Political Crossfire Forums

Gryff1nd0r · Joined: 12 Nov 2004 Posts: 2384 Location: Cambridge, MA

I was thinking about this the other day, and the more I thought about it, the more it annoyed me. I am not one of those annoying people that goes around correcting people's grammer, but this really bothers me for some reason.

1) "Gay" was a word that meant "happy" until it was randomly chosen as the word to mean "homosexual". It is disappointing that a slang word has become an official word. Do homosexuals not deserve a unique word? They have been given a hand-me-down!!!

2) "Gay" was used then as an adjective, in the same way the happy-gay was used as an adjective, but then it got rudely transformed into a noun! That is just horrible English! "Gay" was never used as a noun before, but now, you can not only be gay, but you can be a gay.

3) Gay women then were given the luxury of a personalized noun, "lesbians", while gay men were relegated to a nouned adjective (I just verbed the word "noun" haha). But lesbians, while they have a special noun, have no special adjective! A lesbian is as gay as a gay, but a gay is not always a lesbian.

Homosexuality is very inconsistant and confusing from a grammatical standpoint, and it botehrs me that real gay issues such as this one are ignored by society. We need to open our eyes to these serious issues.

I propose that we diminish the word gay as pertaining to homosexuals as an improper slang, and hopefully it will die out. Gay men need to be given a special noun, and a universal adjective must be made (other than gay). Perhaps lesbians and gays could each be given their own adjective, that would be nice. I am adding this to the list of things I will change when I become president.

Demonic Spoon · Joined: 20 Sep 2004 Posts: 6804 Location: Ohio

Lesbian is not a unique word. Lesbian is derived from the Isle of Lesbos. Since the women there liked other women, homosexual women are now called lesbians, despite not coming from the Isle of Lesbos.

It doesn't make sense either. But it doesn't have to. The English language evolves, and trying to stop it is an excercise in futility.

Robin Hood · Joined: 14 Sep 2005 Posts: 3295

Quote: 1) "Gay" was a word that meant "happy" until it was randomly chosen as the word to mean "homosexual". It is disappointing that a slang word has become an official word. Do homosexuals not deserve a unique word? They have been given a hand-me-down!!!

If it bothers you then (you're a little strange, no offence intended) and you should consider that the vast majority of words are 'hand me downs' or slight mutations of those.

Quote: 2) "Gay" was used then as an adjective, in the same way the happy-gay was used as an adjective, but then it got rudely transformed into a noun! That is just horrible English! "Gay" was never used as a noun before, but now, you can not only be gay, but you can be a gay.

That can be annoying but it happens all over the language, it seems that it always happens whenever possible. The worst though is the use of nouns as verbs......'I gave her a gift' - 'I gifted her a ring' :x !!!

Quote: 3) Gay women then were given the luxury of a personalized noun, "lesbians", while gay men were relegated to a nouned adjective (I just verbed the word "noun" haha). But lesbians, while they have a special noun, have no special adjective! A lesbian is as gay as a gay, but a gay is not always a lesbian.

I've got loads of nouns that you can apply to gay men: poof, f**, bender, queer, fudge-packer etc. (I'm sorry again if you find these offensive I was just showing that there is a great wealth of vocabulary relating to gays).
Quote:
Gay men need to be given a special noun, and a universal adjective must be made (other than gay). Perhaps lesbians and gays could each be given their own adjective, that would be nice. I am adding this to the list of things I will change when I become president.

What about the heterosexual amongst us? We get straight, as in straight and narrow, yet we can be debauched too!!!!!!!! It's the worst hand me down of all.

F'losrix · Posted: Fri Nov 11, 2005 12:23 pm Post subject:

I really dislike the use of 'gay' as a noun - it's a subtle way of ignoring a gay person's humanity. But people will continue to misuse and abuse language and we'll find ourselves picking up their bad habits. The effort required to fight it generally isn't justified when we have much bigger issues to worry about than correcting people's grammar.

