It sounded like he said, "If you don't get out of town in 48 hours we'll run you in as a fag, and that'll mean thirty days in the can." Apparently that word and its meaning have been around for a long time. My guess is that the Hays Committee nixed its usage on the big screen after 1933. Of course you could never get away with saying anything like that now.
share"...we'll run you in as a vag..." As in vagrant. He needed to find a regular job or the cops would pick him up for vagrancy. Of course, soon after that, he did find a job...
shareBut vagrant has the long "a" sound so if what dwenglish says is true the shortened word "vag" would have sounded like the word "vague". The word the cop used had the short "a" sound as in "cat" or "man". So yes he did say "fag" as we currently say it. Could have had a different meaning then. Who knows?
Glad I payed attention in Phonics class.
It is vag. Abbreviated on police paperwork it is written "vag". Seeing it as it is written, you wouldn't pronounce it "vague", Phonics or no Phonics. Just as you say "bra", "info", "limo" and they don't sound exactly like their full versions. You probably still won't believe me so...
http://www.thefreedictionary.com/vag
Just google "vag law" or "vag charge" to see its usage for criminal offenses.
I believe you, but sure sounded like "fag" to me.
That is why I can here, to see if anyone else caught it/could explain it.
Thanks.
Lol...I too thought he said "FAG"-but "VAG" would deff make more sense-the circumstance was he had to have a job in 2 days and if he didn't,It'd be assumed he was broke-a vagrant...but honestly,it's not too far fetched for someone's sexuality to be questioned and even locked up for in the 1930's
shareDefinitely "vag", not "fag". My dad was a cop in the early '50s and I've heard him refer to "vags", meaning vagrants and rhyming with "gag" or "bag". There were also "vag-lewds", pronounced "vagloods", meaning vagrants with lewd behavior.
share