back to article Facebook fans fuel faggots firestorm

Britain's humble and frankly disgusting offal-based meatball – the faggot – led to one man being temporarily chucked off Facebook, after Americans became outraged by what they believed to be blatant gay-hating behaviour on the free content ad network. The sorry tale started, according to the Sun newspaper, when 54-year-old …

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  1. DAN*tastik
    FAIL

    I would be interested to see if their censorship guidelines can be found online

    I am not on Facebook, but the screenshots of it that appear on Lamebook show that the word "nigger" is widely and often used, together with all its variations. Isn't that more offensive?

    Worse than that, they allow comments which contains grammar decapitations like "would of gone", "all go when you go", "the place your going to", "we our going on holiday", "their going away".

    1. PaulR79
      Unhappy

      Re: I would be interested to see if their censorship guidelines can be found online

      That was so painful to read.... do they still teach English at schools? English was my best subject at school but I find myself being dragged down through a combination of exposure and osmosis. I try to fight but there are so many....

      1. DAN*tastik
        Headmaster

        Re: I would be interested to see if their censorship guidelines can be found online

        It was also painful to type, PaulR79. Very painful. I don't know what they teach in English speaking countries' schools because ( luckily? ) English is my second language.

        The first time I came across "all" instead of "I'll" and "our" instead of "are", it took me a bit to realise what it really was. It makes you wonder wear we're at ;)

        1. MJI Silver badge

          Re: I would be interested to see if their censorship guidelines can be found online

          Thankyou for supporting our language.

          I see plenty of really bad English and about half the time I cannot even understand it. So what chance do second language speakers have?

          I get sub human grunts as emails for Ebay sales, sometimes I ingnore them, often I deliberately misread them until they get it into their tiny brains that they need to write in English and not the written form of grunting.

          1. Anonymous Coward
            Anonymous Coward

            Re: I would be interested to see if their censorship guidelines can be found online

            >I get sub human grunts as emails for Ebay sales, sometimes I ingnore them, often I deliberately misread them until they get it into their tiny brains that they need to write in English and not the written form of grunting.

            Quick. You have 3 minutes to fix the typo and the two comma splices :-)

            1. Michael Strorm Silver badge

              Muphry's Law strikes again!

              "You have 3 minutes to fix the typo"

              http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Muphry%27s_law

            2. MJI Silver badge

              Re: I would be interested to see if their censorship guidelines can be found online

              ingnore aghhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh

              But at least you could read it!

              No cuz u or similar grunt

          2. Anonymous Coward
            Anonymous Coward

            Re: I would be interested to see if their censorship guidelines can be found online

            "the written form of grunting. "

            WFG?

            Oh that works for me.

            "Your post was WFG, feel free to return when you have mastered syllables"

            1. Michael H.F. Wilkinson Silver badge

              Re: WFG

              I would suggest WFoG or WFOG, as it is semi-pronounceable, and the FOG component chimes nicely with the mental fog that often accompanies WFoG posts

              1. MJI Silver badge
                Facepalm

                Re: WFG

                Oh no I have invented something here.

        2. big_D Silver badge

          Re: I would be interested to see if their censorship guidelines can be found online

          DAN, yep, living here in Germany, I idly change those phrased into German in my head and see what comes out, it is often incredibly funny.

          One thing I've learnt about Germans, Grammar is one of the most important parts of the language, which means that they speak and write better English than many native speakers I know. The pronunciation may leave a little to be desired and their vocabularly more limited, but at least you can understand them! (And yes, my other half is German and takes the proverbial out of my German, but I only started learning 10 years ago.)

          When I was at school in the UK, it wasn't important if things were correctly spelt or if the grammar was correct, other than in English. In chemistry or physics etc. it was only important that you could get your point across, you weren't deducted points for spelling or grammar mistakes. Here in Germany writing in any subject is strictly marked and grammar or spelling mistakes mean points deducted. I think the UK equivalent would be 2 grammatical or spelling mistakes on a side of A4 paper would be enough to drop you from an A to a B+, assuming the actual content of the paper was 100% accurate.

      2. BillG
        Holmes

        Re: I would be interested to see if their censorship guidelines can be found online

        Please remember that England is the patent holder for the English language.

        Americans are only licensees.

        1. Ken Hagan Gold badge

          Re: I would be interested to see if their censorship guidelines can be found online

          Please remember that the best bit about English is that it doesn't *have* a patent holder. You'd suck the lifeblood out of El Reg if you denied them their mobes (sorry, still sounds too much like pubes) or their commentards' WFoG.

          Also, both modern American and modern British are derivative and would be laughed out of any 17th century American or British coffee shop. Have a listen to some really old films (pre WW2) and listen to the cut glass accents of both British and American actors compared to the modern vernacular of either.

      3. Euripides Pants
        Unhappy

        Re: do they still teach English at schools?

        English is optional. The only mandatory subject is Conformity.

    2. Jedit Silver badge

      "Worse than that, they allow comments ... like "would of gone""

      Well, of course they do. That's what happens when your ban on all Nazis extends to the grammar Nazis. The internet needs the SS [1] if it's going to stay readable.

      [1] Sentence Structure.

      1. Primus Secundus Tertius

        Re: "Worse than that, they allow comments ... like "would of gone""

        @jedit

        ... or even Satz Schutz

        (mein gebrochene Deutsch).

    3. Bod

      Re: I would be interested to see if their censorship guidelines can be found online

      Far worse for bad grammar is Stackoverflow, though to be fair a large number of developers on there have broken English, not to mention no clue about software development. I'd suggest a typical location they come from too but I'd be accused of being racist. Well, those and students looking for the answer to an exam question, and candidates for jobs likewise for interview questions.

