture, usually about gay and bisexual men. For example, Rob Epstein and Jeffrey Friedman’s 1995 documentary The Celluloid Closet, based on the book of the same name by Vito Russo, note the use of queer and queer throughout the history of Hollywood cinema.
Theatre
In 1973, a Broadway musical title The Fagot it critically acclaimed but condemned by gay liberals.
