why is 'gay' suddenly used as a swearword for 'stupid'

**Wout** · 11-13-2002, 05:25 AM

I'm not one to jump on the barricades about stuff like this but it's irritating the hell out of me.

Example #1: I sometimes visit a videogames-forum. You'd be surprised at how many times the word Gay is used to describe something lame and/or stupid. 'this thread is soooooooo gay' or 'dude, you are gay, don't be stupid' or 'that game is soooooooo gay'... see the pattern?

Example #2: my boss' son apparently has some trouble at work. My boss tells us that his co-workers are just a bunch of gays because they can't appreciate input. WTF! Thank you, I'm sitting right here! sheesh...

What's up with that!
Since when is Gay the same as Stupid in swearword-land. I can live with people using Gay as a nasty word when used for what it is (I just blame that on ignorance and move on) but this is just.... sooooooo gay!

Meryl · 11-13-2002, 05:40 AM

its just a part of language development.
the word has been used for that meaning for quite a while where i live (new zealand)
i think it came from kids misunderstanding the word, and then just using to it describe anything that was stupid.. more meaning lame than stupid tho..

i hardly ever use the word to describe homosexual people now.. only once or twice have i really used it recently.
the thing is, when people say it like that (meaning stupid) you've got to remember that they are not using it because they are homophobic or anything, its just becoming a new meaning to the word. language changes all the time, words change meaning and lose meaning.

i dunno, doesnt bother me. but then, i'm not gay and i am not really mates with anyone that is (well actually i just met a dude last night but thats all... he gets a kick out of us calling him a fucking straight)
so yeah, i cant speak for everyone but thats my take on it

**Wout** · 11-13-2002, 05:46 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by Meryl
you've got to remember that they are not using it because they are homophobic or anything, its just becoming a new meaning to the word.

That's just it. I know that it isn't meant homophobic (hence the last sentence of my previous post), but I can't understand nor appreciate that this is becoming a new meaning to the word.
I don't think it came from kids misunderstanding the meaning if the word though... That's too easy. It's just becoming too common to use it for negative stuff. And that sucks!

AndyKat · 11-13-2002, 05:47 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by wout77
Since when is Gay the same as Stupid in swearword-land.

Since a very, very, very long time ago.

Meryl · 11-13-2002, 05:52 AM

with kids i mean.. like.. they hear someone calling someone a gay because they dont like them.. and associate it as just a negative word, not specifically a homosexual word.

its weird how gay has become that kinda word.. there's nothign anyone can do about it chaning it tho, the fact that you notice it now means its too late.
i thought that the word queer was becoming the new gay tho... tell me if this isnt the case?

i'm just starting a linguistics course, and we did a whole bit about how peopel dont like to see language changing.. its like they associate it with the degradation of standards and stuff..

its weird how it all changes so much but i dunno.

just realised how little this post has to do with the actualy topic. eh. i like typing, i'm up late and bored and kinda lonely.

have a nice night, i'm going to bed

**Wout** · 11-13-2002, 05:55 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by Meryl
the fact that you notice it now means its too late.

Darn

Quote:

Originally posted by Meryl
i'm just starting a linguistics course, and we did a whole bit about how people dont like to see language changing.. its like they associate it with the degradation of standards and stuff..

just realised how little this post has to do with the actualy topic.

No actually, that's kinda interesting... Because, yes, I did associate it with of degradation of standards of sorts... OMG, am I becoming an old whiney at the age of 25??!!??

pumbrella · 11-13-2002, 05:58 AM

when and why did they start using the word gay as a homosexual synonym?

maybe in 50 years it will have another new meaning

Meryl · 11-13-2002, 06:07 AM

nahh your not becoming an old whiney

everyone does it. its like how people think that the educaiton system is failing now because "kids arent speaking english properly and no one can read anymore"....
people said the same thing 50 years ago, and 50 years before that,, and the generation before that. the fact is, there never was this golden age that people seem to refer to when dissing standards of literacy now, and never seem to be able to back up claims.

there are heaps of myths about language that people all take to be fact.. like childrens' standards dropping, that black kids cant speak english properly, that everyone *else* has an accent and *i* dont, and a heap of other stuff. apparently americans in michigan are suuuper arrogant about their accent

they think their speech isthe only correct way to speak

.. and so does the rest of teh country supposedly

"when and why did they start using the word gay as a homosexual synonym?

maybe in 50 years it will have another new meaning"

i think gay started to be used around 50 years ago, it was introduced by the gay community to describe themselves.. before then, to be gay meant to be of a happy and free spirited nature.. and they wanted a good positive word to use. and it worked, caught on pretty well huh?
the last oxford dictionary didnt include the new meaning of gay, but i'm betting the next edition will include it as meaning "lame or stupid" (i'm paraphrasing of course

)

but yeah. i love this kinda stuff

swear i'm going to bed now!!

Dangus · 11-13-2002, 09:01 AM

This thread is gay

piano_girl76 · 11-13-2002, 10:18 AM

*remembers when gay used to mean happy and jolly*

sn0wblind · 11-13-2002, 10:28 AM

ditch gay, replace with fag! ok, it has a negative sound to it but we can change that.

SparkleScamp · 11-13-2002, 11:29 AM

It's too funny that the only person I've heard constantly use the word "gay" in that sense is someone whom I STRONGLY suspect IS gay, but in denial.

Wicked Butterfly · 11-13-2002, 11:39 AM

Isn't using the word 'gay' in that context like sooo eighties, dude?

It's like sooo totally over, ya know?

ZodiaK · 11-13-2002, 12:55 PM

"Gay" has been synonymous with "Stupid" for as long as I can remember. Don't take offense. People with physical diabilities don't seem upset when someone says something is lame, and I don't see piles of bovine effluence taking offense to people referring to something being bullshit. The term "bitch" is bantied about quite a bit these days, and other than those humourless feminists whom will remain self-righteously anonymous, nobody seems to take offense.

No matter who you are, no matter your race, religion, creed, sex, sexual orientation, musical preference, etc., someone out there is going to hate you, based on these arbitrary personal characteristics.

No matter who you are, some word, some expression, some proverb, some numeric values (88) t-shirt slogans, and some bumper sticker, even, is going to contain something that you will find offensive.

You have two choices:

(1) Accept it, and move on, because this is beyond your ability to change.

(2) Start a campaign to bring about Orwellian-style thought police, other than the Homeland Security Office, and begin to censor what can and cannot be said, written, done, believed.

If you select (2), then be prepared to create a world of deafmutes, where there is no artistic expression, no television, no radio, no newspapers, and no verbal communication of any kind, where we are reduced to handsigns, which, they, themselves will eventually be eliminated because certain gestures in certain cultures mean something completely different than what it means to you. Eventually all humans will have to be kept isolated from one another for fear that something that one of them does might potentially offend another.

Hobisibo · 11-13-2002, 01:05 PM

<i>THE YEAR WAS 2081, and everybody was finally equal. They weren't only equal before God and the law. They were equal every which way. Nobody was smarter than anybody else. Nobody was better looking than anybody else. Nobody was stronger or quicker than anybody else. All this equality was due to the 211th, 212th, and 213th Amendments to the Constitution, and to the unceasing vigilance of agents of the United States Handicapper General...</i>

One of the greatest short stories in history.

Read the whole thing sometime. (http://penguinppc.org/~hollis/personal/bergeron.shtml)