Robin Hood · Joined: 14 Sep 2005 Posts: 3295

Quote: I really dislike the use of 'gay' as a noun - it's a subtle way of ignoring a gay person's humanity.

I don't know if it's that, or it's just that one syllable nouns for groups of people always sounds bad. Jew, for example. People try to skirt around that word, and also don't like to say whites or blacks. Which one is worse? A frog or a Frenchman? A yank or an American? A nip or a Japanese (Nippon is the Japanese word for Japan).

Ek0nomik · Joined: 17 Jul 2005 Posts: 2065 Location: La Fleur

:lol: You're a weird ace thegriffinator13. It's language, let it be.

Gryff1nd0r · Joined: 12 Nov 2004 Posts: 2384 Location: Cambridge, MA

Ok, geesh. I was just trying to find an argument about gayness that didn't need to be about religion or government. I thought that grammer was a good place to start, but apparently I was wrong.

Enoch · Joined: 29 Aug 2005 Posts: 8784

thegriffinator13 wrote: Ok, geesh. I was just trying to find an argument about gayness that didn't need to be about religion or government. I thought that grammer was a good place to start, but apparently I was wrong.

It is an interesting take, that is for sure. And, while I disagree with the individual points you made, I do find that the general practice of how language is made to mean various things is interesting. Personally, I get rather upset with the use of "that is so gay" as a descriptive sentence to indicate that someone finds something to be stupid, pointless, useless, annoying, etc.

Ek0nomik · Joined: 17 Jul 2005 Posts: 2065 Location: La Fleur

UrielsFyre wrote: thegriffinator13 wrote: Ok, geesh. I was just trying to find an argument about gayness that didn't need to be about religion or government. I thought that grammer was a good place to start, but apparently I was wrong.

It is an interesting take, that is for sure. And, while I disagree with the individual points you made, I do find that the general practice of how language is made to mean various things is interesting. Personally, I get rather upset with the use of "that is so gay" as a descriptive sentence to indicate that someone finds something to be stupid, pointless, useless, annoying, etc.

Yeah, I agree with Uriels. I mean, sorry if I seemed pushy. It's an interesting take, but it's something that's too hard to wield the power in your hands.

Robin Hood · Joined: 14 Sep 2005 Posts: 3295

it was a joke but since you found it offensive I've deleted it

Enoch · Joined: 29 Aug 2005 Posts: 8784

Reason wrote: Quote: Personally, I get rather upset with the use of "that is so gay" as a descriptive sentence to indicate that someone finds something to be stupid, pointless, useless, annoying, etc.

Sorry, I do that every now and again. I'm now to going to defend myself in occasionally using it (mostly for fun). I find homosexuality stupid. Of course you'll tell me it's not a choice, and I'll probably agree but say that a low IQ is not a choice either.

I am not, repeat NOT, equivalating the two completely.

I just don't understand how you can forsake women (are they not aesthetically much more pleasing, objectively more pleasing?) and go for men - mostly unkempt, unclean, ungainly people with too much hair.

Therefore I'm justified in my infrequent usagebecause all male homosexuals are born inherently stupid in a very important aspect of life. As are heterosexual females, though one must be grateful for such stupidity.

Attraction to an individual is a subjective thing.

I don't understand how you can like women, forsaking men. But, do I sit here and insult you for it? No, I don't.

Not only was that post rude, but it was also bordering on the offensive.

MarshalPetain · Joined: 17 Nov 2005 Posts: 16 Location: Here

I was quite amused by the reply/post/thing right before me ^ up there ^

And I thought it lacked a certain point to help rid the masses of their black and white systems of thinking.

.....

