Please don't police my thoughts:
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That's your definition of "growth", stamping out an historically accepted definition of a word simply because YOUR notion culture has "evolved" to the point of political correctness? Have fun with that.
Try going to the UK, where "*kitten*" is used quite commonly (for cigarettes)....and where you don't hear the homosexual community whining about it.
Yes that's my definition of growth.
Unless you want to go back to historically appropriate times and measures: In which case, blacks would still be slaves in America and I, as a woman, would not be allowed to vote.
Change happens.
Why are you so opposed to it?
You need to read it back. It is not about opposing growth but accepting change happens slowly and each end of the timescale should be able to live with it. No one subculture should ever have the veto over anything. That is how our previously hegemonic society existed. You decry that but seem to want to squash me and people like me who have no malice but simply choose to use some words as they were originally intended.
You will note that I haven't asked that gay stopped being used in any other way, just that my usage remains valid and as accpeted as the new meaning.0 -
You need to read it back. It is not about opposing growth but accepting change happens slowly and each end of the timescale should be able to live with it. No one subculture should ever have the veto over anything. That is how our previously hegemonic society existed. You decry that but seem to want to squash me and people like me who have no malice but simply choose to use some words as they were originally intended.
You will note that I haven't asked that gay stopped being used in any other way, just that my usage remains valid and as accpeted as the new meaning.
Fair enough point.
The original meaning of the N word is German. It simply means ploughman.
So why are you not out there using that word??? Would it have anything to do with the negative connotation that our changing culture has placed on what was once a truly benign word?0 -
I think the OP meant to say camp , theatrical, over the top, etc just sayin....0
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I will use the word gay for whichever purpose I choose, society has no say over my own usage of the term and I see absolutely no need to 'change with the times' in respect to one word that some people take exception to because they have attached their own stigma and beliefs to it. I am, however, mindful of the company I am in, and would never use the term in a way that those around me would find derogatory.
This is such a pedantic argument. There literally IS no argument. People who use the word 'gay' in its original context should in no way have to conform to society's use of the word now.0 -
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Yes.0 -
Oh yea over yonder times thoust art not changeth the meaning of words aside from whenst thou is bidden, language stuff changes n that!0
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*eyeroll*
You live in the US, where the word "gay" has not been used to describe jolly behavior in decades. Just own up that you said something thoughtless and move on.
you should watch the South Park episode where they address this. just as gay morphed from happy to homesexual in a lot of ways it has morphed into something else in a lot of situations and when people use that word they arent referencing homosexuals at all.
it was a pretty interesting episode.0 -
Oh yea over yonder times thoust art not changeth the meaning of words aside from whenst thou is bidden, language stuff changes n that!
I'm not suggesting that the world should revert to conversing in Medieval English. That style of language is defunct. The word 'gay' in its original context, however, isn't; therefore it's perfectly acceptable to use it in this day and age.
As I said - pedantic.0 -
The n word has never had a different meaning sorry it still means ignorant just as the people who use it...the difference is African American people try to use it now themselves as sort of a flip up to give Caucasian people less power when they use it. and yes I'm African American. Gay is still Gay it does mean happy and jolly it is not the OP's fault that people take offense really lol think about it there are several holiday songs that include the word "Gay" to describe exactly what he is saying....I doubt one includes the N word. Perhaps its just me but calling Homosexual people Gay is the same as calling African American people the N word .....Ignorant.......and that's why I refer to both in proper termsAnd the "n" word used to have a different meaning as well, but societal norms have changed. You are aware of this and there are plenty of other words that could have been used appropriately in its place. So you either misspoke thoughtlessly, or you're intentionally trying to stir the pot using a rather weak argument to support your case.0 -
Was trying to be a bit funny and lighthearted by using the argument to the extreme..........:sad: back to the drawing board!Oh yea over yonder times thoust art not changeth the meaning of words aside from whenst thou is bidden, language stuff changes n that!
I'm not suggesting that the world should revert to conversing in Medieval English. That style of language is defunct. The word 'gay' in its original context, however, isn't; therefore it's perfectly acceptable to use it in this day and age.
As I said - pedantic.0 -
Was trying to be a bit funny and lighthearted by using the argument to the extreme..........:sad: back to the drawing board!
Hehe, in that case, ignore me :P This whole post has just aggravated me it seems!0 -
Oh yea over yonder times thoust art not changeth the meaning of words aside from whenst thou is bidden, language stuff changes n that!
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*eyeroll*
You live in the US, where the word "gay" has not been used to describe jolly behavior in decades. Just own up that you said something thoughtless and move on.
OR maybe certain crusaders have become selectively and politically uptight. Gay is an old term that has many meanings. None of my gay friends care that I use "gay," but I do notice certain crusaders with overly sensitive political agendas will call out certain uses of words. What's funny is the same people will throw around tremendously hateful and disparaging terms to people they disagree with, as if it's totally consistent with the tolerance they promote.