    4. Haku
      Trollface

      @DAN*tastik

      I could care less.

      1. DAN*tastik

        @Haku

        "I could care less."

        Great, it's important that we all care a lot. If humans regress to the point that only WFoG are used, knowledge will only end up being what we see and hear in churches, synagogues, mosques and temples... Good bye to IT and the Internet. And the best weapon against diseases will be prayers.

  2. Richard Jones 1
    WTF?

    Two Nations Divided By a Common Language

    So Mexican Drug Terrorists demonstrating their discipline habits OK, but perfectly legal 'ethnic' food is not OK. Now please tell me, is 13 the minimum age or the maximum (mental or developmental) age for Clotbook?

    As a sociological experiment Clotbook does suggest that crowd sourcing answers is not a good way to obtain accurate results after all.

  3. Steve Davies 3 Silver badge
    Mushroom

    Two countries divided by a common language

    Attr George Bernard Shaw

    Long may it continue.

    As for Faggots? Lovely especially the ones I got last year at a market in Lanchashire.

    I used to tease my American friends by describing them in all their gory detail.

    Try serving 'Stuffed Hearts' at a dinner party in the US. Great way to get rid of people you don't really like as friends.

    Oh what a Gay Day! (attr Larry Grayson)

    Another word that has had its original meaning hijacked.

    Icon, what I'd like to do to the thought police everywhere in thr world.

    1. Cliff

      Re: Two countries divided by a common language

      >>>Oh what a Gay Day! (attr Larry Grayson)

      Another word that has had its original meaning hijacked.<<<

      In fairness I'm pretty sure Grayson knew exactly what he was saying ;)

      1. Sir Runcible Spoon
        Joke

        Re: Two countries divided by a common language

        Aye, since 'e were bent as a nine-bob note.

    2. Psyx

      Re: Two countries divided by a common language

      "Wilkes insisted he was innocent, however. 'It may have a different meaning in America but I used it in a food context,'"

      I believe I speak for all of us when I say "Chinny reck-on."

  4. Admiral Grace Hopper

    'Twas ever thus

    The oppobrium caused by my expressing a deeply felt desire for a cigarette - "Christ! I could murder a fag!" - while in Williamsburg rather caught me by surprise.

    1. Cliff

      Re: 'Twas ever thus

      Yep, 'smoking a fag' is apparently also a euphemism for performing oral sex on a homosexual man's phallus. Cue red faces all round.

      Another culture shock I hit once was crossing the road at a junction before the pedestrian lights turned. I made it to the island and was waiting for the red light to mean I could cross the last bit when the traffic stopped. People were screeching to a halt dramatically tens of yards away and shaking fists etc. I wasn't familiar with this idea of jay walking. In a country where it's legal for people to carry concealed handguns you're not allowed to cross the road on your own... Bizarre!

      I can't agree with jay walking laws, why does the automobile get precedence just for its size? I mean before cars it was horses, and just plain pedestrian walking before that. When did the right of way get stolen from environmental self-propulsion and monopolised? It seems a far bigger interference in personal freedoms than the NSA have ever done.

      1. kain preacher

        Re: 'Twas ever thus

        In the when there is a ped signal that controls when you can walk not the light. So if you are walking northbound and the light is green for north bound cars but the hand is red that's jay walking. Now in my state as long as the ped is not jay walking they have the right away. That is not true in all states.

      2. Chris Miller

        Re: 'Twas ever thus

        See Felipe Fernandez-Armesto (famous historian) on his arrest in Atlanta for jaywalking.

      3. This post has been deleted by its author

      4. john devoy

        Re: 'Twas ever thus

        I think the car gets priority because when you hit a car at 30-40mph it's not really the car that's going to suffer most.

        1. Anonymous Coward
          Anonymous Coward

          Re: 'Twas ever thus

          however as far as i remember it, the rule on water is power gives way to sail, gives way to rowers, gives way to swimmers.

          1. LHGFLICOD

            Re: 'Twas ever thus

            You remember incorrectly, rowers give way to sail as there are directions of travel a sail can not take you in, however its polite to take into account the fact that an 8 man boat may have a bit of a turning circle issue an being in the right doesn't help fix the holes or mend bones.

            1. Otto is a bear.

              Re: 'Twas ever thus

              Just a handy reminder to everyone who think cars have priority in the UK, they don't pedestrians always do, except on urban clearways and motorways. Run a pedestrian over and it's your fault unless you can prove otherwise.

              BTW You can also have lots of fun with the word Rubber, in the US it's a condom, in the UK it's an eraser.

              1. Anonymous Coward
                Anonymous Coward

                Re: 'Twas ever thus

                Just a handy reminder to everyone who think cars have priority in the UK, they don't pedestrians always do, except on urban clearways and motorways.

                This is not true. Urban clearways are to do with parking / stopping restrictions and nothing to do with pedestrian rights of way.

                It is only pedestrian crossings / signal controlled crossings where the pedestrian has the right of way.

          2. MJI Silver badge

            Re: 'Twas ever thus

            Unless you are in command of a supertanker

          3. Psyx

            Re: 'Twas ever thus

            "power gives way to sail, gives way to rowers, gives way to swimmers."

            Not always:

            http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-hampshire-24670515

      5. Neil Lewis

        Re: 'Twas ever thus

        It's not about 'right of way', it's about preserving your safety in an intrinsically dangerous situation. You may have noticed that cars (a) can't stop as quickly as pedestrians (b) can't change direction as quickly as pedestrians (c) tend to be moving a lot faster than pedestrians. Vehicles contain people, too, and they have just as much right to get to where they're going as you do as a pedestrian. That's why we all have to take it in turns to have 'right of way'. If you, as a pedestrian, are too impatient to wait to take your turn, than sooner or later you'll get hurt, and it will be your own fault.

