Lost in Translation?

A couple of my friends  got into an argument and they exchanged many verbal insults but both of them got extremely defensive when they felt as though the name calling went to far. One of my friends is an ambitious and cynical female and my other friend is an openly gay man. He called her a bitch and she called him a faggot. It does not take a rocket scientists to realize that both of them were pissed off. I tried to mediate the situation because there was no need for them to argue anyway. But those words made me think about their origin and how people should really examine them. The three words that I am going define and explain to you are Faggot, Nigger, and the word Bitch.

FAGGOT
History & Origins
Late 13 c. " Bundle of twigs bound up," from O. Fr. fagot "bundle of sticks from it. The word was especially used for burning heretics ( a sense attested from 1550s), so that phrase fire and faggot was used to mean "punishment of a heretic." Heretics who recanted were required to wear an embodied figure of a faggot on their sleeve, as an emblem and reminder of what they deserved.

Now later in American history this word took on a whole other meaning. The word "faggot" became a reference to a male homosexual in 1914 and was shortened to the word "fag" which came from earlier contemptuous term for "woman" (1591), especially an old and unpleasant one, in reference awkward that has to be carried.


Who you calling a Bitch?
Those were the lyrics recited in Queen Latifah's 1994 hit "U.N.I.T.Y" a song that focused on female empowerment and urged black women demand respect not accept the status quo. I admit there was a time when I would get upset if someone called out of my name which was a "Bitch." Within the last few years I could care less if you call me a "Bitch" as long as you call me the baddest but I also call my friends and associates bitches.
The Meaning Behind the word "Bitch"
The word bitch refers to a female dog, fox, wolf, and occasionally other beasts. As a term of contempt applied to women, it dates from C. 1400; of a man, c. 1500, playfully, in the slang, its use with reference to a man is is sexually contemptuous, from the "woman" insult.
It is interesting that this word is extremely offensive in the English language this word provokes a woman more than the word whore.

According to the slang dictionary it is defined as the following 1. An unpleasant or irritating female. 2. To complain 3. A complaint 4. A difficult thing or person
I am a huge fan of the Soap Opera Y&R aka Young and the Restless and one character that I despise is Phyllis Summers Newman which is portrayed by actress Michelle Stafford each time she speaks or pops up on the screen I constantly call her a bitch. The image above as you can see is her.

NIGGER!
Now this last word is always creating controversy it can and never will be ignored. It is now used a term of endearment which I think is absolutely ludicrous. What do you think of when you hear this word? Do you become offended? Have you offended someone? Honestly this is a word that should not be used at all. Yet it is in music, movies, and heavily used in the Adult Swim  series The Boondocks which a show that  I love but I feel as though the word should not be used.

History Lesson
From the earliest usage it was "the term with it all the obloquy and contempt and rejection have inflicted on blacks." But as black inferiority was at one universal assumption in English speaking lands  the word could be used without deliberate insult.
Keep in mind that this word is extremely offensive
1. A Black person; a member of any dark-skinned people. 2. A person of any race or origin regarded as contemptible, inferior, ignorant, etc. 3. A victim of prejudice similar to that suffered by blacks; a person who is economically, politically or socially, disenfranchised.

Let me leave you with this we can't get upset about these words if we use them to classify ourselves, family, or friends. We need to take the time to be aware and learn the meaning behind these words.