by Anatoly Liberman The qutn about the orig of gay “homosexual” has been asked and answered many tim (and always rrectly), so that we needn’t expect sensatnal disveri this area. The adjective gay, first attted Middle English, is of French scent; the fourteenth century meant both “joyo” and “bright; showy.” The OED giv no atttatns of gay “immoral” before 1637.
Contents:
- GAY (ADJ.)
- GAY
- THE 'GAY' WORD: WHAT DO MEAN WHEN YOUNG PEOPLE E NEGATIVELY?
- GAY (HOMOSEXUAL) AND GAY (HAPPY)
- MEANG OF GAY ENGLISH
GAY (ADJ.)
GAY Meang: "full of joy, merry; light-hearted, reee;" also "wanton, lewd, lasciv" (late 12c. as a surname,… See orig and meang of gay. * what is the root meaning of the word gay *
Gay (adj. As a surname, Philipp Gay), om Old French gai "joyful, happy; pleasant, agreeably charmg; forward, pert; light-lored" (12c.
; pare Old Spanish gayo, Portugue ga, Italian gajo, probably French loan-words).
GAY
Armed wh a mera and an overdraft, I ma a documentary about what young people mean by ‘gayns’ and why olr people fd so upsettg * what is the root meaning of the word gay *
)) word gay by the 1890s had an overall tge of promiscuy — a gay hoe was a brothel. The suggtn of immoraly the word n be traced back at least to the 1630s, if not to Chcer:But oure bed he was so sh and gay.
THE 'GAY' WORD: WHAT DO MEAN WHEN YOUNG PEOPLE E NEGATIVELY?
* what is the root meaning of the word gay *
Whan that he wol han my bele slang meang "homosexual" (adj.
) begs to appear psychologil wrg the late 1940s, evintly picked up om gay slang and not always easily distguished om the olr sense:After discharge A. He was not happy at the farm and went to a Wtern cy where he associated wh a homosexual crowd, beg "gay, " and wearg female cloth and makp.
GAY (HOMOSEXUAL) AND GAY (HAPPY)
240]The associatn wh (male) homosexualy likely got a boost om the term gay t, ed as far back as 1893 Amerin English for "young hobo, " one who is new on the road, also one who sometim do jobs.
MEANG OF GAY ENGLISH
"A Gay Cat, " said he, "is a loafg laborer, who works maybe a week, gets his wag and vagabonds about huntg for another 'pick and shovel' job. Do you want to know where they got their moni (nickname) 'Gay Cat'?
See, Kid, ts sneak about and scratch immediately after chummg wh you and then get gay (h). That's why we ll them 'Gay Cats'. Gay ts were severely and celly abed by "real" tramps and bums, who nsired them "an ferr orr of begs who begs of and otherwise preys upon the bum — as were a jackal followg up the kg of beasts" [Prof.