Project MUSE - Gay Slang Lexigraphy: A Brief History and a Commentary on the First Two Gay Glossari

Contents:

• GAY SLANG 101
• QUEER LGO 101: DEDG GAY SLANG FOR THE STRAIGHT CROWDEXPAND YOUR VOBULARY AND UNRSTANDG WH A SASSY, RMATIVE GUI TO LGBTQ+ TERMOLOGY.NATHAN CHEN·FOLLOW4 M READ·APR 17--SHAREPHOTO BY NICK FEWGS ON UNSPLASHHEY THERE, STRAIGHT IENDS! SO, YOU’VE FOUND YOURSELF THE FABULO WORLD OF QUEER LANGUAGE, AND NOW YOU’RE LOST? FEAR NOT! IT’S TIME TO S DOWN, GRAB A CUP OF TEA, AND LET’S SPILL ALL. WE’RE ABOUT TO DIVE TO THE WORLD OF GAY SLANGS, WH A HEFTY DOSE OF HUMOR, EXAMPL, AND EVEN SOME STRAIGHT-WORLD REFERENC FOR YOUR FORT. AND OF URSE, WE’RE KEEPG SASSY, HONEY!YAAAS!
• FILIPO GAY LGO EXPLAED FOR THE RT OF THE WORLD
• DICK LESCH’S GUI TO SEVENTI GAY SLANG
• GAY SLANG: A SECRET LANGUAGE THAT BEGAN AS AN ACT OF DEFIANCE
• FROM CLOSET TALK TO PC TERMOLOGY : GAY SPEECH AND THE POLICS OF VISIBILY

GAY SLANG 101

Have you ever wonred about the diverse and lorful slang words for gay people?From “iend of Dorothy” to “bear,” om “twk” to “lipstick lbian,” the lexin of LGBT slang is as vibrant and ever-evolvg as the muny self.Some of the terms have been around for s, while others emerge and disappear wh mere months.Whether you’re g them ironilly or scerely, slang words for gay dividuals are a way to exprs sir knowledge and solidary.So bsh up on your termology and get ready to add some flavor to your nversatns. But for those who embrace their queer inty wh open arms, ’s jt one more way to celebrate who we are.So whether you’re a Lola yourself or jt love someone who is, let’s all take a moment to raise a glass to our beloved feme gays. Get ready to meet the Flamg Queen – an over-the-top flamboyant gay man who knows how to turn on the charm and steal the show.Wh his larger-than-life personaly and lorful wardrobe, the Flamg Queen is the life of the party and a te in the LGBTQ+ muny.

But what sets this queen apart om the rt is his extensive knowledge of slang words for gay.From “fish” to “twk” to “femme,” the Flamg Queen n school even the most seasoned drag queen on the latt queer lgo.So be prepared to gag at his slang and bow down to the one and only Flamg Queen.8. However, ’s worth notg that slang words for gay folks have changed over the years and ntue to evolve today.From “u” to “flamer” to “queer,” the words we e to scribe ourselv and others n be a powerful tool for self-exprsn and self-advocy.So let’s embrace the diversy of human sexualy and genr exprsn and leave the bread-based idms behd.10.

QUEER LGO 101: DEDG GAY SLANG FOR THE STRAIGHT CROWDEXPAND YOUR VOBULARY AND UNRSTANDG WH A SASSY, RMATIVE GUI TO LGBTQ+ TERMOLOGY.NATHAN CHEN·FOLLOW4 M READ·APR 17--SHAREPHOTO BY NICK FEWGS ON UNSPLASHHEY THERE, STRAIGHT IENDS! SO, YOU’VE FOUND YOURSELF THE FABULO WORLD OF QUEER LANGUAGE, AND NOW YOU’RE LOST? FEAR NOT! IT’S TIME TO S DOWN, GRAB A CUP OF TEA, AND LET’S SPILL ALL. WE’RE ABOUT TO DIVE TO THE WORLD OF GAY SLANGS, WH A HEFTY DOSE OF HUMOR, EXAMPL, AND EVEN SOME STRAIGHT-WORLD REFERENC FOR YOUR FORT. AND OF URSE, WE’RE KEEPG SASSY, HONEY!YAAAS!

Many gay men sought refuge and muny wh the Wizard of Oz fanbase, as they intified wh the story’s them of beg an outsir and fdg acceptance.So, to all my iends of Dorothy out there, keep shg like the emerald cy and livg your bt rabow-filled liv!11.

The word “swish” might not sound faiar to some, but ’s a slang term that has been ed for s to scribe a flamboyant man, often wh a gay nnotatn.When someone says a man is “swishy,” means he’s effemate, theatril, and perhaps a b over-the-top his mannerisms. Some people might em the term offensive, but ’s worth unrstandg the origs and nnotatns of slang words for gay dividuals.Language is nstantly evolvg, but what stays the same is the importance of rpectg and acceptg people for who they are, no matter how they prent themselv.

FILIPO GAY LGO EXPLAED FOR THE RT OF THE WORLD

This helps people avoid negative thoughts about themselv.Instead, when ed wh rpect, embrace, and support, gay slang words n be powerful forms of self-exprsn and validatn.And the words ntue to evolve along wh the meangs we give them – so keep your ear to the ground if you want to stay the know! In terms of foc and clary, this discsn will sgularly foc on TopDefn: The sertive partner anal sex between cisgenr gay men (blogil men who intify as men), or transgenr gay men, or ontal, vagal sex wh transgenr gay men.

