Well Bugger Me

My family name causes a few problems because of its obscurity. It's actually Anglicised Bulgarian dating back to my Great Grandfather who came here from Bulgaria when the Bulgarians were allied to the treacherous Hun and therefore none too popular. A translation of Candide and a quick google with -what was I thinking-"Bulgar Buggery" took me to www.fact-index.com confirming that my ancestral homeland's contribution to the language is

buggery originated in medieval Europe and was an insult used to describe the rumoured same sex sexual practices of the heretical residue around the Bulgar region (in what is today known as Bulgaria). The Bulgars were one of the last European tribes to hold "heretical" forms of Christianity and so because of the rumoured link between celibacy and anal sex they were labelled in this way.

I thought the expression "heretical residue" was a nice touch. If only we'd invented karaoke or algebra or something.