jeff@rtech.ARPA (Jeff Lichtman) (04/22/85)
> Another word in (British) English with a similar popular etymology is the > slang word for cigarettes 'fags' (maybe this should be rot13 for the US :-). > This is popularly supposed to originate from a make of cigarettes that had > "For A Good Smoke" on the packet. However, it is more likely from "fag-end" > meaning the stump-end of anything, and then by analogy to "fag". > > Steven Pemberton, CWI, Amsterdam; steven@mcvax.uucp Webster's 2nd defines "fagot" as "a bundle of sticks, twigs, or small branches, used for fuel or as a fascine." This seems to me to be a more likely origin of the word "fag" meaning "cigarette." -- Jeff Lichtman at rtech (Relational Technology, Inc.) aka Swazoo Koolak {amdahl, sun}!rtech!jeff {ucbvax, decvax}!mtxinu!rtech!jeff