History of the Word “Gay”
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- Опубликовано: 22 авг 2024
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The word “GAY” has a long history in the English language, but why did “GAY” stop meaning “happy” and start referring “same sex relationships?” Watch this week’s episode of Origin of Everything to find out.
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Written and Hosted By: Danielle Bainbridge
Graphics By: Noelle Smith
Edited By: Linda Huang and Mike Petrow
Fact Check: Sarah Edwards
Produced By: Kornhaber Brown (www.kornhaberbrown.com)
Works Cited:
www.nytimes.co...
www.out.com/ou...
“Review of Lavender Linguistics” Greg Jacobs
www.glaad.org/...
www.apa.org/top...
www.bbc.com/new...
www.splcenter....
www.nbcnews.co...
www.aclu.org/o...
Gay is Good: The Life and Letters of Gay Rights Pioneer Franklin Kameny ed. Michael G. Long
www.huffington...
"gay, adj., adv., and n.". OED Online. March 2018. Oxford University Press.
William Leap Works
Beyond the Lavender Lexicon: Authenticity, Imagination, and Appropriation in Lesbian and Gay Languages
Word's out: Gay Men's English
Judith Butler
Gender Trouble
Giving an Account of Oneself
Other Sources:
Language sexualities and Desires ed. Helen Sauntson and Sakis Kyratzis
Out in Public Reinventing Lesbian / Gay Anthropology in a Globalizing World ed Ellen Lewin and William L Leap
Queering Language ed. Tommaso M. Milani
Handbook of Language and Gender ed. Janet Holmes
New Sources on Standardized testing:
www.oecd.org/p...
www.eqao.com/en...
www.edglossary...
Not for nothing, but Danielle has nice style in her wardrobe.
Galo Aguirre
so you could say she's gay, eh?Get it 'cause stylish was one of the outdated iterations of gay, no, okay I'll get my self out.
heheheh, right
I'm definitely not against this. Thank you both for watching!
I’m liking her wardrobe too!
Like her hair her too💐
The word "gay" never meant weird.
Gay has been used for quite a long time to mean happy, but a specific type of happiness that was especially associated with children. The last line of J. M. Barrie’s Peter Pan reads:
_"and thus it will go on, so long as children are gay and innocent and heartless.
"_
The character of Peter Pan, gay and innocent heartless as he is, makes for a good exemplar of the term. Gay did not merely mean happy, it meant a blissful freedom from care or responsibility that most people only experienced as children, and its common usage was always associated with youthfulness to an extent.
The way most people saw it, you were allowed to be gay when you were a child: running and playing and hiding and seeking were your only duties. In time, however, you were expected to grow up, and a major part of growing up was getting married and having children.
There were, however, some men who simply refused to do this.
Even when they were of respectable marrying age, they would show no interest in settling down with a wife or raising another generation.
They seemed mostly interested in what most people saw as childish endeavors like the arts and other types of entertainment. Oscar Wilde is a perfect example of the popular image associated with them.
Many people saw this as a kind of failure of character. These men were refusing to become fathers and remaining essentially boys in the eyes of many. They wanted to go on having gay parties rather than raising children, and were often looked down on for it.
The idea of homosexuality was so non-existent in the popular vocabulary that the only way that people could think of was to describe it as childish.
So that is essentially how gay came to mean homosexual: not because it meant strange, but because it reflected a perceived refusal to grow up, marry, and bear children.
@manky toe nail06 wtf
Thanks you, John! I was really confused about what it really meant. All I knew before this was that gay meant happy. Why would homophobics call such people happy? Thanks again! ❤
No need to waste your time writing such along comment 😁
Sorry Now I read the whole comment thanks for the information by the way I am gay
It changed over the decades.Like the word queer.
At about 0:40 you have a photo of two women and two men, this photo was taken in a small town near where I grew up in Idaho. It just made me really happy to see it 😊
Ryan Murphy Hooray for local history! That's so awesome, thanks for sharing :)
Ryan Murphy lucky you and me as I am from same town!! I am 34
Another Idahoan? A miracle! What town?
@Öööö Why?
And ANOTHER Idahoan.
