Why Did Society Allow "gay" To Mean Homosexual?

[10ClarionSt]

Look in any dictionary and the first definition of "gay" says homosexual. That was never the case. We all know that previously being gay meant happy, carefree, colourful, vibrant etc. So why, and how was this allowed to happen?

[Mamyalynne]

Dictionaries are brilliant but I will happily use a word in any one of its meanings, be they archaic or new.

Words aren't hijacked except in the minds of some.

[Neveracrossword]

I don't know about 'any' dictionary. Chambers, which is very highly regarded, gives a number of meanings before 'homosexual'. It starts off with 'lively', then there's bright, colourful, playful, merry...

[Sqad]

Clarion, I am sure that there will be some clever intellectual answer to your question, but might it be this simple? Larry Grayson, a sort of well.........feminine bloke, comedian, stand up comic, used a phrase "Oh! what a gay day".....( sqad standing up from the P.C, hand on hip, legs slight bent, head back, lips pursed)....well you have got the picture.

[Old_Geezer]

If many folk use the word to mean such, what are you going to do ? String 'em all up ?

[Mamyalynne]

Like many words it has had many uses for an awfully long time.

[Peter Pedant]

// Words aren't hijacked except in the minds of some.//

yeah they are ! Lesbian - have you seen one ?
smack you in the mush as soon as look at you
and I dont mean someone from Lesbos eeva

Dictionaries dear Clarion record usage and not correcticus ( at least in English as we dont have an academie francaise as they do in er France or Real Academia Espanola as in Thpain )
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Real_Academia_Espa%C3%B1ola

and that explains why under "disinterested" which can only mean balanced or without bias, the alternative erm wrong meaning "uninterested"

as I have remarked before but hey no one remebers so I can do it again

when Elizabeth I called Drake "a gay dog"
she did NOT mean "he whistleth the live long day" but something else entirely

and Oscar dear Oscar who starred in the Gay Nineties... I think I will leave his example to the butt end of this post

[Jackdaw33]

I remember 'gay' coming out in the mid-60s, before Grayson.

[Mamyalynne]

//The term's use as a reference to homosexuality may date as early as the late 19th century, but its use gradually increased in the 20th century.//


https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gay


This isn't the first thread on this topic and I'm sure it won't be the last.


The point I am making is that if a word has a variety of meanings I will use it in the correct context.

[hc4361]

Definitely before Grayson. I always understood it to be an acronym of 'good as you'.

[Islay]

Does it matter?

[Mamyalynne]

I don't think it matters, words undergo changes due to all sorts of reasons.

Some here.

http://ideas.ted.com/20-words-that-once-meant-something-very-different/

[paddywak]

On the subject of hi-jacking the word Gay I've got an oldschool friend who now only answers to her new self adopted name of Ann.She got fed up of the funny looks etc when she introduced herself as "hello I'm Gaye"

[-Talbot-]

How would society fight it and why would society fight it?

[New Judge]

It's simply because homosexual people did not like being referred to as "homosexuals", "poofs" or "queers". "Gay" sound far more acceptable.

[Mamyalynne]

I apologise for my use of the word 'Hijack' which you didn't say 10C.

[DarceyK123]

Paddywak ... I too have a friend who was christened Gay. She now calls herself Gaynor as introducing herself as Gay did get her some strange looks.

[-Talbot-]

Still life in this thread then ... sick!