        Having said that, pedestrian crossings are just another type of traffic light, and all traffic lights are horribly inefficient at managing traffic of all types.

        1. Chris Miller

          Re: 'Twas ever thus

          Rights of way are a legal concept, not a safety one:

          Here lies the body of Joshua Gray

          Who died defending his right of way.

          He was right as could be as he sped along,

          But he's just as dead as if he'd been wrong.

          PS In India, I was told that the rules go: pedestrians give way to cycles; cycles give way to rickshaws; rickshaws give way to motorbikes; motorbikes give way to tuk-tuks; tuk-tuks give way to cars; cars give way to buses; buses give way to lorries and lorries give way to elephants. (And everything gives way to cows.)

      6. Frumious Bandersnatch

        Re: 'Twas ever thus

        Yep, 'smoking a fag' is apparently also a euphemism for performing oral sex on a homosexual man's phallus. Cue red faces all round.

        And yet talk about people's fannies is totally socially acceptable over there...

        1. veeguy

          Re: 'Twas ever thus

          Not only socially acceptable, we even have a candy company named "Fanny May" Combine this companies name with Frito Lay's Potato Chips (crisps) jingle and you get "Fanny May - Nobody can eat just one"

    2. Ian Yates
      Thumb Up

      Re: 'Twas ever thus

      I was with someone who had run out and (innocently) asked an American colleague if he could "bum a fag"... the look he got was absolutely priceless, and it too us Brits a fair few seconds to even recognise the oddity of the phrase.

  5. Tascam Holiday
    Coat

    Could've Been Worse

    Just think of the hullabaloo if he'd said he eats faggots!

    1. I ain't Spartacus Gold badge

      Re: Could've Been Worse

      Worse than that, if he says he's about to roast faggots...

      Or do you boil them? I've never been tempted by them. Despite that advert, "Brain's Faggots. So good, you'll wish you tried them years ago." It took me a while to work out that Brain's was the trade-name, rather than the ingredient... And while we're at it, you can keep your mushy peas as well!

      I want proper, honest, food like toad-in-the-hole...

      1. MJI Silver badge

        Re: Brains Faggots

        The name is enough to stop a lot of people from eating them.

        I hate liver and do not like faggots, I hate peas too.

      2. Anonymous Coward
        Anonymous Coward

        Re: Could've Been Worse

        "I want proper, honest, food like toad-in-the-hole..."

        Reminds me of the bit in King Ralph.

        "Spotted dick? Dick of *what*?!"

      3. David Given

        Re: Could've Been Worse

        I actually just spotted 'em at the supermarket (Tesco's deli counter, 35p each; not Brains', either). I'm actually quite tempted, if I can figure out what to do with them. A lot of the weird old British traditional food can be rather good cooked well.

  6. Pete 2 Silver badge

    #IAMNOTAMERICAN

    Time for a new hashtag, methinks.

    Maybe when this starts to appear on the FB blabberings of the "other 95%" of the population's social media excretions, it might just "click" with some some of our parochial cousins that not everyone on the planet identifies with their vocabulary, ideologies, values hangups or even spellings.

    OTOH, maybe they should be the ones flagging their posts, instead.

    1. Primus Secundus Tertius

      Re: #IAMNOTAMERICAN

      "They" are more powerful than "We". 'Twas ever so.

  7. frank ly
    Facepalm

    This is disturbing

    From the online Oxford English dictionary - http://www.oxforddictionaries.com

    1 (usually faggots) British a ball or roll of seasoned chopped liver, baked or fried.

    2 (US fagot) a bundle of sticks bound together as fuel, a bundle of iron rods bound together for reheating, welding, and hammering into bars.

    The entry in http://www.oed.com does not include 1. above.

    I believe this is an example of an 'editor' making a personal and culturally biased judgement. Faggots were low grade wood used by poor people or low grade meat, mixed with herbs and spices to disguise it's nature, again used by poor people. The overall implication is something lowly, not worthy of consideration, so it's easy to understand how the word can be used as an insult term.

    It's a long time since I bought, and enjoyed, a carton of 'Mr Brain's Faggots' from the freezer section of my local supermarket. I must go shopping soon :)

    Note for visiting Americans: You must not use the word 'pardon' when in England. To do so implies that the person you are speaking to is a serious criminal who has been released from prison on a technicality. It is regarded as very offensive and can cause a violent reaction in most social settings.

    1. Cliff

      Re: This is disturbing

      >>>Note for visiting Americans: You must not use the word 'pardon' when in England. <<<

      And every Friday Night is singalong night at the Opera Houses.

      1. Martin

        Re: This is disturbing

        "...And every Friday Night is singalong night at the Opera Houses..."

        Don't forget that in England, brothels are indicated by a blue light outside. (with thanks to Gerard Hoffnung!)

    2. Khaptain Silver badge

      Re: This is disturbing

      Since English is in general of French or German origin :

      Fagot : Un fagot est un faisceau de petit bois, de branchages. Translated it becomes "a bunch or bundle of small sticks."

      It is difficult to know the etyomology of the American adaptation.. Was it maybe to suggest - "a group ( bundle) of men having small penis(sticks)" ?

      By the way I notice that there are two spellings Faggot and Fagot......What are the correct spellings for the English food and the American slander term ?

