Faggot: The History

Faggot or fag, in modern English usage, is a generally term for a homosexual man.

Origin
The word has been used since the late sixteenth century to mean "old or unpleasant woman", and this would appear to be a likely derivation. Female terms, it should be noted, are often used with reference to homosexual men. The application of the term to old women may possibly be a shortening of the term "faggot-gatherer", applied in the nineteenth century to people, especially older widows, who made a meagre living by gathering and selling firewood. The primary traditional meaning of the word is indeed 'a bundle of sticks for burning' . Another meaning, especially common in Wales, is a kind of pork meatball covered in gravy.

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 fagots (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 faggoty man"

Religious Use
The New Oxford Review, a Catholic magazine, caused controversy by its use and defense 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 practicing homosexual. They defended the use of the word, saying that it was important to preserve the social stigma of homosexuality, which the word preserves.

Reference: Wikipedia

Ergi: The History

Ergi and argr are two Old Norse terms of insult, denoting effeminacy or other unmanly behavior. Argr is "unmanly" and ergi is "unmanliness".

Origin
To accuse another man of being argr was called scolding, and thus a legal reason to challenge the accuser in holmgang. If holmgang was refused by the accused, he could be outlawed, as this refusal proved that the accuser was right and the accused was unmanly and cowardly. If the accused fought successfully in holmgang and had thus proven that he was not unmanly, the scolding was considered an unjustified, severe defamation, and the accuser had to pay the offended party full compensation.

Reference: Wikipedia

Git: The History

Git is a relatively mild British slang term, used to denote a silly, incompetent, stupid, annoying, childish or senile elderly person.

Origin
The word git first appeared in print in 1946, but undoubtedly predates it. The etymology of the word is a contraction of "illegitamate" dating back to the 14th century. A shortening of 'beget', 'get' insinuates that the recipient is someone's misbegotten offspring and therefore a bastard i.e. illegitimate. In parts of northern England, Northern Ireland and Scotland 'get' is still used in preference to 'git'.

Use
'Git' is frequently used in conjunction with another word to achieve a more specific meaning. For instance a "smarmy git" refers to a person of a slimy, ingratiating disposition; a "jammy git" would be a person with undeserved luck. The phrase "grumpy old git", denoting a cantankerous old man, is used with particular frequency.

In Entertainment
The word was often used in the sitcom Til Death Us Do Part where Warren Mitchell as Alf Garnett would frequently describe his son-in-law played by Tony Booth as a "Scouse git". Micky Dolenz penned the Monkees song "Randy Scouse Git" on the Headquarters album after hearing the term on the programme. The group's British record company at the time felt uncomfortable with the use of the word so the song was issued as "Alternate Title" in the United Kingdom. John Lennon also uses it in the Beatles White Album song, "I'm So Tired." He says, "And curse Sir Walter Raleigh, He was such a stupid get," using the archaic version to rhyme with "cigarette."

Reference: Wikipedia

Pissant: The History

A pissant can refer to an inconsequential, irrelevant, or worthless person, especially one who is irritating or contemptible out of proportion to his significance. Its origin is with pismire, a 14th-century word for ant.

Origin
The original pissant is any of a certain group of large ant species, commonly called wood ants, that make mounded nests in British and European forests. The pissant name arises from the urine-like odor produced by their nesting material and the formic acid that constitutes their venom.
Southern fire ants are also commonly referred to as pissants. This is primarily because most southerners in the US will tell that if you mess with fire ants they'll sting the piss out of you. Alternately, large black wood ants in the south can be referred to a pissants, lending to the phrase "... pissanting around."

Pissant in Politics
In conversations with his advisors during the Vietnam War, U.S president Lyndon B. Johnson often referred to Vietnam as "that damn piss-ant little country." The word is used by lesser public figures as well: a Virginia politician once silenced a heckler by saying "I'm a big dog on a big hunt and I don't have time for a piss-ant on a melon stalk."

Reference: Wikipedia