Sally; You are wrong about the origin of the word faggot.... Misinformation is a weapon often wielded by the offended...Faggot meant originally a bundle of sticks. When heretics were threatened with burning at the stake and recanted...the symbol of the "faggot" was sewn on their clothing to indicate a saved sinner. The word was also applied to someone who stood in for someone else at a regimental roll call.. it's most common usage in saxon english was in its application to an old woman who appeared to resemble a witch...the symbol for a witch was a stick broom, commonly known as a faggot. Get yourself a good dictionary of english word origins or you'll get offended if someone calls you niggardly.........or gay.......or dyke ......or obtuse...