      1. Getriebe

        Re: This is disturbing

        "Un fagot est un faisceau de petit bois, de branchages. "

        Which is where we get the word fascist from

        So a bundle of right wing sticks

      2. BreakIT

        Re: This is disturbing

        "Since English is in general of French or German origin"

        Is it?

        i thought they were all in general of Latin origin?

        1. Anonymous Coward
          Anonymous Coward

          Re: Re: This is disturbing

          English is a Germanic language with a French overlay. Of course, French derives ultimately from Latin. There was a huge influx of Latin words into English in the 16th Century - More here.

      3. Anonymous Coward
        Anonymous Coward

        Re: Re: This is disturbing

        Faggot is correct spelling on both cases.

        1. John Brown (no body) Silver badge
          Thumb Up

          Re: This is disturbing

          Well, I'm fagged out after reading this huge comment section!

          1. Psyx

            Re: This is disturbing

            Ah, fond memories of some boy fagging for me at school...

      4. Chika

        Re: This is disturbing

        "Since English is in general of French or German origin..."

        Actually, that's not quite true, though all three languages do have common roots in languages such as Latin and so forth. It's all a matter of who was the biggest b*****d historically in whichever part of the world we are talking of.

        Yes, America included!

    3. Arthur the cat Silver badge

      Re: This is disturbing

      Actually the full online OED at www.oed.com does have an entry for the meat(-ish) product, it's in section 5 (out of 9).

      1. bygjohn

        Re: This is disturbing

        ISTR reading somewhere that the use of "faggot" as a hate term comes from the gay people they used to burn as a preliminary to burning witches.

        1. Anonymous Coward
          Anonymous Coward

          Re: This is disturbing

          Other way around. They burned old women, then they started using "old woman" to mean a gay man and it went from there.

          1. Graham Dawson Silver badge

            @mycho @bygjon Re: This is disturbing

            You're both wrong. Burning was reserved for "heretics". Accused witches, if they were executed (which was much rarer than people seem willing to accept) were hung or occasionally drowned. Homosexuals were generally hung.

            Stop laughing at the back.

            Things were bad enough back then without having to make up all these falsehoods and silly stories. The etymology of faggot (and gay for that matter) is not even remotely similar to the one you're spreading, so please stop.

    4. This Side Up
      Headmaster

      Re: This is disturbing

      My Concise Oxford Dictionary gives several meanings:

      1. n. Bundle of sticks or twigs bound together as fuel;

      bundle of iron rods for heat treatment;

      bundle of herbs (usu. in pl.);

      dish of liver etc. chopped seasoned and baked as ball or roll;

      unpleasant woman;

      (sl.) homosexual (usu. male).

      It can also be used as a verb usually in the context of embroidery.

      Also look up faggot-vote - it doesn't mean what you might assume!

      Of course "fag" on this side of the pond means "cigarette" amongst other things (toil, drudgery etc) so "lighting up a fag" or "I'm dying for a fag" might trigget a few alarms at farcebook.

    5. I ain't Spartacus Gold badge
      Happy

      Re: This is disturbing

      Tips for confusing visiting Americans:

      1. As well as not worrying when told there's faggots for tea, due to it not meaning what might you think, do not be alarmed if an English person offers you spotted dick afterwards...

      2. Elgin Marbles is a fun game for all the family to play. There's a permanent game run at the British Museum every day.

      3. David Cameron had a fag at Eton. It doesn't mean what you think it means.

      On second thoughts...

      4. We're very glad that you noticed our confusion over Orson Scott Card's 'Ender's Game' - and changed the name of the Aliens to the "Formics". Shall we say there would be a good deal of sniggering at the back in cinemas had you kept the original the "Buggers".

      5. London Underground encourages its passengers to strike up lively conversations, in order to while away the monotony. In fact, it is considered rude to not make eye contact, or discuss such pleasantries as the weather, on a crowded tube train.

      1. ravenviz Silver badge

        Ender's Game (Re: This is disturbing

        I recall the Buggers was mentioned in the film but I admit I thought I misheard it.

    6. Dom 3

      Re: This is disturbing

      I followed the link to oed.com and found this:

      5. (See quot. 1851.)

      1851 H. Mayhew London Labour II. 227/2 He..made his supper..on ‘fagots’. This preparation..is a sort of cake, roll, or ball,..made of chopped liver and lights, mixed with gravy, and wrapped in pieces of pig's caul.

      FWIW I just hoiked my copy of the "Shorter" off the shelf. That's the one that comes in two large and heavy volumes. Neither of the meanings under discussion is listed in the main body of the dictionary, but both are in the Addenda at the end.

    7. Gordon 11

      Re: This is disturbing

      From the online Oxford English dictionary

      From practical experience.

      I used to eat these frequently in the 60's (the Brain's factory that made them was just a mile or so away) and I have eaten them in the last few years too.

      They were served up for dinner at Frenchay Hospital (2 years ago), and my Dad looked forward to them when they were on.

    8. Chika
      Happy

      Re: This is disturbing

      "Note for visiting Americans: You must not use the word 'pardon' when in England. To do so implies that the person you are speaking to is a serious criminal who has been released from prison on a technicality. It is regarded as very offensive and can cause a violent reaction in most social settings"

      Except if you burp first...

    9. Kubla Cant
      Headmaster

      Re: This is disturbing

      The word "faggot" meaning "bundle of sticks" is almost certainly derived from the Latin "fascis", which was notably used to describe the bundle of rods carried by lictors, the officials who accompanied Roman consuls. The bundle represented the right of the consul to inflict corporal punishment; when it contained an axe it represented his right to execute.