I <-that's me, don't understand how either of you can forsake ANY type of human being. Each has their own unique aestethic qualities. Unisexuality is stupid! :lol:

>>>>>>>The following is a fascist speech brought to you by the (completely fake and intended for humorous purposes only) Le Grandiose Royaume des Bisexuels<<<<<<<<<<<
Unisexuality is a crime against humanity! The segregation of sexual orientation is the very foundation of the black and white way of thinking that leads to such things as moral degredation and fundamentalist violence! We, those who share unions based not upon the shells that house others but on the characters that form their souls, must unite in the fight against unisexuality! We must infiltrate congress and outlaw this fiendish deed! The future is ours and we must take it!

:lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol:

Demonic Spoon · Joined: 20 Sep 2004 Posts: 6804 Location: Ohio

Quote:
I really dislike the use of 'gay' as a noun

Then why do YOU use the word as a noun?

John Galt · Joined: 04 May 2004 Posts: 20986 Location: Minnesota

UrielsFyre wrote: thegriffinator13 wrote: Ok, geesh. I was just trying to find an argument about gayness that didn't need to be about religion or government. I thought that grammer was a good place to start, but apparently I was wrong.

It is an interesting take, that is for sure. And, while I disagree with the individual points you made, I do find that the general practice of how language is made to mean various things is interesting. Personally, I get rather upset with the use of "that is so gay" as a descriptive sentence to indicate that someone finds something to be stupid, pointless, useless, annoying, etc.

I have a freind who says "that's gayer than AIDS" at least 5 times a day. He has gotten yelled at about it but he yells back. He says gays took a perfectly good word and ruined it and so he's going to ruin their word.

I'm personally not bugged by it but of course, I'm not gay. I will also, of course, defend to the death his right to say it, even if it is deroggatory.

But some moderating duties here: stop with the insults. I know I just said I will defend tothe death my friend's right to say insulting things but that's in public. This is a private forum. Gay people are not inherently stupid for being gay (although they could very well be themselves, it is independent of their homosexuality).

F'losrix · Posted: Fri Nov 18, 2005 1:29 am Post subject:

Demonic Spoon wrote: Quote:
I really dislike the use of 'gay' as a noun

Then why do YOU use the word as a noun?
Because it's like a snowflake fighting an avalanche. I do try to correct it most times when I find myself doing it. But I obviously slip a lot.

I tend to mimic other's speech patterns and that includes their bad grammar. Apparently it also extends to the written word. It's not a conscious thing. Put me in a room with someone who has an accent, and it won't be long before I'm sounding just like them. On the plus side, I pick up the pronunciation of foreign words much more quickly than the average person.

Apparently it also makes people think I'm more sympathetic than I really am. I'm the one who gets to play listening post for all of my friends and families problems.

Robin Hood · Joined: 14 Sep 2005 Posts: 3295

Quote: I'm personally not bugged by it but of course, I'm not gay. I will also, of course, defend to the death his right to say it, even if it is deroggatory.

Your friend is about as funny as leprosy, though.

Dragoon · Joined: 20 May 2004 Posts: 1440 Location: California

UrielsFyre wrote: thegriffinator13 wrote: Ok, geesh. I was just trying to find an argument about gayness that didn't need to be about religion or government. I thought that grammer was a good place to start, but apparently I was wrong.

It is an interesting take, that is for sure. And, while I disagree with the individual points you made, I do find that the general practice of how language is made to mean various things is interesting. Personally, I get rather upset with the use of "that is so gay" as a descriptive sentence to indicate that someone finds something to be stupid, pointless, useless, annoying, etc.

I actually saw someone the other to day who waas wearing a pink shirt with white letters that read "That is so straight." I got a chuckle out of it.

00timh · Joined: 08 Nov 2004 Posts: 12773 Location: upstate NY

There will always be different words used to describe a type of person that is derived from some other meaning. As for gay slang terms a F****t is also a pile of sticks if I remember right. Queer meant odd. decades ago being gay just meant that you were happy. At some point gay will become a dirty word just as negro did with black people. just as queer no longer sounds politically correct. In my line of work retarded is now a bad slang word for the "developmentally disabled"