The word "fag"

The word "fag" in America is usually an offensive and derogatory term for a homosexual, and most often for a male homosexual. In Britain, the word "fag" is most often referring to a cigarette.

To begin with, this very dramatic difference in meaning can lead to all manner of confusion for Americans who don't know the British meaning. When a British person says, "I'm desperate for a fag," or "Want to go out for a fag?" an American listening might think, "They certainly are open about their sexuality here." Or when the British say, "Shall we go light up a fag?" Americans may think they are suggesting perpetrating a hate crime.

So let's examine how this word came to mean two such different things.

The American meaning of "fag" probably finds its roots in an old British term for a low-ranking boy in a private school who is forced to perform menial tasks for the older students. That word was from an even earlier term for drudgery or hard labor. It was from an old English word meaning "to droop". But it was quite a journey to go from a menial laborer, to a slave boy at a private school, to a boy who is used for homosexual sex, to someone who has freely chosen to be homosexual. Calling a gay man a "fag" is analogous to calling a heterosexual woman a whore. So it's no wonder that it is offensive.

Let's look at the British term "fag". It comes from a different root. It is from the word fagot, which is from the Greek phakelos, meaning "bundle". Fagot, or faggot are older English terms for a bundle of sticks or twisg bound together, usually to be used for starting a fire. So it is not hard to see where a bundle of sticks on fire shifted to meaning the same as a small stick-shaped cigarette, which you also burn.

Based on this analysis, the British have a clear win. The word "fag" should only be used to describe a burning stick, and not a person. The American usage is quite obviously offensive not only in its modern use, but in its roots.

Chips or Crisps?

So the natural issue to address just after addressing the fries v. chips issue is the chips v. crisps issue. Thin crispy fried slices of potato (or tortillas or whatever) are known as chips in the US and as crisps in the UK.

As we examined in the fries and chips post, the dictionary definition of chip fits the American usage of potato chip. It is a small flake of potato. So there's no real problem there. But there is also nothing wrong with the term crisp. They are crispy, so there is no inaccuracy there either.

If I were going to mandate which term should be used, I would mandate crisps, because it eliminates the ambiguity of American chips versus British chips (fries). But since we have already determined that there is no linguistic reason for the British to call their fries "chips", we'll call this one a tie. Either term is an accurate way to describe a crispy crunchy fried piece of potato.

Fries vs. Chips

Since the name of the blog is Fries or Chips, it makes sense to start out comparing Fries vs. Chips. Everyone knows that what we call french fries in the US are called chips in the UK. But which term is more accurate?

First of all, we know that fries are not French. They originated in Belgium. So where did the French part come from? It most likely comes from an old term for the way the fries are cut, where thin strips or julienne vegetables were termed as "frenched" vegetables. So they are potatoes that are "frenched" and then fried.

Now let's examine chips. In the dictionary, I can find a definition for chip as:

1. A small broken or cut off piece, as of wood, stone, or glass.
2. A crack or flaw caused by the removal of a small piece.
3. 1. A thin, usually fried slice of food, especially a potato chip. Often used in the plural.
   2. A very small piece of food or candy. Often used in the plural: chocolate chips.
   3. chips Chiefly British. French fries.

So by the usual definition of a "chip", the American usage of potato chip as being a small crispy slice of potato is much closer to the original dictionary usage of the word chip. In fact, in the UK, some fried potatoes are called chips and some are called fries. The potatoes termed as "chips" are usually thicker and bigger than the ones labelled "fries". So they don't even fit the definition of being a small piece of something.

Based on that, I'd have to give the win to America on this one, in spite of the use of the inaccurate/archaic modifier of French. There is simply nothing chip-like about a rectangular slab of fried potato, but they are clearly fried, so the term "fries" is much more accurate as a description of a fried potato served with a burger or a piece of fish.