      The best-known term derived from the fasces is, of course Fascism. In the flat estuaries of East Anglia, the rivers are contained by fascine banks, made of bundles of sticks that trap silt.

    10. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      www.oed.com does know about edible faggots was Re: This is disturbing

      Aksherly:

      The full Oxford English Dictionary has an awful lot of definitions for "faggot", including (from http://www.oed.com/search?searchType=dictionary&q=faggot&_searchBtn=Search):

      5. (See quot. 1851.)

      1851 H. Mayhew London Labour II. 227/2 He..made his supper..on ‘fagots’. This preparation..is a sort of cake, roll, or ball,..made of chopped liver and lights, mixed with gravy, and wrapped in pieces of pig's caul.

      1858 G. A. Sala Journey due North 308 The curious viands known in cheap pork-butchery..as Faggots.

      1881 in Oxford Gloss. Supp.

      I've gained some considerable entertainment thinking about what our cousins over the pond might make of the OED's definitions under "faggot". Such as:

      7. A person temporarily hired to supply a deficiency at the muster, or on the roll of a company or regiment; a dummy. Obs.

      1699 B. E. New Dict. Canting Crew, Faggots, Men Muster'd for Souldiers, not yet Listed.

      1708 Brit. Apollo No. 105. 4/1 You may be some Faggot to pass at a Muster.

      a1753 P. Drake Mem. (1755) II. iii. 75 The Adjutants..came to treat and settle with me about the Fagots (Men deficient of the Number of Workmen, ordered from each Regiment).

      1756 Ld. Chesterfield Connoisseur No. 102. 618 William, a Faggot in the First Regiment of the Guards.

      1802 in C. James New Mil. Dict.

      8. = faggot-vote n.

      1817 Sir F. Burdett in Parl. Deb. 1st Ser. 1368 These faggots..returned the two members to the House of Commons.

      1879 Daily News 16 Apr. 6/6 He..had not the slightest doubt he would win, unless he were to be swamped by faggots.

      1884 Truth 13 Mar. 374/1 The art of manufacturing fagots.

    11. Psyx

      Re: This is disturbing

      "Note for visiting Americans: You must not use the word 'pardon' when in England. To do so implies that..."

      ...You are middle class who thinks its upper class to use French words everywhere, like 'serviette'.

      Use "What?" like everyone else.

  8. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    The OED does give the meatball as a definition. (Although I can see why you missed it.) See meaning 5 entitled "See quote".

  9. Robert Grant

    Interesting

    The tolerance brigade in all its hateful fury at work :)

    P.s. I'm obviously against that sort of treatment of people based on their sexuality; it's just that I laugh at the word tolerance. It's not that, it's just modern morality.

  10. Craig 28

    On another note all visiting Americans should actualy note under no circumstances should they use the word "fanny" with the sole exception of if it is someone's name. Telling a woman to move her fanny will guarantee offence.

    1. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Mmmm, but apparently if they say something that's offensive to us, that's alright. It's if we say (or do) something that's offensive to them, big trouble.

      Least that's what it looks like from this perspective.

      1. Frank Bough

        it's simple

        there are more of them than us

    2. kain preacher

      SO I can't say she hasa cute fanny ?(meaning bum) or to stick it in her fanny pack.

      1. DAN*tastik

        @ kain preacher

        I assume most girls like to receive compliments on their camel toes, so "You have a cute fanny" is an acceptable UK ice breaker.

      2. MJI Silver badge

        Other side

        Fanny is NOT the bum, the bum is the bum

        Fanny is the front

      3. Anonymous Coward
        Coat

        SO I can't say she hasa cute fanny ?(meaning bum) or to stick it in her fanny pack.

        Indeed, you have your anatomy arse-about.

        1. Anonymous Coward
          Anonymous Coward

          Advert :-)

          What you need is a copy of "Bum Bags and Fanny Packs: A British-American American-British Dictionary" available from all good Amazon outlets!

          Sarah Milligan has a few helpful 'translations' of her own: "American's say Ladybug....we say Chlamydia".

      4. Loyal Commenter Silver badge

        SO I can't say she hasa cute fanny ?(meaning bum) or to stick it in her fanny pack.

        Here in the UK, such a thing is known as a 'bum-bag', and wearing them went seriously out-of-fashion some time in the mid '90s.

        In fact, the wearing of such an item will quite well mark you out to pickpockets as an ingorant American tourist and likely source of easy income.

        Of course, here in the UK, we all wear top-hats and thick cloaks, to keep out the 'pea-souper' fog, as we stumble around on our cobbled gas-lit streets, offering quaint pleasantries such as "gor blimey guv'nor" and "strike a light". Our lady folk are plump and rosy-faced and usually to be found wearing an apron whilst polishing the grate with kettle-black.

  11. jake Silver badge

    Faggots, AKA "Savoury ducks" offensive?

    The mind boggles.

    Oink to tail, regardless of name, all things pork are tasty.

    If you don't like ancient regional names for food, look within. You have issues.

    1. ChrisM

      Re: Faggots, AKA "Savoury ducks" offensive?

      These things should be a source of amusement about the differences between us denizens of Sol 3 rather than offence... For example I would like to be a fly on the wall when someone tries to 'Bum a fag'!

      You have however made me think of bacon and we have none in the house and THAT offends me!

      1. markw:

        Re: Faggots, AKA "Savoury ducks" offensive?

        "Bum a fag"

        Or Burn a flag...

    2. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Re: Faggots, AKA "Savoury ducks" offensive?

      Oink to tail, regardless of name, all things pork are tasty.

      Pigs are stout,

      Pigs are kind,

      Pigs are seldom clean.

      Snout before,

      Tail behind,

      And bacon in between.