What about polari? The secret language of gay men and trans* women in Britain during the 50s?
it be nanti bona that it will be forgotten about
I was gonna ask "what" just the word "what" then I saw "nati bona" and then I went "it's latinate or pseudo-latin isn't it." Still what are you talking about?
Here's a video by Jessica Kellgren-Fozard about the history of Polari. It's the source of some of the words in common use today.
m.ruclips.net/video/D7ZEs2UbUPs/видео.html
She has a whole playlist of historical profiles of LGBTQ+ and/or disabled people and topics
"Nanti Bona" would be part of Polari language, which used words from other languages, slang from sailors and circus performers, as well as other origins to create a coded language that only people "in the know" could decipher. So nanti bona means "not good" here.
When Karl-Maria Kertbeny coined 'homosexual' it was for the purpose of advocating for our human rights, and omitting that origin is a great disservice. It was definitely twisted and used in medical (and other) discrimination, but it came from a place of love and liberation.
I also think it's important to acknowledge how popular 'gay' was in the 90s and 00s as a generic negative adjective. I know in my high school it was inescapable. I am so glad things have changed.
My school seems to not have outgrown the pejorative use of the word “gay”. I frequently hear kids in my school use “gay” as a negative adjective. :(
I still used to hear it in schools a few years ago but i swear not as often as when i was a teen when it was constantly been used
Also is wrong on psychiatrics homophilia is the term for stating same sex atraction as a mental ilness
Philia beibg the catch all for any atraction based mental illness
Wait, homosexual is still considered a slur?
I think that should be updated - most people don't really use it as a slur anymore that I've seen, it's mostly used as a technical term if you wanna specify your sexuality (as opposed to hetero-, bi-, pan-, a-, and other prefixes for the term -sexual)
I mean, queer was also a slur until it wasn't anymore cause people reclaimed it. If anyone wants to use a slur against gay people, they're having a hard time lol.
Yeah, that really surprised me. I hope I never offended anyone when using the word homosexual in English. In my native language, Spanish, homosexual is not pejorative, just a very formal way of saying gay.
Randolph Decker yeah, I agree. That would be more along the lines of "you can say it, but definitely respect when people don't want to hear it from you".
Honestly, same with any reclaimed slur tbh.
I personally don't consider it a full on slur. Its more something very clinical. It sometimes feels like a distancing action. Less like someone slinging a slur and more like saying "He's well.... you know...". Not everyone says it that way but when people do it puts me on alert for other signs I should stay squarely in the closet with that person.
I agree. I'm a gay man and I use 'homosexual' as a more technical, non-slang word.
Yes they do. They do it when they don't want to acknowledge people's right to exist.
Thanks for putting this together! This was my go-to example for examples of how words change meaning over time when I did historical linguistics intros in lectures.
There was another stop along the way in the early 20th century for "gay", where it was being used for promiscuity, not restricted to just homosexual behavior, but beyond that. The homosexual community use of "gay" won out, though! Which I'm happy about.
And I 100% understand not getting into the pejorative use of "gay" here (in the "that's so gay" sense) and not getting into that phase of the word's history - I'd have avoided it, too. It's an interesting topic for discussions in classes, but given the way the internet works, probably it's not the best place for it here?
I would love a source for all those pictures of gays through history, especially the 1920s dancing picture.
GamyH ruclips.net/video/rRuoX7yDL-w/видео.html
I'm straight, but this is gay and quite awesome.
Show that PRIDE.
I subbed to u
U are sick and u need to see adoctor
@@kyalimpaesyan8961 says the person who slammed their hand on a keyboard for a name 🤪
Here you go 🏳️🌈⃠
@@Person-ng5hp lol
During my class's morning work we went through a passage and when the teacher came across the word "gayer" some people started giggling and that's when the teacher had to tell the class that it also meant bright and happy.
Proof of gay meaning happy:
The line "Don we now our gay apparel" in the classic (and really old sounding) Christmas song "Deck the halls"
In that context it's the rarely used meaning of brightly coloured or festive clothing rather than happy
Or the ending of the theme song of “The Flintstones:”
“We’ll have a gay old time!”
You guys should do a follow up video on Lavender Linguistics. That would be awesome!