For a top who is HIV-posive, matag an untectable viral load through nsistent e of meditn and re is the bt method of protectg himself om transmtg the BottomDefn: The receptive partner same-sex anal sex for cisgenr gay men or transgenr gay men, or ontal, vagal sex wh transgenr gay men.

Once aga, a bottom who is HIV-posive n protect himself om transmtg by nsistently takg their HIV meditn and stayg Perfect Top-Bottom DynamicIf you are a gay man, you may have a posn preference, but chanc are you will change up every now and then. Ntie – bear – benr – bottom – bum band – bum chum – bumr – bummer – butch – butt hugger – rpet muncher – tcher – chaser – chickenhawk – chicken hawk – cub – drag kg – dyke – fag – faggot – Fairy – femme – flamer – u – fudge packer – gay – gaylord – girliend – GLBT – hasbian – homo – homo thug – the closet – jobby jabber – lemon – lez – lipstick lbian – mge muncher – mo – nellie – nelly – Peter Puffer – pole smoker – poof – Poofter – power top – puff – queer – shirt lifter – sister – versatile – wasbian. Many untri around the world have their own versn of queer slang, om Brish gay slang rived om the rhymg slang Polari to beki – the Philipp’ queer language that borrows om a slew of sourc, cludg pop culture, Japane, Spanish, and the untry’s lol languag.

DICK LESCH’S GUI TO SEVENTI GAY SLANG

”In 1959, when Lesch was twenty-four, he left his fay home, Kentucky, for New York Cy, where he found work as a pater, a bartenr, a rator, a journalist, and as the unpaid print of the Mattache Society, one of the first gay-rights anizatns. Photograph by Rebec FudalaNext up was Lesch’s llectn of magaz and newsletters, cludg After Dark (“Oh, bls you—they’re real llector’s ems, ” Bmann said); Christopher Street (“We have the archiv”); Female Mimics (“That’s fabulo”); the 1969 Time issue on homosexualy (“Cute”); and the monthly bullet for the Mattache Society.

” Combg the vernaculars of sailors wh a mix of Cockney and Yiddish fluenc, gay men also began to throw a sprkle of classroom-level French to add eher sophistitn or an ironic tone of refement, whichever the speaker choos. Gay slang, origally born on the outskirts of society as a means of formg a secret nnectn between different members of varyg ostracized muni, is today rightly valued as a powerful cultural fluencer of how morn Wtern society evaluat and exam art, culture, and media. As gay slang be more and more graed to the heteronormative lexin, is imperative to pay rpect by takg the time to unrstand that there have been centuri of folx who helped give vobulary to what was prevly unfed.

Milant tout tant que ludique, ce langage se vt également le défensr d’un certa style vie, cherchant à exprimer, manière la pl visible, poliquement rrecte et effice qui so, la richse s portements et s cultur du mon gay.

GAY SLANG: A SECRET LANGUAGE THAT BEGAN AS AN ACT OF DEFIANCE

2Funny and provotive as may seem, this msage posted on Kks & Queens, a gay Swedish webse, not only reveals a visibily and culture that the Lbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgenr muny was long pelled to hh, but also nfirms the existence of a lexin not que like standard English.

From the darker ag when homosexualy was at s bt a s and/or a perversn until the prent environment of rabow flags and gay pris, gayspeak has been ed to transgrs social norms, articulate particular needs and emotns, as well as renstct, or re-terpret, realy. When to elaborate polilly rrect fns of the « queer » universe, pk talk displays an extraordary plexy of sexual orientatns and subcultur, a possible means to pensate for lguistic ficiency and to claim a gay space on the social spectm.

FROM CLOSET TALK TO PC TERMOLOGY : GAY SPEECH AND THE POLICS OF VISIBILY

Most male homosexuals therefore kept their sexual orientatns very much the closet unls amidst their k when they lled each other female nam—« Miss Kten », « Cha Mary », « Primrose Mary », and « Dip-Candle Mary »3—, a practice still faiar among ntemporary gay men. Until World War Two, rearch on what was then labeled the « language of homosexualy » foced on genr versn, wh homosexualy beg regard as a pathology characterized as sexual viance or perversn: whereas heterosexual language equated wh the appropriate genr, homosexual language displayed equent aquaci between the physil genr and the lguistic genr of the speaker.

In the reprsive and secury-ncerned Cold War environment4, to talk about themselv, most gays and lbians relied upon phemisms such as « iends of Dorothy(‘s) », (after The Wizard of Oz, 1939, a classic mil popular wh gay dienc), « whoopsi », « (s)he’s is a ltle... Dpe the achievements of gay rights, the stigma attached to a « love that dare not [always] speak s name », to quote Osr Wil, ocsnally lgers the way some gays e « them » to refer to their partners and « refully word speech to hi explic genr referenc »16. For many Lbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgenr—or LGBT17—people today, pk talk works as a hive force agast discrimatn, although they also adm that gay exprsns have actually shifted om the physil nfement of the 18th century molly ho to a lguistic nfement.

5Sce 1993 [, ] the Amerin Universy Washgton DC has been home to annual nferenc on Lavenr Language and Lguistics, wh Lavenr19 Language beg fed as the way « lbians, gay men, bisexuals, transgenred persons and queers e language everyday life »20. Leap mentned two other « betiful exampl »: whereas gay speech « pcher » intifi the sexually active dividual and « tcher » the receptive person, « If we say pcher or we say tcher, an ordary nversatn, I thk ’s unlikely that [straight people] would read anythg else to .