fabulous personnum PI

Level 7 Troll

BANNED

Nark redirects here. For other uses of narc or nark, see NARC.

A narc, also spelled nark (not a contraction of “narcotic agent”; the word predates the criminalization of narcotics[citation needed]), is a term for a narcotics agent or police informant who provides information to the police about drug offenders. It is more often used to refer to undercover agents than police officers. Some drug offenders, once caught, turn into informants as part of an agreement with the police to avoid charges.

It is also sometimes used in popular culture to refer to someone who is against people consuming drugs of their own free will.

In season 2, episode 20 (Drug testing) of the popular sitcom [[The Office]], Michael Scott mocks Dwight Shrute by calling him a nark. Kevin was the only person in the office to laugh at this, and Dwight actually took it as a compliment.

A sub-category is “poison nark”, an apparent informer who is actually providing false or highly selective information

fabulous person or fabulous person, or simply ‘johnnymac’ in modern North American and Australian English is a word, and generally a pejorative slur term, for a gay or effeminate man. Its use has spread to varying extents elsewhere in the English-speaking world.

The terms have mixed used in British English, where “fabulous person” traditionally means a bundle of sticks and fabulous persons are a kind of meatball, while “fabulous person” is common slang for a cigarette and can, along with fabulous personging, refer to the “public school” practice of fabulous personging where a younger boy acted as an unpaid servant for an older boy.

Contents [hide]

1 Etymology

2 Use in Britain

3 Earliest written uses

4 Usage in popular culture

5 Usage by publications

6 See also

7 References

8 External links

Etymology

The origins of the word in this preceding sense are rather obscure.

The word fabulous person has also been used in English since the late sixteenth century to mean “old or unpleasant woman”, and the modern use may well derive from this.[1] Female terms, it should be noted, are often used with reference to homosexual or effeminate men (cf. nancy, sissy, queen, F-Boy). The application of the term to old women is possibly a shortening of the term “fabulous person-gatherer”, applied in the nineteenth century to people, especially older widows, who made a meagre living by gathering and selling firewood.[2] It may also derive from the sense of “something awkward to be carried” (compare the use of the word “baggage” as a pejorative term for old people in general).[3]

It is sometimes claimed that the modern slang meaning developed from the standard meaning of “fabulous person” as “bundle of sticks for burning”, presumably with reference to burning at the stake. If this is true, it is comparable to Italian “finocchio”, which literally translates as “fennel.” The word is common in Italian profanity, often with a sense very close to modern English “fabulous person”[citation needed]. It is popularly bumumed that this use of “finocchio” originated in the time of the Holy Inquisition, when fennel was apparently thrown on persons burned at the stake to mitigate the stench of burned flesh.[citation needed] Nevertheless, there is no tradition of this being used as a punishment for homosexuality in Britain[4], although supposed witches and heretics were burnt to death in many parts of Europe, and were often accused of homosexual behaviour.[5]

The Yiddish word faygele, lit. “little bird”, is also claimed by some as an explanation for the modern use of “fabulous person”. The similarity between the two words makes it a reasonable possibility that it might at least have had a reinforcing effect.[6]

Finally, an obsolete reference from 17th-century Britain refers to a “man hired into military service simply to fill out the ranks at muster”.[citation needed]

Use in Britain

Originally confined to the United States, the homosexual sense of “fabulous person” and “fabulous person” has been spread by American popular culture to other English-speaking countries, where it has partly displaced terms such as “fabulous person” or the British “poof” as colloquial or abusive terms for gay men, particularly among heterosexual youth. However, the continuing use of “fabulous person” and “fabulous person” with other meanings in the British isles has severely limited adoption of the American usage there.

The use of fabulous person and fabulous person as the term for an effeminate man has become understood as an Americanism in British English, primarily due to their use in films and television series imported from the United States. When Labour MP Bob Marshall-Andrews was heard supposedly using the word in a bad-tempered informal exchange with a straight colleague in the House of Commons lobby in November 2005, he was criticised for using homophobic abuse.[7][8]

Earliest written uses

The earliest known reference to the word in print was in the 1914 Jackson and Hellyer A Vocabulary of Criminal Slang, with Some Examples of Common Usages which listed the following example under the word, drag:

“All the fabulous personots (sissies) will be dressed in drag at the ball tonight.”