There's an error in the video. Nietzsche's Gay Science should be translated as The Joyful Wisdom (Die fröhliche Wissenschaft)
Wissenschaft means science you dummkopf. Weißt du kein Deutsch? Ok, that's probably a bit mean. Sorry, I don't mean it. But I really think you missed the point: "Gay Science" was and is a common translation of the "Die fröhliche Wissenschaft." Gay used to mean happy, joyful, so it was a perfectly fine translation of fröhlich, and Wissenschaft is the German word for "Science." Yes it literally means "Knowingness" ie "knowledge" but in practice it is the word German speakers use for "Science."
"Wisdom" better translates the German word "Weisheit." I'm guessing "The Joyful Wisdom" probably was chosen as a translation because to English speakers it sounds more poetic than "Happy Science," considering the image of science as cold and logical, not soulful and creative. Such nuance might not plague the German term, though I would have to ask a native speaker to be sure. "The Joyful Science" or even just "The Happy Science" (since fröhlich is a normal everyday word like "happy"), would really be the most accurate direct translation.
However, if you pay close attention to the video you will notice that "The Guy Science" was already a common term in English when Nietzsche published his book. The English phrase comes from old Provençal expression "gay saber," used by the Consistòri del Gay Saber, "a group of seven citizens of Toulouse who in 1323 organized yearly competitions to encourage troubadour poetry" (www.britannica.com/art/gai-saber). Also rendered "la gaya scienza" or in French "le gai savoir"/"la gaie science" this term means "happy knowledge" or "happy science" and is evocative of the tradition of the troubadours. In naming his book "Die fröhliche Wissenschaft" Nietzsche was referencing this term, and so to the English audience, using the well established translation of "gay saber" as "the gay science" would likewise clue the educated reader to this allusion.
(gay saber/gai saber seem to be interchangeable versions, I'm guessing because the Occitan language (including Provençal) was never standardized).
This channel deserves SO much more attention. I love her so much. 💓💓
Am I the only gay here who thinks that homosexual isn't a slur? I use it often, but never as a slur
why would it be a slur?
@@earthtoashlynbecause the woke like to change definitions and be offended by everything
2:26: "Homosexuals are: Highly talented and creative" -- well, at least they got that right. :)
tobalmc thats debateable
@@PaceTheKid look at gay pride. Plus more creative with colour.
A hell lot of praised designers and stylists are gay men.
Katty Young, sure but gays are more talented and creative
Millennials started using it in conversation as having a negative connotation. 'That's so gay', and kids still do it to this day.
Ikr wtf is up with that?!
Um...I'm Gen X and we said that in junior high in the very early '80s. It may even be older than that. Don't blame the millennials for this one.
Both the vigor of your delivery and the depth of your content make all of your presentations a joy to view, thank you.
Gay means "happy or brightly colored" and our symbol is a rainbow. How perfect!
Why didn't you guys make your own flag? Why steal GOD's creation?
Good video! I remember when I was little (early 1970s) and used to giggle a little at the line, "We'll have a gay old time!" in the Flintstones' theme song. At that point I was just vaguely aware of the double meaning, and I would've still considered "happy" to be the main meaning.
as i do, minorities tend to lie
I never thought anything but "fun" when I was a kid. However, years later, maybe the 80's, they had a newly created Flintstone's Special and they sang: "Great old time."
@@rastalique8114 Of course it was meant to mean "fun" in that theme song, but it became funnier over time as the other meaning started to become the more common one. There are a few other scenes from the same era that seem funny now, like one time on Mary Tyler Moore when Phyllis tells Mary, "You're so lucky! I mean, you're gay..." -- meaning that Mary's a happy, fun-loving person.
I'm a gay single man without kids and I didn't know that about the word gay.I'm glad that I know now.
Skeptis Trader Bear XD
Interesting! How did the rainbow flag become part of gay pride? I’d also be interested in more word origins.
Short simple answer: *diversity*
this 🏳️🌈 was designed to represent _everyone_ , regardless of your ethnicity, sexuality, or religious beliefs, you have a place in this spectrum and you can be proud of it.
it may or may not also have something to do with Dorothy from _the Wizard of Oz_ being one of the first gay icons ("Over the Rainbow")
You are partly correct. The rainbow flag was first used by Jesse Jackson in the 60's to embrace all the minorities. It has nothing to do with The Wizard of Oz
@@faustofernandez2971 And it is also important that gay not just meant 'cheerful' another meaning was 'colourful' so that would fit into context as well.
