That'll Teach the Birthers!

[Twisp]

Originally Posted by Praxeas

That's not the problem. Can I use the F word without being vulgar? Yes but it will still sound vulgar to most. At one time the F word was a common term to mean fornication. Same with other words. Can I speak of burning faggots and not offend someone?

faggot
late 13c., "bundle of twigs bound up," from O.Fr. fagot "bundle of sticks," from It. faggotto, dim. of V.L. *facus, from L. fascis "bundle of wood" (see fasces). Especially used for burning heretics (a sense attested from 1550s), so that phrase fire and faggot was used to mean "punishment of a heretic." Heretics who recanted were required to wear an embroidered figure of a faggot on their sleeve, as an emblem and reminder of what they deserved.

Let's come up an an acronym like "TPM" for Tea Party Member? ok?

That is because the F word has not other definition besides fornicating, or as an expletive. That is not the case with teabag, since it can mean the unmentioned vulgar act, an actual bag of tea, or, now, a member of the Tea Party.

As for faggot, that word still has definitions that are not homosexual slurs, so yes, if you used it with the intent of an appropriate definition (a type of meatball, a type of stitch, a type of metalworking, a type of cell), and in the right context, it would be okay.