      -- Spike Milligan

  12. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Faggots? Yuck!

    Disgusting, revolting things. They are fit only for being fed into the sink waste disposal unit, one by one.

    They are certainly not fit to be eaten.

    Yes, I'm a Brit, not a cannibal. And no, I have no problems at all with the rights of the individual to freedom of sexual choice.

    1. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Re: Faggots? Yuck!

      You might be a Brit but the American way is clearly strong within you. HOW does eating pig turn you into a cannibal???

      oh....sorry. Just answered my own question...come home. Your IQ needs recharging....

      1. DAN*tastik

        Re: Faggots? Yuck!

        @cornz 1

        before assuming that people have a low IQ, ask yourself twice if MAYBE it's just a case of irony or word play being lost on you.

        1. Sunrise Omen
          FAIL

          Re: Faggots? Yuck!

          I think he was talking to himself. Were you?

        2. Anonymous Coward
          Anonymous Coward

          Re: Faggots? Yuck!

          The upvotes on my post and the down votes on your post seem to clearly validate my original point.

          Are you an American??? Just that i see a pattern emerging here....

      2. Paul_Murphy

        Re: Faggots? Yuck!

        >Your IQ needs recharging

        Hmm, reminds me of:

        ' Prime Minister of New Zealand Robert Muldoon was asked about the increasing exodus of New Zealanders leaving the country to work in Australia. His comment was that by doing so, they were raising the average IQ of both countries.'

        source:

        http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_Zealand_humour#The_Trans-Tasman_rivalry

    2. Amorous Cowherder

      Re: Faggots? Yuck!

      Balls to you!

      When I was a lad my Mum used to cook her own faggots, she'd often use the dripping from the previous day's roast to cook them, drop in a little bit of Bovril or Marmite and they were out of this world!

      1. Getriebe

        Re: Faggots? Yuck!

        "Balls to you!

        When I was a lad my Mum used to cook her own faggots, she'd often use the dripping from the previous day's roast to cook them, drop in a little bit of Bovril or Marmite and they were out of this world!

        "

        Marmite! Call child services now! She was abusing you.

    3. Mephistro
      Happy

      Re: Faggots? Yuck!(@ Thad)

      There seems to be some humor -humour? hummer? - deficiency this Monday morning at ElReg. You should have kept that joke for Wednsday.

      1. Anonymous Coward
        Anonymous Coward

        Re: humor -humour? hummer? - deficiency

        Right you are. I'll pop back Wednesday then, if I've managed to wipe off the down votes by then. Pass me a rubber, I might need it.

        Or, on Wednesday, as us Brits say.

        Or, at least, as we have said in recent years: I've seen the "American" usage in English Victorian novels.

        1. Anonymous Coward
          Facepalm

          Nope. Wednesday came and went

          And they still don't like my sense of humour.

          1. jake Silver badge

            Re: Nope. Wednesday came and went

            Not in those shoes.

            <barbie>Cross-pond humo(u)r is hard!</barbie>.

  13. Destroy All Monsters Silver badge
    Devil

    Faggot enablers!

    Meeting Liberals!

    Only Bad Things can come out of this.

  14. IHateWearingATie

    Talking about Rugby can cause embarrassment as well...

    ... when you start talking about being a hooker (as I found when I was young on a trip to Disney).

    *Note to our colonial friends - the 'hooker' is the middle position in the front row of a scrum. The ball is put in, and the hooker uses his leg to hook the ball back to his own side.

    1. I ain't Spartacus Gold badge

      Re: Talking about Rugby can cause embarrassment as well...

      Then again, we all know that you get up to some pretty odd things in the scrum...

      Anyway they have a position in American Football called "tight end", so they're in no position to comment.

  15. Big_Boomer Silver badge

    F******G AMERICANS!

    Whose F******G language is it? Get your own F******G language and stop abusing ours! ;-)

    A Gay Hooker Gobbling Faggots is just a happy rugby player eating some disgusting greasy offal based meatballs. The F******G Americans call them Sweetmeats! How stupid is that?

    1. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Re: F******G AMERICANS!

      Sweetmeats? Now THEY'RE the bollocks!

    2. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Re: F******G AMERICANS!

      "The F******G Americans call them Sweetmeats!"

      I think you might be getting this slightly confused... sweetmeats is a term sometimes used for confectionary or candy.

      Sweetbreads, on the other hand, is a culinary term referring to various glands - i.e thyroid, pancreas or, yes, testicles.

      I any case, I agree with your general sentiment... if they're going to borrow and butcher the English lanugage, they can't really complain if they don't grasp the subtle humor often hidden within its phrases. Sometimes I wonder if the English lanugage was intentionally filled with multiple meanings and ambiguity, just to provide the British public with a massive joke at the expense of our foreign friends!

      1. Primus Secundus Tertius

        Re: F******G AMERICANS!

        Yet each man judges those around

        By all let this be heard

        Some do it by their very sound

        Some do it with a word

        ...

        Inspired by a man who knew about these things!

      2. Getriebe

        Re: F******G AMERICANS!

        "I any case, I agree with your general sentiment... if they're going to borrow and butcher the English lanugage, they can't really complain if they don't grasp the subtle humor often hidden within its phrases. Sometimes I wonder if the English lanugage was intentionally filled with multiple meanings and ambiguity, just to provide the British public with a massive joke at the expense of our foreign friends!"

        No, no no.