My theory: When one thinks of happines and joy (the original meaning of the word ‘gay’) one thinks of flowers, sunny days and RAINBOWS, right? The word changed meanings, but sticked to rainbows maybe because of the stereotypical overall image, if you know what I mean
Because they stole it from GOD.
So...since some of the earlier meanings had to do with the nobility and/or fancy clothes in general, I was wondering if there was a bit of origin through that way, as well? Like, the foppish character--what he's wearing was once fashionable and a sign of wealth and status, but now he looks "frivolous" and "womanly". And that's pretty much exactly the same as modern day--guys who wear even slightly "feminine" clothes, hairstyles or jewelry (or makeup) are immediately snap-judged by their clothes: Girly = gay.
So, it's possible the new meaning of "gay" came from both the above--fancy clothes of the nobility first meaning "gay" in a positive sense, then those same clothes becoming the laughable sign of a weak, effeminate man --AND the term "gay house" meaning a brothel. That way you get both the sexual connotations _and_ the limp-wristed cliches.
It is a feminist myth that oppression of gays is somehow misogyny. It is not.
It's definitely related. Gay men, or so the stereotype goes, are frilly and silly and walk femininely and have high silly voices and wear girlier outfits (sometimes being actual drag queens) and _like men_, like a woman is supposed to.
It's not a myth I heard from anywhere, but a pretty obvious thing I figured out myself. I'm not saying it IS misogyny. I'm saying it's RELATED. Same attitudes.
Like Yankee Doodle?
@@robinchesterfield42 no it isn't.
Your concluding notion is false. English has never been a prescriptive language, it has always been descriptive. It's major dictionaries: Webster and OED have always followed that model. Therefore, common usage is driving force behind every word in the dictionary.
A linguist would say all languages are descriptive. Some people just don't want to except that.
I would also like to point out that it seems youngsters today use the word "gay" as an insult. They use "gay" as a colloquial adjective word for "foolish, stupid or unimpressive".
This is a sentence example for the word "gay" in negative light:
"He thinks the obsession with celebrity is totally gay."
It is deemed offensive for homosexuals but I was just wondering, when did the word "gay" become associated with "foolishness, stupidity and unimpressive"? Why is it still commonly used in high schools although there is an increasing awareness of LGBT people and the acceptance of diversity?
Omar Onn it’s rly weird like they don’t mean it as an insult to gay people but for some reason they think its synonymous with bad or terrible
My favorite use of the word >gay< as >happy< is in *_"Harlem Holiday"_* by _Cab Calloway_
_"Every song will be gay - no weary blues"_
I will never forget the reaction of our english teacher in middle school concerning that famous word. In the lyric poem "I wandered lonely as a cloud" by the english romatic author William Wordsworth (from 1815), speaking of a field of daffodils, the flowers dancing beautifully in the wind, he wrote "a poet could not be but gay - in such a jocund company". One of my classmates fully interpreted the word for the modern homosexual meaning, to the shock and surprise of my teacher who seemd to ignore that connotation just as my classmate ignored the classic one. It was an unforgettable moment. P.S.: the teacher was female and we were an only girls class.
I'm surprised you didn't mention, "Don we now our gay (festive) apparel!" We also never use the word, "merry", anymore except in Christmas carols. There's a lot of interesting history in Christmas carols b/c they were written in a particular time in history and sometimes proclaim socially relevant messages. A good example is the verse from O Holy Night that says, "Chains shall He break for the slave is our brother, and in His name all oppression shall cease."
Great video, PBS. Happy Pride Month to everyone. 🌈
The hedonistic usage of the word can still be seen in modern German dialect: In the Rhineland regional dialect, "jeck" describes the crazy, cheerful, hedonistic mood people are in when celebrating carnival (sometimes to describe craziness independent of season, too), and I read somewhere that the two words are related.
All the likes are the middle school boys
Wow your outfits are always absolutely amazing! I'm currently binge watching a bunch of Origin of Everything, I just lvoe the content and delivery.
Notice how it always has to do with positivity
So, basically what you are saying is that the LGBTQ community appropriated a word to its own usage, and that due to evolving social mores, that is the meaning that has become most prevalent.
