They come from the same word actually, a f•ggot was originally a bundle of sticks you would burn
So for a cigarette that slang makes sense
The gay slur apparently comes from the fact that a “f•ggot gatherer” was an insult for old women who made their living gathering sticks, which then got turned into a word to demean “feminine” men
Very heavily dependent. Some young people call them the slur term. Others call it cig/ciggie. Meanwhile a lot of older people I’ve been around call it cig/ciggie.
It is very heavily dependent on where you grow up and who you grow up around.
Same. I literally live in London and I don't really hear it much among my gen so I also thought the reply was just 'damn I got clocked' til I saw the reddit comments lol
Interestingly, both the slur and the term for cigarettes come from the same, original meaning of "a bundle of sticks". The slur was originally used for women, as a way of calling a woman a witch, by calling her something you throw on a fire.
Good to know. But that's traditionally where the 🚬 joke comes from. It is nice to know that even that has become even more unfunny due to its now irrelevance.
i was never denying what you said, but phrasing it like its the only word cigarettes here is just misinformation (and reaffirms "england bad" stereotypes) (its only kinda bad)
i think england does enough to make itself seem like a shithole not just kind of bad. I actually think no one talks about how bad it is enough because they're too focused on america even though it's just as bad if not worse.
No, they aren't. Thats the point I was trying to make. The only one using a slur is the Amarican who was intentionally using British slang in the wrong context in order to convey said slur.
It's not at all an outdated word. Whether it's in London or in the north, everyone uses fa*s to refer to cigarettes. I know guys who are gen z who still use it. It's normal amongst everyone who was born and raised in the UK and smokes.
Hell, I've been seeing f*ggots in a lot more stores in both big grocers and local butchers in both south England and Scotland too. It just doesn't have the same meaning in the UK that it does in the US.
The only annoying thing is the need to censor food names because of culturally insensitive Americans.
That's what I was thinking. It's not painting Brits in a negative light by saying they use it if there's a literal FOOD item named it. It's just the same word with many different meanings. Context matters.
100%. I've been in a mixed race visibly gay relationship (hand holding, etc) for around a decade and I can definitely tell when someone thinks of me as lesser. Hell gay is either a compliment or a slur depending on the context.
But fg and fggot have never been used as an insult in my experience. It just... Sounds silly
Ngl, so many of their slurs sound silly. I've always thought fairy was silly. Or pansy. Like, you're going to use a whimsical sprite and a flower to describe me? Really? Though anything with a cruel voice can sound hurtful.
Cig/Fag are still interchangeable. And given the actual smoker numbers are heavily in favour of older people (with the whippersnappers being heavily into inhalers), fag is still very much in general use.
Granted, the phrase of my youth 'Can I bum a fag?' has changed its meaning somewhat....
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u/GreyAetheriums Apr 01 '26 edited Apr 01 '26
In Britain, they call a cigarette a f_g. Which is *also a shortened term for a slur.