You know the 'well none of my friends' argument is kinda weak, right? It's disrespectful to a lot people, so don't do it, easy. They get harassed and discriminated enough, without having their sexuality used as a negative term.
We live in the US where Liberals run the country and ANYTHING can and will be taken out of context and used to call someone out and being labeled as a bigot...and to a liberal if you are a Republican you are a bigot.0 -
Calling something "gay" is a way of belittling homosexuals. If you use offensive language, you'll be called on it.
I also don't like the expression "to cry like a little girl" when applied to adults. It's a stereotype and a form of belittling females.0 -
"Gay" does not equate to the "n" word. That would be the "f" word, and I don't mean *kitten*.
I remember being a part of the Gay/Straight Aliance group at my university where there was a debate on whether the plight of the LGBT community can be equated to the African-American struggle for civil rights. It was a consensus that being called a "f" brings about the same pain as being called the "n" word.0 -
I get so tired of having to be overly sensitive about the words that are used. If you mean it in a derogatory sense, then shame on you but if you simply mean it as jolly, then people need to get over it. I get so tired of the double standards in this country. People sit there and judge when people use words like "gay" or "retarded" when they aren't making fun of someone but no one judges anyone for calling someone fat? That can be just as demeaning to someone who is overweight as someone using the word 'gay" is to a homosexual. It's funny to me how no one makes a stand for the more than 60% of this country who are overweight. You don't see us "fat" people throwing a big ole baby fit because someone used the word "fat." Which, btw, I have heard plenty of homosexual people talk badly about overweight people. JUST GET OVER IT ALREADY! There are so many more important things in this world than what word someone uses.0
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Not only that but if you look at the definition of "gay," homosexual is it's 4th meaning...
Gay \ˈgā\
Definition of GAY
John 1685–1732 Eng. poet & dram.
Rhymes with GAY
a, ae, bay, bey, blae, brae, bray, chez, clay, Cray, day, dey, dray, eh, fay, fey, flay, fley, frae, fray, Frey, gay, gey, gley, gray, hay...
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1gay adjective \ˈgā\
Definition of GAY
1
a : happily excited : merry <in a gay mood>
b : keenly alive and exuberant : having or inducing high spirits <a bird's gay spring song>
2
a : bright, lively <gay sunny meadows>
b : brilliant in color
3
: given to social pleasures; also : licentious
4
a : homosexual <gay men>
b : of, relating to, or used by homosexuals <the gay rights movement> <a gay bar>
— gay adverb
— gay·ness noun0 -
So why are you not out there using that word??? Would it have anything to do with the negative connotation that our changing culture has placed on what was once a truly benign word?
Because, in English, it always had a negative connotation, used to describe slaves and has never had a different meaning. In all guises it is perjorative - there is no other meaning, when applied to a person. You don't think there has been a newly invented word for black in Latinate countries, do you?
German ploughman is pfluger, isn't it. The Latin roots of Italian/Spanish/Portuguese word for black, negre, was the root of the word we dare not speak
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Not only that but if you look at the definition of "gay," homosexual is it's 4th meaning...
Gay \ˈgā\
Definition of GAY
John 1685–1732 Eng. poet & dram.
Rhymes with GAY
a, ae, bay, bey, blae, brae, bray, chez, clay, Cray, day, dey, dray, eh, fay, fey, flay, fley, frae, fray, Frey, gay, gey, gley, gray, hay...
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1gay adjective \ˈgā\
Definition of GAY
1
a : happily excited : merry <in a gay mood>
b : keenly alive and exuberant : having or inducing high spirits <a bird's gay spring song>
2
a : bright, lively <gay sunny meadows>
b : brilliant in color
3
: given to social pleasures; also : licentious
4
a : homosexual <gay men>
b : of, relating to, or used by homosexuals <the gay rights movement> <a gay bar>
— gay adverb
— gay·ness noun
And you think those other meanings would apply to the OP's description of his behavior in reporting a fire?0 -
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:flowerforyou:
:flowerforyou:Oh yea over yonder times thoust art not changeth the meaning of words aside from whenst thou is bidden, language stuff changes n that!0 -
Not only that but if you look at the definition of "gay," homosexual is it's 4th meaning...
Gay \ˈgā\
Definition of GAY
John 1685–1732 Eng. poet & dram.
Rhymes with GAY
a, ae, bay, bey, blae, brae, bray, chez, clay, Cray, day, dey, dray, eh, fay, fey, flay, fley, frae, fray, Frey, gay, gey, gley, gray, hay...
