The Fotten Secret Language of Gay Men - Atlas Obscura

Contents:

• A BRIEF HISTORY OF POLARI, GAY ENGLAND’S ONCE-SECRET LGO
• GAY DICTNARY ENGLISH
• THE FOTTEN SECRET LANGUAGE OF GAY MEN

A BRIEF HISTORY OF POLARI, GAY ENGLAND’S ONCE-SECRET LGO

Though uld still fetly be ed to refer to a gay/bi man or a man spected of same-sex sexual activy, the late eighteenth century bugger was also often ed as a general term for any man that a person disliked, cludg a memorable piece of hatemail wrten to Thomas Jefferson. Though a gay or bi man (or a man perceived as such) would certaly have fallen unr the term, may also have been applied to someone assigned male at birth, who we would now regnize to be a transgenr woman, or to non-bary people, agenr people, or even genr-transgrsive cisgenr people.

Eventually gay and bi men were g the term to refer to themselv, as a journalist named Ned Ward disvered when he went unrver a club for LGBT+ men (referred to as “molly ho”). It has been suggted that when the soldiers lled Sampson/Shurtliff “molly” they were not tendg to e the term molly meang homosexual, but rather were nicknamg her after Molly Pcher, a famed Revolutnary War heroe, but this is most likely not te. Thurdsday”, The Diary of John Adams, to Thomas Jefferson, 13 June 1804, Fop”, Merriam-Webster, Exampl of “fop” meang effemate man: “Poor Richard Improved”, Benjam Frankl,, and “15 Monday”, The Diary of John Adams, Madison to William Bradford, 9 November 1772, Smh Adams to William Smh Shaw, 2 Febary 1799, “Rearchers Notebook: Queer Cas: The ‘He-She’ Ladi and Mother Clap’s Molly Hoe”, The Still Pot Journal, “Of the Molli Club”, Satyril Reflectns on Clubs, Edward Ward, via Rictor Norton, Ed., “The Molli Club, 1709-10”, Homosexualy Eighteenth-Century England: A Sourcebook.

But for Brish gay men (and sometim women) the first half of the 20th century, Polari wasn’t jt a cute jargon: It was a secret , one that was absolutely gay Bra before about 50 years ago was dangero bs, and even beg perceived as gay then uld st you a prison sentence (homosexualy was crimalized the UK 1967). In fact, gay culture was discsed so rarely that newspapers would report on gay people who were arrted as beg guilty of "gross cency, " sce was nsired taboo to even wre (or speak) the words "gay" or "homosexual. As language profsor Pl Baker of the UK’s Lanster Universy wr his 2002 book Polari—The Lost Language of Gay Men, was a lgo of "fast put-downs, ironic self-parody and theatril exaggeratn.

GAY DICTNARY ENGLISH

" By other acunts, the roots of Polari are at least partially to be found the lgua an ed by Mederranean sailors and trars the Middle Ag and 's difficult to say when exactly Polari began, but at some pot performers—pecially actors, and pecially gay actors—began to e a distct argot to munite wh each other, often for the purpose of gossipg. 19th Century words for homosexuals19th Century words for homosexualsMar 12, 2004#12004-03-12T22:05A new study, Homosexual Love the Neteenth Century by Graham Robb received a very posive review last week's New York Tim Book Review.

" Ghasalig would be the adjectival form 13, 2004#72004-03-13T01:06Joanne Dpr of MWO do not cred the tle of an 1895 film, The Gay Brothers, as referrg to homosexuals even though the film portrays two men waltzg.

THE FOTTEN SECRET LANGUAGE OF GAY MEN

The earlit movi had profound cultural effects, and I spect the tle (wh s subject) of this movie fluenced the spread of the word "gay" as a term referrg to 13, 2004#82004-03-13T02:23THanks aldi,. The nam of some streets London such as Main Lane and Gropecunt Lane (lled Gb Street the eighteenth century, but renamed Milton Street 1830) are clearly rived om the prevalence of female prostut along their thoroughfar, so one might be tempted to duce male homosexual prostutn along Cock's Lane and Lad Lane (directly across om Main Lane).