Do our American friends realise that a '***' is slang for a cigarette......?

Question

......in the U.K.and not a homosexual. Although some people in the UK have adopted the american slang for the word.......BUT IT IS RARELY HEARD.
*** = CIGARETTE.

'***' is the word

Answer 1

Yeah, us Brits always say that, but it means gay in America doesn't it? hehehe!

Answer 2

Anyone who has been to the British Isles (or who reads a lot) knows this. Here's a take on the American slang:

The most common explanation for the homosexual epithet goes like this: ****** originally meant a bundle of sticks, which is a burden to be carried. In the late 16th century, ****** became an epithet for a woman, especially a shrewish one. The sense probably comes from the idea of a ****** being a burden or baggage (not unlike the modern ball and chain).

The derogatory term for a gay man comes from this sense meaning a woman. In this way it parallels other slang terms like queen and fairy, words connoting feminine qualities and applied to gay men. This application to gay men is relatively recent and American in origin, not appearing until the 20th century.

Answer 3

I do! I do! New York here! And a lift is an elevator and a flat is an apartment and a scrubber is a street cleaner. t And turn ups are cuffs.
I just wish english muffins (American) were really made in England. We eat London Broil (a roast). I will teach my mates friends) to speak english the real way,like you! They might look at me funny if I call a cigarette a *** but I will do it!

Answer 4

In the US, I remember using the word f a g to refer to a cigarette, but that was many years ago. You don't hear that anymore. A f aggott is also a small bundle of sticks, but that's perhaps an even more rare usage. [The extra space in the word is to avoid the yahoo censor.]

Answer 5

I hate the word, whether it's for a cigarette or a homosexual male. I think most people, Brits & American, understand it can mean either - depends what context it's used in

Answer 6

A useful tip, never say to an American that you are just going to go outside and bum a fa-g, they give you the srangest look, don't know why... (a mate did it in Vegas, and the American lad who heard it avoided him like the plague for the rest of the stay!)

fa-g = cigarette=gay
bum=borrow=tramp
tramp=sla-g
chips=crisps=fries

It gets too confusing. I ordered steak and chips in America, and the guy laughed at me and then realised that British chips were American fries.

Here's one that's offensive in the UK, but not in the states:

fann y means bottom in the US, but it's got a ruder meaning in the UK!

Answer 7

In usa we many times say we are going out for a smoke or for a cig. I stay in MN and function no longer heard all and sundry calling it a *** different than in connection with it being referred to as that someplace else.

Answer 8

I got caught out on this one. Whilst in america visiting family, went up to Burlington just on the canadian boarder. My two cousins, one girl one boy took me out raving at the weekend. My boy cousin is gay and was with his partner, we were all sat down drinking and smoking before we went clubbing and I said "pass me a f a g please".....s h i t, I thought I had just killed someone with the looks i got. I had no idea at all what I had said wrong, and then had to explain and profusely apologise for using the word f a g....hey hoe, such is life. They did however love it when I said W A N K E R..

Answer 9

I am amazed that an international question and answer setup like this Yahoo site can impose censorship on a simple word like *** .

Answer 10

I'm shocked almost everyday.
It's like three year olds, running around saying 'f*ck'.
I hear the word 'prick' or 'dick-head' almost continually on American children's TV (even Disney).
Prime-time gets 'b*gger' or 'b*llocks'.
And last week on the 'Wall Street Journal', someone described companies who don't adapt to the changing marketplace as getting 'sloppy seconds'.
I apologise for the foul language, it is just to illustrate a point.
I think someone should quietly take these Yanks aside and explain the meaning of these words, especially as they normally bleep out anything even remotely vulgar.
Most of the one's they get badly wrong though are about homosexuals 'Ponce' and '***' spring to mind

Answer 11

F a g in the uk does mean cigarette, so how come it's asterixed out. even if it is bad too smoke, surely thats taking things too far!

"Bad" words are in the eye of the beholder, not necessarily the teller.