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  • LAVA Moderator: Shinji Ikari

How do you feel about the word 'Gay' ?

I was walking down the street in Manhattan, and this dude yells out:

"Check out that gay shirt you're wearing!

That's a fuckin' gay shirt!"

And I'm thinking:

"A gay shirt? What the fuck does that mean?"

Well, I'll describe the shirt to you:

It's pink and it's got pictures of guys blowing each other on it.

-- Louis C.K.
 
the only time I used that word is when I order some "Gaytimes" Ice Cream, yes there's a ice cream in Australia called "Gaytimes" and it's one of the most popular selling ice creams for the last 20 or whatever years....
 
Re: Re: what?!

Lucas said:
maybe someone should educate you. the word gay originally meant happy, then homosexuals twisted it to mean something else, and now the general public has twisted it again to be quite a general derogative word. btw, do you have a problem with me calling you a faggot? since the origin of that word is "a bundle of sticks"; you shouldnt get so offended to be compared to some sticks tied together, see? but the origin doesn't mean shit anymore because language evolves. get over it
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i have heard the reason why the term gay started being used for homosexuals is because the bundle of sticks that you speak of was used to burn them alive.
 
Re: Re: Re: what?!

chrissie said:
i have heard the reason why the term gay started being used for homosexuals is because the bundle of sticks that you speak of was used to burn them alive.
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I fail to see a link between the word gay (happy) and burning homosexuals to death over a bundle of sticks (a fagot), perhaps you could explain it for me
 
I think i see what you're saying now (or at least what you meant, you got me confused when you said "the term gay started being used for homosexuals" but i assume you meant "the term faggot..." )
 
A bunch of straight people running around calling each other gay/ghey is as ridiculously sad and at the same time funny as a bunch of white dudes standing around and addressing each other as "nigga please!".

In the end though, it's just basic linguistic evolution within a human being and peoples' attachment to certain terms as they first learn them from their peers. It's akin to the first time you learnt the word "fuck" as a kid. Remember how you just couldn't stop saying it? And neither could your friends, by the way, right? You used to run around in packs, and fill your conversations with as many "fuck"s as you could, as loud as you could, each trying to out"fuck" the other with your newfound "fuck"ing coolness. And people just stared at you and frowned and whispered and pointed at you and totally couldn't understand the level of the coolness of your "cool word of the month".

Then you grew up a bit and watched other younguns run around in "fuck"ing cool packs. Then you just laughed at what "faggots" those "fuck"ing losers were. Then you grew up some more and just frowned and whispered about the "idiots".

So you see, the "ghey" phase is just that - a phase. It's just this period's "cool word of those aged xx-xy". Even gay people themselves get tired of these words that classify them as a group. So do other groups and their "labels". "Negroes" was replaced by "blacks" and later by "african-american". "Queer" turned to "Fag", turned to "gay" and is now returning back to "queer".

As far as being offensive, I'm really shocked that anyone finds anything offensive on this forum. Then again, this is yet another phase that this forum goes through too, I guess. People are growing up, even here.
 
Lucas said:
I think i see what you're saying now (or at least what you meant, you got me confused when you said "the term gay started being used for homosexuals" but i assume you meant "the term faggot..." )
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gotcha, i didnt realize i said gay instead of that icky f word :)
 
does anyone honestly think that when someone calls someone else a "fag" or "faggot" that they're referring to a cigarette or to a bundle of sticks?
i think that it's strange that b/c so many people use the word "gay" in a derogatory sense that so many have become numb to it. *shrug* still doesn't make it sound any better to me.
 
I think a lot of people think too much about using words like gay. It's real meaning has nothing to do with what people most always use it for now. But anyway what I'm trying to say is that there are so many words we misuse to describe something. I think using 'gay' to describe something is like using 'bullshit' or 'fucking'. When I say something is gay, I obviously don't mean it is homosexual... in fact it doesn't really mean anything, except that in our society it's normal to use gay to describe something negative. Now, this is obviously not very good speech, but if you aren't refering to homosexuality I do not see the point to get bent out of shape about it.
 
I actually did some fairly in-depth research on the word 'GAY' last year as part of an assignment. Interestingly, during the 1700's, the word was officially meaning 'happy, joyous', but at the same time, even back then, it was being used in a derogitory manner. By the lower classes, deriding the excessively 'gay' nobles.

So yes, language changes. But, this word hasnt REALLY changed that much. It was used negatively long before it gained any attachment to homosexuality.
 
I'm gay and in most circumtances it doesn't offend me. Occasionally it can be uncomfortable, particularly when I don't know the user's impression of homosexuality, but it's rarely an issue.

But like Raz, where it is used in a truly negative context, when the user does dislike homosexuality, it can be quite offensive.

Other than that, big mountain out of tiny molehill.
 
I don't use it in a derogatory sense, but hearing other people say it negatively isn't something I enjoy.
 
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