126
X accused of giving racists ‘impunity’ after refusing to bar N- and P-word posts
(www.theguardian.com)
this post was submitted on 14 Jun 2026
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Yeah "fag" is fine in context such as: "I'm just nipping out for a fag" "Can I bum a fag?"
But you can't say it to, or about, a person, well, unless you're a homophobe.
'faggot' is almost always a slur though, you'd better be in that rare circumstance where you're very clearly referring to a bundle of sticks otherwise, no.
I guess 'nip' is also occasionally a racist slur for Japanese, but normally quite innocent; just something quick. or a pinch, or a wee dram.
Vaguely related, you might be interested in https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Polari. A few British slang terms migrated out of queer-creoles into more mainstream usage , possibly via popular radio and tv.
A British comedian friend living in the U.S. used to (15-ish years ago) have a joke about asking a guy outside a bar in middle America if he could bum a fag.
He would impersonate the most southern accent he could muster and say “I don’t care. Ain’t no business of mine.” As part of a joke about cultural differences/how the U.S. could be unexpectedly wholesome.
Never asked if that was a true story. We fell out awhile ago.
Fancy a fag?
What? You're a fag!
No mate. Fag means cigerette.
You're a cigerette!
"Just going to pop outside to smoke a removed" would not raise eyebrows in the UK.
Nothing wrong with a good helping of faggots.
oh yes I will be looking at that, thanks!
edit: Another one (please someone correct any parts of this that are wrong). I believe in Korean "you" or some other way of addressing people sounds quite similar to the n-word.
quick edit 2: though I guess different languages don't really count in quite the same way, its similar though.