Cultural appropriation. Ooops. Same as with rainbows as a symbol.
Gay is same-gender attraction, not same-sex!
Poetry being called *the gay science* honestly needs to come back.
How about "Friends of Dorothy" as an expression for gay and its use by the US Military to root out gays in the 1950s and 60s
"Speaker and receiver?!" 😲 Come on now. This is a family show!🤣
“Your lighthearted” hm, so back then did they say “your gay” 🤔
why is homosexual a offensive therm?
It's in the description: Please use gay or lesbian to describe people attracted to members of the same sex. Because of the clinical history of the word "homosexual," it is aggressively used by anti-gay extremists to suggest that gay people are somehow diseased or psychologically/emotionally disordered - notions discredited by the American Psychological Association and the American Psychiatric Association in the 1970s. Please avoid using "homosexual" except in direct quotes. Please also avoid using "homosexual" as a style variation simply to avoid repeated use of the word "gay." The Associated Press, The New York Times and The Washington Post restrict use of the term "homosexual" (see AP & New York Times Style). - glaad.org/reference/offensive
"Heterosexual" has much less, if any, stigma associated with its use. This is due to its never having been a label for a medical or mental disease or clinical dysfunction. However, it, too, has a replacement: "Cis", describing the situation where one's sexual orientation more closely matches their genitalia.
Apparently, all orientations want equal vocabulary rights to shorter names.
Thy21 Homosexual is not an offensive term. People need to stop being such snowflakes. Its modern usage does not carry insulting intent, therefore it is not offensive.
BobC Cis is short for cisgender, which means that your biological sex matches your gender identity. So that doesn't have to do with who you're attracted to, but with what gender you are. I think the word you are looking for is straight, which means that you are attracted to people of the 'opposite' gender.
My girlfriend's brother is gay ... hanging out with him and his partner is the closest relationship I have with the gay community.
At least in their circle of friends, they avoid using the word "straight." If you asked me which way I should walk to reach a bus stop, and I said "straight ahead," certain parts of the gay community would insist you exclusively use "up ahead" or "forward" so as to not offend.
There’s one interpretation missing. A more recent interpretation of the word gay looked to degrade the positive meaning the queer community had given the word by embracing it. It happened around the turn of the 21st century and it was used to describe something lame. Thankfully it has slowly fallen out of use.
Off-topic but I *love* your outfit today! Also, keep up the good work! :-)
would you be able to examine a history of the term "queer" as this has been a highly debated topic online lately (or point me in the right direction to other folks talking about this)
Not quite as I've heard it portrayed in short form in the "gay media", but not far off and much more in depth. In all your videos Ive been impressed by the depth of your research. A history professor once told our class (and doubtlessly all his classes) you can teach anyone anything as history so long as no one in the room knows any better. Thanks for helping us all know better.
I mean.... Happy, colourful, joyful, excellent, well dressed.... BITCH I THINK ITA OBVIOUS WHY THE TERM IS USED TO DESCIBE US
"Hii I'm Gay". Gabrielle pronounced Gabriel, Gay for short. I was born in the UK in 1955,. The first and only time anyone refused to call me Gay was in 1972 aged 17 while on holiday in the USA because "it was queer". I've since learned my daughter from 1994 - 2004 hated how I introduced myself to her friends when she was an adolescent but as an adult finds it hilarious and endearing. After my husband and daughter's father died I finally found the courage to go on a solo 3-week cruise,, a 6 letter username was required for dining room entry and other essential requirements on the ship. Black and white literal me, chose my first name and the first 3 letters of my surname. Simple and logical, easy to remember. It was only when my daughter proof checked my documents just before travel and said, "Hello Madam, and what is your user name" and I replied, to my daughter's glee "GayBar" I realised the connotations of my name in today's society. Oh, how we laughed and yes on the cruise I stood with a straight face every time and said "GayBar" :) Thanks for reading and hope you enjoyed my personal take on the word Gay!!!!
The line from the Christmas carol “don we now our gay apparel” leads to different imagery than originally intended.
In French, the word "gay" and "gaie" are pronounce the same way but the first one signifies (like in English) anything not straight when the second has a signification close to the old English signification of "gay" which can be translated by happy, joyful, energetic or colorful.
