BigNick
Thinks s/he gets paid by the post
Yes. It's still a cigarette. A minor usage, among those who went to the very poshest boarding schools, is to describe a junior student who acts a gofer for a more senior one; apparently this system is now defunct (source: Wikipedia).Does 'fag' still have a much different meaning than the US version?
Faggots, in the UK, are cheap meatballs, composed principally of liver and other offal. There is no abbreviation for these to "fag".
Brits are nowadays generally aware of the pejorative use of the word "faggot" and will avoid it (or snicker) if Americans are around - also, the food item in question is becoming less popular. However, no such restraint applies to "fag" except perhaps in the most politically correct circles, where not a lot of people smoke cigarettes anyway.