How did the Italians come to use their word for fennel as a derogatory term for a homosexual? I can undestand “pansy,” since flowers have been a symbol of female fertility since prehistory, but…fennel?
And does finnochio rhyme with Pinocchio? I’d always assumed “Pinocchio” translated into, roughly, “little pine one.” But I can’t help wondering if more was implied, such as Geppeto as a woodcarving Pygmalion, and the actual pining was his own as he smoothed and sanded and decided which drill bit would bore the most satisfactory cul.
Well, in the original, pre-Disneyfied book, Pinocchio is a nasty, ill-tempered, selfish twit. While that might describe some folks views of “pines,” he went further, taking delight in inflicting pain and insult on everyone, including Gepetto. That connection seems pretty remote, to me.
Don’t have much to add, except to say that that’s one of the slithiest sentences I’ve ever read. Definitely the work of a tove, what with all the gyring and gimbling.
In answer to the “Why” of the Op - why anything ? Why do English speakers called homosexuals “Faggots”? A Faggot is a piece of wood…just like Pinocchio…Hmmm…maybe you’re on to something.
The reason I have always heard is that in times when “witches” were being burned at the stake, the “pre-show” sometimes consisted of burning the local faggots, hence the phrase.
I don’t have any cites, but a google for witch burn homosexual wil give you hits, I have no idea how credible they are.