I just thought when gay people came out they would say: Mum, Dad, I’m a homosexual and I’m gay.🤣
wow what a gay episode! :-p
Imagine if all gay people made a secret language but not just a few words like a whole other language
That would be pretty cool I think
Also Is there a language already I lost my gay agenda and missed the last meeting
a while back there was a code for being which was "are you friends with Dorthy" or along that sentence i think we should bring it back
I remember playing Mafia 2 back in the day listening to the song "Why Do Fools Fall in Love?" by Frankie Lymon & The Teenagers, and the lyrics mentioning about why do birds sing so gay. That was when I learnt that the word gay meant happy back in the '50s, the period which the game is set in.
Code word from the past-confirmed bachelor.
Your blouse is fabulous in this episode! And thank you for answering this, very informative, I really enjoy this series of videos
Entomology is fascinating, it seems to not only include technical breakdowns of linguistic concepts but an analysis of the historical, psychological, and sociological contexts behind the subjects it explores
I'd like to know why Glaad determined homosexual to be offensive.
I'm not gay that's fine. AND being gay is totally fine. Im mean in my opinion I really don't want to be and other want to. I why can't everyone except that we all can love what ever we want to.😶
I took a 1st grade substitute assignment where 6 year old boy bullies were using gay as an attack epithet against their fellow classmates. This was back in 1994.
The "gay science" does not *literally* but *figuratively* mean "the art of poetry" :)
The art of poetry is the "gay science" because it is literally a gay (lighthearted) "science" (knowledge)! :P
I was reading The Talented Mr Ripley , and it sometimes uses queer to mean homosexual, and sometimes '"strange". The book is from 1955. So around the time the ideas were becoming more widely talked about. Norms change, and so too does language to describe them. Interesting intersection of linguistics and sociology, I think.
In Bringing Up Baby (1938), Cary Grant's character says "I just went gay all of a sudden". They say the line was improvised. I always surmised (without research) that the term had been in use in Hollywood, where gay people were less likely to be excluded from life than in other fields. I also assumed that it came from the notion of flamboyant (hence effeminate) mannerisms among some of that population.
It's for that reason that I don't particularly like that use of the word, though I have to accept reality. It leaves out the "man's men" who like the gym and monster trucks, and who otherwise contend that "If I want a woman, I'll date women, not pale imitations of them." Think of the late Oliver Sacks. He was a body builder and motorcycle enthusiast in his youth. There was nothing limp-wristed about him. At least women always had the classical -- and therefore gracious -- title of Lesbian. The coldly clinical "homosexual" is, well, just cold. I'm happy to see the re-emergence of "queer" in recent years. It just means "out of the ordinary". It could apply to someone who's left-handed. Hell, it could apply to me for enjoying music from generations before my time.
But language goes where language goes, and it's not for me to like or approve of its odd twists. Thinking back on it, the last time I heard "gay" being used to mean "merry" was in the final line of the theme song to The Flintstones, so at least the word was in disuse when its new maning found its way into the popular lexicon. I also remember when "holocaust" was a regular word that meant "burn whole", like Dresden or Nagasaki. That poor word was appropriated while it was still in perfectly good currency. But again, who am I to rail against the tide of history?
I nominate you as our favorite the history of everything RUclipsr
In Australia atm the debate is on if the word gay is an insult. The gay community is infighting about it.
Isn't using the word homosexual just a way to differentiate it from the word heterosexual? I didnt know it was offensive to say homosexual...
I was reading Action Comics #20. I was a bit confused when they referred to gay people on a yatch
I think it’s interesting how a word could change so much and give people freedom
Danielle, you are a delight. Great info. Thanks!
Apparently it used to mean happy... But then they stole it.... Then they converted nearly every other word in the English dictionary into gay innuendo...
2:22 I read that list to the right and was like 🤭but then I read "highly talented and creative" and "all of us have homosexual tendencies, but only a few are bold enough to express them." At least they added something good lol
GAY is everyone's favorite word.
Gay means joyful in French or like happy idk 🤣🤣🤣🤣
When I was looking up Sherlock stuff I learnt that gay bars used to be known as Molly Houses. Wonder where that term comes from?
Awesome video. Thanks for sharing!
