If we use "fairy" in our band name, will people think of sprites or gay men?

Question

Seems like a really weird question but here's what it's about:

Me and my band are currently searching for a bandname which seems to be very hard. We recently (finally) found one name that we all liked at first:

Shoot a fairy

Which refers to an annoying fairy in a video game.

But today our superstar heavy metal guitar guy came around and found some translation on a German translation website which says that fairy can be translated to "Schwuchtel" which is an offensive word for male homosexuals.

So my question is, would the word fairy be understood by native english speakers as such an offensive word. And would the term "Shoot a fairy" therefor be understood as a call to kill homosexuals and if yes how common is this word for use as an insult.

So would you (or an native english speaker) think that a band with that name hates homosexual people?

TrevorD · Answer

It certainly was an offensive term with that usage in British English (and I understand that the same applies for American English).  I think it may still be used by very prejudiced people wanting specifically to cause offence.

I can't say how it would now be regarded, but I can say that when I read your proposed name, specifically with the 'kill' word in it, I immediately thought of the meaning you attribute to it. The fact that you might be referring to a fairy of the mythical type was definitely a  secondary thought.

Thomas Watkins · Answer

The first thought for this question is "militant homophobia" but after thinking it through I would initially attribute actions to people and descriptions to objects. If I were to say, "Green Fairy" one would not think of an experimenting homosexual. Whereas, "Capture a Fairy" would certainly require a legal or ethical background to the discussion.

Answered by Thomas Watkins on April 16, 2021

If we use "fairy" in our band name, will people think of sprites or gay men?

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