        If you check out the way our colonial cousins use most words you will see they have stuck with the meanings the word had when they were banished to the new world. Its us inhabitants of this sceptered isle that have transmogrified the language. Theirs is stuck in the 1700s as I said in another post and got down voted for it/. Foul voting coward, that thund'rest with thy tongue, and with thy weapon nothing dares perform. To misquote someone from their time

        1. M7S

          Re: F******G AMERICANS! @ Getriebe

          I think the Americans have changed the meanings of words over time, in some cases much more recently than the 1700's. For example The Astaire/Rogers film "The Gay Divorcee" would not have been so titled with todays meaning.

    3. jake Silver badge

      @Big_Boomer (was: Re: F******G AMERICANS!)

      English is Germanic, and has been changing constantly for centuries. Ever read any Chaucer or Shakespeare in the vernacular?

      Language mutates. Deal with it.

  16. Frankee Llonnygog

    Faggotts?

    I eat brains...

    http://www.tesco.com/groceries/Product/Details/?id=261732978

    1. proto-robbie
      Paris Hilton

      Re: Faggotts?

      I have eaten brain (animal, before anyone starts) - and it tasted better than faggots. Never again, in either case.

      I should add: the word "girls" is extremely contentious State-side too. An English friend started his speech to a large conference with "Hello boys and girls", and wondered why the atmosphere turned Baltic. "Girls" all "work" for a living over there, apparently.

      Paris, well ...

      1. Anonymous Coward
        Anonymous Coward

        Re: "Girls" all "work" for a living over there

        We have working girls here too. Working in, you know, shops, offices, that sort of thing. Not at all what the phrase implies in UK.

        India: yet another sort of English.

        1. Primus Secundus Tertius

          Re: "Girls" all "work" for a living over there

          In Britain many years ago there was a song in which each verse described some domestic disaster compounded by incompetent workmen, leading to the chorus line "It all makes work for the working man to do".

          I have been waiting for a song with the chorus line "It all makes work for the working girl to do".

  17. Gordon Pryra

    How gay!!

    Anyone not believe that the guy was using faggot in the context he was banned for?

    Then shouted loudly "I was talking bout meatballs Me Lud! Honest"

    1. /\/\j17

      Re: How gay!!

      I don't actually see what his intended context has to do with it.

      Taken as either a reference to a foodstuff or persons of a specific sexual persuasion the statement "I like faggots" can hardle be seen as gay-hating behaviour. Here is a man who LIKES said faggots. If he had said "I HATE faggots" maybe there's room for the easilly outraged to be outraged.

      We now appear to live in a world where LIKING something is a hate crime!

    2. dogged

      Re: How gay!!

      I agree that the single statement "I like faggots" on Facebook lacking any other context is probably a troll.

      1. VinceH

        Re: How gay!!

        "I agree that the single statement "I like faggots" on Facebook lacking any other context is probably a troll."

        That was my thinking. I don't believe for one minute that the guy said it in innocence of the Overpuddlian meaning of the word faggot. I think he said it deliberately to get a rise out of some Overpuddlian friends, intending to say that he meant the food product when they reacted.

        The reaction he got, though, wasn't quite the one he wanted.

  18. Dave Harvey

    And as for the bassoonists

    The German for bassoon is "Faggot", and it is therefore what is written on a lot of orchestral sheet music.....one of my old conductors used to regularly make comments such as "quiet you faggots" - I supposed he'd be in trouble in the US too!

    1. Sir Runcible Spoon
      Coat

      Re: And as for the bassoonists

      So what did he say when he addressed the Bassoonists?

      1. Frankee Llonnygog

        Re: So what did he say when he addressed the Bassoonists?

        "Blow, dammit!"

        1. jake Silver badge

          Re: So what did he say when he addressed the Bassoonists?

          The bloated necked idiot probably demanded Cake.

  19. Fihart

    Origins of (US) faggot ?

    My understanding was that like much American English this was inherited from other incoming European languages. The Yiddish "Faygeleh" derived from the German Vogel and perhaps meaning little bird. As slang for a gay man, not kind but comprehensible.

  20. Stuart Castle Silver badge

    Interesting censorship..

    Typical Armericans really. You can show beheadings (or other violent acts) but as soon as someone says a word that might be in the slightest bit offensive, that's wrong.

    Why do I say typical Americans? Remember the outcry when Janet Jackson dared to show a nipple (which was largely covered anyway) at the superbowl? Yet no outcry when American TV shows violence on TV shows, and even shows players getting injured in American Football.

    Don't get me wrong. I like Americans. They can be an amazing people, but then they go and do something like this, and I don't recall Canadians doing it.

  21. Van
    Joke

    English guy: "Are you coming out to smoke a fag?"

    American guy: "Ok, I'll get my gun"

  22. Mint Sauce
    Go

    Fanny

    That is all.

  23. This post has been deleted by its author

    1. Primus Secundus Tertius

      What about Indibums, wogs, dagoes, taffs, jocks, micks, ...?

      1. Sir Runcible Spoon

        WTF

        is an Indibum?

        A bum of independent means?

        1. Primus Secundus Tertius

          Re: WTF

          Indibums used to scalp the cowboys, and vice-versa.

  24. Jason Bloomberg Silver badge
    Coat

    "Sticky Buns"

    ^ Something else an American may not immediately understand the British meaning of.

  25. Tom 7

    I love faggots.

    I'm having a couple of pig slaughtered at the end of the month and shall be breaking out the caul and dumping a whole load in the freezer!

    I'm also knocking up a boy to make faggots from my old brushwood.

  26. wowfood

    Sadly

    this has happened to me in the past.

    Got banned from a forum for 6 hours for stating "I'll be back later, got faggots for dinner" then when I got back on and defended myself stating "faggots are a food stuff in the UK" along with a pic of ma brams faggots, I got banned again...