The change of dress it's making me crazy
*_STOP USING GAY AS AN INSULT AaaAAaAaAaAAaAaaAaaaaAAAAAHH!!!_*
i am not gay in both senses of the word
Gay is also a name too.
The "hijacking"of the common meaning of gay calls to mind a similar hijacking of intercourse.
My mom said during her her high school years her peers used the word gay to call something lame. ("That's so gay.") That's the only instance I've heard of gay being used in that context, so I'm guessing it wasn't a widespread thing. Still interesting, though.
Gertrude Stein's gay prose poem "Miss Furr and Miss Skeene" (1922) is basically two gay pages of this: "They were quite regularly gay there, Helen Furr and Georgine Skeene, they were regularly gay there where they were gay. They were very regularly gay." And Gertie was the most gaily celebrated gay of all the gays who ever gayed. She did a real gay thing for the gay lexicon.
Fascinating! I love these videos. Such basic questions, and such interesting answers. The host, Danielle, is completely fab in her enthusiasm for each topic, and of course, in her exquisite style and panache that is ever-changing and always amazing. Thank you, Origin of Everything!
Do you know what is gay Xbox
The younger generation now uses the word gay to mean lame, so the word is still evolving, nothing remains constant!
Wish it still meant happy....
It's interesting how supposedly benign words used to describe certain people groups become considered offensive, just because society considered those people to be inherently bad and often referred to them in derogatory terms. The word homosexual is simply a scientific term used to very basically describe a person who has sex with people of the same sex, nothing inherently derogatory about that.
You don't understand. A straight man can have sex with another straight man, like in prison, and it is a 'Homosexual act". It doesn't make him A "homosexual" person. All words are benign. It's how we use them that causes grief.
Except it is rooted from medical institutions that treated being gay as a mental illness and something to be cured. So that's pretty derogatory. It's right there in the video.
It is rooted in descriptive scientific terminology used by medical institutions, correct. The fact that many of the medical institutions were composed of bigoted individuals is a separate issue.
Now, the reason I bring this up is that in science, we have a certain scheme of naming things, and terms like "homosexual" and "heterosexual" are useful in social and medical science among others. Can we use "heterosexual" and "bisexual" while barring "homosexual"?
The modern usage of "homosexual" is not entirely, or even for the majority of the time, derogatory. Even historically speaking, it was originally coined by a gay rights activist (more info on en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Karl-Maria_Kertbeny ). It seems that some people are trying to push for this to become a derogatory term, even though it never really was, which just boggles my mind.
You forgot to add that in the 1990s "gay" was used when something was lame/not cool
I remember I found a song sung by a woman with the word gay but the original meaning. It was like from the 40s or 50s, 60s. Wish i could find it again. :(
I love all your videos so much! Thank you ❤
I am so happy im gay
nice outfit changes on this episode :)
I'm all for more lavender linguistics videos!
It meant happy back then,the world has changed.
yes, for the better
I dunno, it happened sometime after the Flintstones theme song was written though.
Why does glaad say that homosexual is an offensive term? I dont think I've ever heard anyone say homosexual is offensive.
I'm not at all against the use of "gay" as a simpler and lighter-sounding substitute for awkward and cumbersome terms such as "homosexual" or "same-sex relationship".
But I do wish other uses of "gay" could more comfortably co-exist, such as in the last stanza of the Flintstones theme song.
BobC while I can understand that it seems impossible at this point. The shift has already happened. The children I teach don't know that there is an alternative meaning.
Or the Christmas carol containing the line “Don we now our gay apparel.”
@@allanrichardson1468 oh wow i never noticed that before
I think the word must also have meant crazy at some point. That's kind of what it looks like Cary Grant uses it like in the film "Bringing up Baby".
In that movie, Grant means gay in the current sense. When I saw the movie in mid 1980’s, I was surprised by the clearly modern usage as opposed to say “the gay divorcée”. It was probably already being used as slang in Hollywood and was snuck in to be risqué.
I was reading a book and it said the Tuesday girl was gay . I was so confused why she was lesbian
what was the word for the same sex couples before gay?
you could do a micro machines ad from the 90s after that!!
Gay is like when a boy likes a boy and a girl likes a girl
so what makes a color masculine or feminine?
Nothing does. That is merely a social construct.
Society.
can you do history of why people stick out their pinky while drinking tea
Plumpopz no one does that