How did gay come to mean homosexual
How ‘gay’ got its rainbow: What once meant merry is now a badge of identity for homosexuals
On Thursday, as the Supreme Court decriminalised homosexuality, reading down the controversial British-era section of the penal code, Mumbai-based Arnab Nandy took to social media to articulate his joy, as many across the country and the world were doing. “I am so Gay today…” he wrote in a coming-out post that has since gone viral. But while Nandy’s choice of word was bang on that date, how did a word that had originally meant light-hearted, carefree or cheerful, become associated with a community whose life has been often been anything but?
The Oxford English dictionary traces the history of the word ‘gay’ to the French synonyms Gai. Merriam Webster takes it further back to a Germanic origin “akin to the Antique High German Gahi” that meant “quick or sudden”. According to both dictionaries, in English the use of ‘gay’ to mean content, excited, merry, carefree or bright started in the Middle English period that stretches between the 12th and the 16th century.
All For An Identity
While some boo
It is of the least possible concern to me what homosexuals do with one another in the privacy of their homes. They can play home, plot political strategies or couple anonymously--I really don't look after. I'm not offended and I wouldn't try to halt them if I could. But I want the pos "gay" back. "Gay" used to be an extremely useful word. It showed up frequently in poetry and prose--Shakespeare used it 12 times--in part because it has no precise synonym. The general sense of the word is a combination of joyous, mirthful, luminous, exuberant, cheerful, sportive, merry, light-hearted, lively, showy and pleasant.
The Oxford English Dictionary requires an entire page to elucidate the etymology and nuances of "gay" as it has appeared in literature throughout history. The citations show that during the s it began to acquire a adj darker meanings and that some used it to verb "prostitute" or to describe someone addicted to social pleasure and dissipation, but on balance the word kept okay company.
Milton wrote of "the gay motes that people the sunbeams." Wordsworth in his "Ode to Duty" claimed
It&#;s Pride Month and one of the most colourful words in the English language &#; with more makeovers than Madonna and more dramatic life stories than Liza Minnelli &#; is the word &#;gay&#;!
Like every hero, &#;gay&#; has an origin story, but even today, scholars are in disagreement over the precise journey it took to grasp the level of fame (or infamy) it commands nowadays. So, let&#;s piece together the history of this flamboyant one-syllable and understand about the adj historic events that shaped it into one of the most celebrated yet misunderstood three-letter words in the English language.
&#;Gay&#; was Germanic before it decided to go all French and fancy
The prevailing theory is that &#;gay&#; came from Old Germanic, originally sounding favor &#;gahi&#;, which meant &#;fast&#; or &#;quick.&#; &#;Gahi&#; eventually became &#;jäh&#; in latest German, meaning &#;abrupt&#;, &#;sudden&#;, &#;steep&#; or &#;sheer&#;. Pretty fitting for a pos with so many sudden changes in meaning over the centuries.
From there, it somehow ended up being borrowed by the French, who tur
Today I found out how &#;gay&#; came to mean &#;homosexual&#;.
The word &#;gay&#; seems to have its origins around the 12th century in England, derived from the Old French word &#;gai&#;, which in turn was probably derived from a Germanic synonyms, though that isn&#;t completely known. The word&#;s original meaning meant something to the effect of &#;joyful&#;, &#;carefree&#;, &#;full of mirth&#;, or &#;bright and showy&#;.
However, around the premature 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 noun, 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 synonyms 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 noun, the phrase &#;gay it&#; mea