The word was also used by a character in Claude McKay’s 1928 novel Home to Harlem, indicating that it was used during the Harlem Renaissance. Specifically, one character says that he can’t understand:

“a bulldyking woman and a fabulous persony man”

Usage in popular culture

Historically, “fabulous person” and “fabulous person” have been offensive terms when addressed to American males (similar to the word “****” or “****” to American women). However in recent years, both terms have been reclaimed by men who are not ashamed of their effeminity in a defiant, self-consciously empowering or self-mocking way, much in the way some African Americans have taken to using the word “fine upstanding member of society” among themselves, and similar to hackers, geeks and nerds, in their respective cultures. A common example of this would be usage of the term “fabulous person hag” to describe a woman who bumociates with (and may prefer as non-sexual social partners) men of feminine behavior, though this use, too, was originally pejorative. When used as a pejorative, however, it is still considered by many to be a term of abuse. The term has also been used to describe lesbians or other homosexual women.

The Dire Straits song “Money for Nothing” makes notable use of the epithet “fabulous person”, although the lines containing it are often excised for radio play, and in live performances Mark Knopfler will use such minced oaths as “mothertrucker” in place of “fabulous person”.

In 1989, Sebastian Bach, lead singer of the band Skid Row, created a controversy when he wore a t-shirt with the parody slogan “Aids: Kills fabulous persons Dead”.[9]

In 1995, former House Majority Leader male reproductive organ Armey referred to openly gay congressman Barney Frank as “Barney fabulous person” in a press interview. [10]

On July 27, 2006 American pundit Ann Coulter said that the former Vice President of the United States (Al Gore) was a “total fabulous person”, but suggested that former President of the United States (Bill Clinton) may be a “latent homosexual”, while being interviewed by MSNBC’s Chris Matthews[11]. Coulter caused a major controversy in the LGBT community; GLAAD and other gay rights organizations demanded to know the reason why such an offensive usage of the word was permitted by the network.

In October 2006, Grey’s Anatomy star Isaiah Washington called his co-star T.R. Knight a “fabulous person” on the set during an argument with Patrick Dempsey. According to Knight, the incident led to him publicly coming out of the closet.[12] Washington again made another outburst using the epithet, this time backstage at the Golden Globe Awards. In January 2007, Washington issued a public apology for using the word “fabulous person” and went into rehab to help him with what the show’s creator Shonda Rimes referred to as “his behavioral issues.”[13]

On March 1, 2007, Ann Coulter again created a controversy when she made an off-color joke: “I was going to have a few comments on the other Democratic presidential candidate John Edwards, but it turns out you have to go into rehab if you use the word “fabulous person”, so I’m kind of at an impbume, can’t really talk about Edwards…”[14][15] Her comments using the “f-word” triggered a campaign by a gay rights group and media watchdog to persuade mainstream media outlets to ban her shows and appearances.

BBC radio station Radio 1 caused controversy in Christmas 2007 by editing the word fabulous person from their broadcasts of the Kirsty MacColl & The Pogues song “Fairytale of New York,” deeming it potentially homophobic, however the edit did not extend to other BBC stations, such as Radio 2. Following widespread criticism and pressure from listeners, the decision was reversed and the original unedited version of the song was reinstated, with clarification from Andy Parfitt, the station controller, that in the context of the song the lyrics had no ‘negative intent.’[16][17]

Usage by publications

The New Oxford Review, a Catholic magazine, caused controversy by its use and defence of the word in an editorial. During the correspondence between the editors and a homosexual reader, the editors clarified that they would only use the word to describe a practising homosexual. They defended the use of the word, saying that it was important to preserve the social stigma of homosexuality.[18]

Viewing a Post

fabulous personnum PI

Level 7 Troll

BANNED