English as used on both sides of the Atlantic: 01 (London)

Have just listened to this week’s episode of BBC Radio 4’s Word of Mouth series.  The programme’s page says:

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LGBTQIA+ slang

Chloe Davis, creator of The Queen's English dictionary of LGBTQIA+ slang, talks to Michael about shade, fierce, and the importance of etymology.

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Chloe Davis mentioned words that can be neutral if adopted and used within a particular group, but offensive if used by someone outside that group or with malice.

One of the words on her list is “faggot”, one of the meanings (given in my MacBook Pro dictionary) being:

(North American, offensive) a gay man

It’s also shortened to “fag”, which in informal British English is “a cigarette”.

This reminds me of something the late American actor Robin Williams said, in an interview some years ago, about a visit of his to Britain.  

He was waiting at a bus stop when a man turned round to him and said, “Fag?”  (There are people who go round bumming for a free cigarette.) Robin Williams said his answer was, “No, but I think you’re not bad looking.”