Old gay meaning
"gay" has a new meaning!!!!!!!!!!!!
"gay
My opinion (and I'm gonna get reamed for it, I already recognize this): I'm tired of PC crap. If I say 'gay' it means I think something's foolish. I'm not quite sure where that meaning came from, I just recognize I've used it since high school, and its become a habit. As far as it existence a 'slur', it was a word in the dictionary <b>long</b> before it was used to explain homosexuals. Therefore, I notice no reason to censor it. There are too many people in the world that get offended by idiotic stuff enjoy this, and I for one am not the type to tip-toe around what I say because someone might get upset by it. I tell what I mean, pure and simple, and I don't censor it to be politically correct. There's too much of that as it is. People need thicker skins.
Plus, deliberate about it this way. Have you ever met a depressed, emo homosexual? Most of them are pretty happy, therefore, I don't think the synonyms 'gay' is a horrible term. LOL. (joke, BTW, for you sensitive types. Don't get your neck in a twist.)
As far as the word 'retarded', I'm
Origin and history of gay
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gay(adj.)
late 14c., "full of joy, merry; light-hearted, carefree;" also "wanton, lewd, lascivious" (late 12c. as a surname, Philippus de Gay), from Old French gai "joyful, happy; pleasant, agreeably charming; forward, pert; light-colored" (12c.; compare Vintage Spanish gayo, Portuguese gaio, Italian gajo, probably French loan-words). The ultimate source is disputed; perhaps from Frankish *gahi (related to Old High German wahi "pretty"), though not all etymologists accept this.
The definition "stately and beautiful; splendid and showily dressed" is from early 14c. Of things, "sumptuous, showy, wealthy, ornate," mid-14c. of colors, etc., "shining, glittering, gleaming, bright, vivid," late 14c.; of persons, "dressed up, decked out in finery," also late 14c. In the English of Yorkshire and Scotland formerly it could mean "moderately, rather, considerable" (1796; compare the sense development in pretty (adj.)).
The word gay by the 1890s had an overall tinge of promiscuity — a gay house was a brothel. The suggestion of immor
Today I found out how ‘gay’ came to signify ‘homosexual’.
The word “gay” seems to have its origins around the 12th century in England, derived from the Old French synonyms ‘gai’, which in rotate was probably derived from a Germanic word, though that isn’t completely known. The word’s original essence meant something to the effect of “joyful”, “carefree”, “full of mirth”, or “bright and showy”.
However, around the early parts of the 17th century, the word began to be associated with immorality. By the mid 17th century, according to an Oxford dictionary definition at the time, the meaning of the word had changed to mean “addicted to pleasures and dissipations. Often euphemistically: Of loose and immoral life”. This is an extension of one of the original meanings of “carefree”, meaning more or less uninhibited.
Fast-forward to the 19th century and the word gay referred to a woman who was a prostitute and a gay man was someone who slept with a lot of women (ironically enough), often prostitutes. Also at this period, the phrase “gay it” meant t
by Jordan Redman
Staff Writer
Do you know what the word gay really means?
The word gay dates endorse to the 12th century and comes from the Old French “gai,” sense “full of joy or mirth.” It may also relate to the Vintage High German “gahi,” sense impulsive.
For centuries, gay was used commonly in speech and literature to represent happy, carefree, bright and showy, and did not take on any sexual meaning until the 1600s.
At that time the essence of gay as carefree evolved to imply that a person was unrestrained by morals and prone to decadence and promiscuity. A prostitute might contain been described as a “gay woman” and a womanizer as a “gay man.”
“Gay house” was commonly used to refer to a brothel and, later, “gaiety” was used as a common name for certain places of entertainment.
In the 1890s, the word “gey cat” (a Scottish variant of gay) was used to describe a vagrant who offered sexual services to women or a young traveler who was new to the road and in the company of an older man.
This latter use suggests that the younger guy was in a sexually submissive role and may be among the first times that gay was used implying a lesbian relationship.
In 1951, gay appeared in the
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