[+]more
1gay adjective \ˈgā\
Definition of GAY
1
a : happily excited : merry <in a gay mood>
b : keenly alive and exuberant : having or inducing high spirits <a bird's gay spring song>
2
a : bright, lively <gay sunny meadows>
b : brilliant in color
3
: given to social pleasures; also : licentious
4
a : homosexual <gay men>
b : of, relating to, or used by homosexuals <the gay rights movement> <a gay bar>
— gay adverb
— gay·ness noun
And you think those other meanings would apply to the OP's description of his behavior in reporting a fire?
Yes, He said in his description he was overly excited because of all the activity...which is definition number ONE. Eyeroll0 -
And you think those other meanings would apply to the OP's description of his behavior in reporting a fire?
Yes, He said in his description he was overly excited because of all the activity...which is definition number ONE. Eyeroll
But why would a fire cause him to be so happy? I suppose maybe people he didn't like got burned or something like that.
Makes total sense now, thanks.0 -
I'm sorry, the word "brah" offends me (beyond being the vernacular of simpletons). I would appreciate that it no longer be used.....
Sorry, brah, but the word "brah" has yet to be incorporated into our culture as a whole. Come back in twenty years. Maybe you'll have had the time and energy to change the word "gay" by then, too.
We'll both grow as people. Wouldn't that be beautiful?
That's your definition of "growth", stamping out an historically accepted definition of a word simply because YOUR notion culture has "evolved" to the point of political correctness? Have fun with that.
Try going to the UK, where "*kitten*" is used quite commonly (for cigarettes)....and where you don't hear the homosexual community whining about it.
You don't hear people whining about it because us Brits have enough common sense to know that Americans understand something different in the word "*kitten*" than we do. I don't use the word "*kitten*" when talking to Americans, because otherwise there'd be gross miscommunications. It's just plain common sense. Words change meanings over time because language evolves, and different dialects may have a different meaning for the same word, also because languages evolve. I also don't use the words "flat" "lift" or "dodgy" with Americans, because they typically don't understand what I mean, unless they are already familiar with British English (some are, but unless I already know them well, I don't know if they are or not).
I can't believe that people are getting so butthurt over this. The vast majority of English speakers understand the term "gay" to mean "homosexual" - if there are still a few somewhere who due to differences in dialect still use it to mean "merry" then I think that's lovely. However you can't expect to be able to use the term with that meaning on a global platform like the internet, and not have someone misunderstand it. Just like I'm not going to post on the internet "I hate *kitten*" (meaning "I hate cigarettes") because the internet is full of Americans who will mostly likely think I'm saying "I hate homosexuals" and take offence. However in a pub in London I might say "I hate *kitten*" to another Brit, probably in the context of someone blowing their cigarette smoke in my direction, because they speak the same dialect as me and the context is obvious.
Sorry if you feel sad about the direction the English language is evolving in. Personally I don't like the way the word "troll" has been changed from meaning a being from Norse mythology, to someone who wastes everyone's time with stupid arguments on the internet... but I can't control the evolution of language, so I just have to get over it.0 -
Let's just cut through the ****, here. You weren't using the word "gay" to mean happy or jolly. You were using it to mean "lame". That usage is considered offensive to many. It's something we used to say when we were in grade 5 and didn't know any better. You know better, don't you? Of course you do. That's why you tried to claim you meant something else by the word "gay" so you could get support for your choice.
Thank you! How is this not immediately obvious to anyone reading the OP's post?0 -
Tsao. Haven't you ever been "excitable" when something crazy is going on? You wouldn't be excited in some way if helicopters were flying around and fire trucks...ever rubber necked someone being pulled over or a car wreck? I use the word gay to decribe overly excited behavior or being overly silly all the time. My usage of it in that context has nothing to do with a homosexual man" When I am referring to a man who likes men I call him a "homsexual" It's like people are overly sensitive. I have noticed those that are secure with who they are are not so easily offended.0
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sytlistchicky you're trying to be pedantic. but failing. *Eyeroll*0
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sytlistchicky you're trying to be pedantic. but failing. *Eyeroll*
Really? Thanks! *high five*0 -
Tsao. Haven't you ever been "excitable" when something crazy is going on? You wouldn't be excited in some way if helicopters were flying around and fire trucks...ever rubber necked someone being pulled over or a car wreck? I use the word gay to decribe overly excited behavior or being overly silly all the time. My usage of it in that context has nothing to do with a homosexual man" When I am referring to a man who likes men I call him a "homsexual" It's like people are overly sensitive. I have noticed those that are secure with who they are are not so easily offended.
yes and sometimes I use the term "*kitten*" to mean "cigarette" .... but I wouldn't expect Americans to know that I mean "cigarette" because in America it means "homosexual". So whatever you mean when you say "gay" you surely should not be surprised if some people take it to mean "homosexual" because that's what it means to the vast majority of English speakers, and you can't expect the rest of the world to change their understanding of a word just because you mean something different by it. Use a different word that won't be misunderstood. There are plenty of words that are common to all dialects of English, otherwise they wouldn't be different dialects, they'd be different languages.0
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