    Ah well, at least I didn't say I was throwing some more faggots on the fire, that could be far worse.

  27. big_D Silver badge

    Did he

    go for a good fag afterwards?

    This is the problem with Americans reacting before they understand what they are reading.

    It works the other way though too. I remember Loretta Swit appearing on Wogan and talking about what a lovely guy Harry S Morgan was and he'd always pat her on her fanny... Wogan went very red, the audience laughed and he had to explain that it doesn't mean arse, sorry ass, in the UK; at which point she went very red.

    I've only seen that topped with a very drunk Pink appearing on German talk show TV Total, and talking about the Farts on the motorway - Ausfahrt, with an H; but never mind she thought it was funny, the presenter was looking at his director pleading with him to go to commercial.

  28. Chozo

    More confusion in the colonies

    For more cross cultural linguistic fun have a read about Pinches Tacos

  29. John H Woods Silver badge

    Do you remember ...

    ... when PlayStation Home first launched? It had weird censorship - "Hello" became "****o" and "Indian" was not allowed at all!

    1. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Re: Do you remember ...

      "It had weird censorship - "Hello" became "****o" and "Indian" was not allowed at all!"

      That tends to happen a lot with poorly designed profanity filters. They tend to filter out combinations of letters regardless of context or whether they actually form part of a legitimate word.

      For example, 'sniggering' always gets filtered - for obvious reasons.

      It strikes me as laziness... I can't imagine it would be too complicated to make it check whether the characters preceding and following the combination of letters are spaces or punctuation instead of other letters!

      1. jake Silver badge

        Re: Do you remember ...

        See: AOL and Scunthorp ...

      2. Anonymous Coward
        Anonymous Coward

        Re: Do you remember ...

        Yes, that happens when someone naïvely assumes they can do a simple string replace instead of regular expressions.

        http://thedailywtf.com/Articles/The-Clbuttic-Mistake-.aspx

        Of course, even if you do do it properly, who says that the word you replaced was necessarily rude? People are smart enough to evade even the most complex regex. Ban the 4-letter F-expletive, and they start using 'fsck' or 'fcuk' instead. Ban those, and you get the Unix admins upset because they can't discuss the File System Checking tool, and the fashionistas get upset because they can't talk about French Connection UK.

        Even if they aren't trying to swear, the word 'ass', can mean anatomy, it can also mean an animal. You replace that word because of the former reason, and you find yourself subjecting little kiddies to a story of how the pastor rode his butt to town!

  30. Badvok
    Mushroom

    As winter is coming I'm looking forward to throwing a few faggots on the fire.

  31. Scott Pedigo
    Childcatcher

    What, No Mention of Trousers?

    Thanks to all for your various hints and warnings on what terms American tourists are advised not to use. No one seems to have remembered to tell them that men should use the term trousers, rather than pants.

  32. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    They are just words

    A prescribed arrangement of certain letters designed to invoke a meaning.

    However, I must add that I am deeply offended by the word "blancmange".

    Must go, off to watch the original dam-busters film, although it is sad when the dog gets it...

  33. Jim Whitaker

    OED definition

    The OED does recognise the meat product; see item 5 at http://www.oed.com/viewdictionaryentry/Entry/67623 .

  34. Maharg

    To paraphrase Reginald D Hunter

    I was in a pub and someone said they were going outside to “smoke a fag”, I thought he was going to shoot a homosexual…

  35. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Fascinating

    ... how Facebook should consider the word 'faggot' grounds for a ban, whereas I have twice complained about posts containing the word 'c***', and have both times received pat replies from Facebook stating that the posts 'were not found to be offensive'.

    Maybe 'c***' has some non-offensive meaning in America that I'm not familiar with (e.g. 'Facebook customer services manager')?

  36. websey

    The problem with all of this, is the fact that the majority of forum admins / web masters / whatever

    have generally the same intelligence level of those that they are admin'ing so no reasonable argument can be made, they make the decision and its done. it can be even worse when they are on a power trip :/

  37. Maty

    Try telling a German that you saw a vixen in the mist.

    He will not immediately think of a rural morning.

    1. Frumious Bandersnatch

      I was once told

      That the Spanish for "I see the sea" sounds like a pretty bad curse in Finnish. Maybe I misremembered cos the Internet tells me that the Finnish "Katso merta" means something disgusting in Italian.

  38. SleepyJohn
    Boffin

    A car maker's nightmare - The Ford Faggot

    I believe car manufacturers spend millions on research to avoid such marketing mistakes as designing Ford Faggots in Britain then advertising them in America. I can't be bothered researching now but I believe there have been a few hilarious mistakes over the years. Look here:

    Dodgy car names

    If you are currently driving to Spain in your Mitsubishi Pajero, turn round now.

    1. SleepyJohn
      FAIL

      Re: A car maker's nightmare - The Ford Faggot

      And here is an American's take on it, complete with:

      "Yoni photographic transfer on a Volkswagen hood attains a level of pictorial literalism that may preclude the automobile’s use as a kindergarten taxi".

      Which may amuse some readers. He can even sell you a book about strange words.

      Honda renamed the Fitta (Swedish for c**t) to Jazz (Black American slang for semen)

      1. Martin Budden Silver badge

        Re: A car maker's nightmare - The Ford Faggot

        "Yoni photographic transfer on a Volkswagen hood attains a level of pictorial literalism that may preclude the automobile’s use as a kindergarten taxi".

        I wonder what the other end looks like? A transatlantic fanny?

  39. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    So can I say bums rush over in the UK ? Skidrow or or jolly wankers having goo dtime fanny packing cute chavs ?

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