So that would mean that "faggot" as a derogatory term for a homosexual man might be a back-derivation from "fag", rather than the latter being a shortened form of the former. Interesting--can anyone confirm this? Of course, (keeping this musical) the Italian fagoto (I may have the ending of the word wrong), meaning a bundle of sticks, is also used to mean "bassoon". This caused the bassoon players in our school orchestra no end of grief! And, to complicate matters, that word is derived from the Latin fasces, whence comes the anatomic term "fascia" and the political term "fascist"--named for the party which took its name from the Roman symbol of authority, a bundle of sticks bound up with an axe. Now aren't you glad that's all straight? (Pun intended)

Aloha,
Mark