703: sodomy and buggery Nov 10, 2016

Those familiar with the Western canon, or otherwise familiar with any one of the three Abrahamic religions would likely be familiar with the story of Sodom and Gomorrah. First, from the story in Genesis, the cities were associated with impenitence and sin, but then over time, people began to associate the homosexual tendencies as written in Genesis 19:1-11. Thence, 'sodomy' as we know it today was adopted into English through Latin. This is not the only derogatory term, however, for gay-sex to derive from a place-name. 'Buggery', which people mostly know from the exclamation, 'bugger', has been used as both an insult and in legal contexts in England. This word comes from the Latin, 'Bulgarus' meaning 'Bulgarian', due to association with the Bogomils accused of sodomy.