Talk:Ann Coulter

I don't believe that footnote is all that necessary. Do you seriously think that anyone who's ever spoken English _doesn't_ know what a f****t is? --Sandbagger 15:16, 11 March 2007 (EDT)

Yes, it is important, for precisely the reason articulated below by Aschlafly. Coulter says the word "has nothing to do with gays." Dpbsmith 16:03, 11 March 2007 (EDT)

I'm going to look for a real definition that captures its widespread use in the 1970s as a wimp or wuss. In slang in the 1970s it did not typically mean homosexual. The etymology of the word has nothing to do with homosexuality, as it comes from British prep schools a century ago.--Aschlafly 15:19, 11 March 2007 (EDT)

I agree that it comes from British prep schools a century ago, the three-letter version anyway. More than a century ago, actually, as it appears throughout Tom Brown's Schooldays, published in 1857 and probably referring to Hughes' experiences decades before. But I can only suppose that you have been deceived by the euphemistic way in which British prep schools have been described in literature. Dpbsmith 16:06, 11 March 2007 (EDT)

The three-letter version is defined by Wentworth and Flexner (1967) Dictionary of American Slang, Supplemented Edition, Crowell:

n. 1. A cigarette c1915 .... 2 A homosexual; an effeminate man.... Although [it use for cigarettes] may have reinforced the use of the word, [three-letter version], a boy servant or lackey has been common Eng. schoolboy use since before 1830, and may be the origin....

There is probably no way to be certain of the range of services traditionally provided by "boy servants or lackeys" in British prep schools. Even Orwell's "Such, Such Were the Joys" is very elliptical on this point. In "Such, Such Were the Joys" Orwell says "At some preparatory schools homosexuality is not a problem," but is frank about its existence at St. Cyprians. He gives few details, saying that at that time he was in "an almost sexless state" and he does not use the word we're discussing. Dpbsmith 16:10, 11 March 2007 (EDT)

Now is not the 1970s, and its meaning is pretty well set at this point. --Sandbagger 15:42, 11 March 2007 (EDT)

Etymology of the term, for anyone who's interested. Tsumetai 15:44, 11 March 2007 (EDT)

Thanks for the citation, which I've concluded. Does Sandbagger think the meaning of the word "niggardly" has now changed also? I've added that incident to this entry.--Aschlafly 16:04, 11 March 2007 (EDT)