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I can see it now, eh?

One Brow said:
The reason it became a slur meaning "stupid or lame" is because the word was adopted by homosexuals in the first place.
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Undoubtedly, but I found this to be interesting.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gay
In modern English, gay has come to be used as an adjective, and occasionally as a noun, referring to the people, practices, and culture associated with homosexuality. By the end of the 20th century, the word gay was recommended by major style guides to describe people attracted to members of the same sex. At about the same time, a new, pejorative use became prevalent in some parts of the world. In the Anglosphere, this connotation, among younger speakers, has a derisive meaning equivalent to rubbish or stupid (as in "That's so gay."). In this use the word does not mean "homosexual", so it can be used, for example, to refer to an inanimate object or abstract concept of which one disapproves. When used in this way, the extent to which it still retains connotations of homosexuality has been debated.
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Marcus said:
Of course by that time we will have started to use such terms as, "Look at that marriage" or "He blew through town like a marriage" or "His life is a marriage" to describe disasters and really bad situations.
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So, if we allow homosexuals to marry, you think that will inevitably result in marriage taking on a poor connotation? I'm not disagreeing, but why do you think that is so?
 
colton said:
Undoubtedly, but I found this to be interesting.
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Appartently, the source saying it had nothing to do with being homosexual was a panel of five BBC commissioners, not one of whom seems to be a linguists.

I agree that post hoc ergo propter hoc is a fallacy, so this is not iron-clad proof. However, it seems to me that homosexual men self-identifying as "gay" has been common for some 30 years (which is why it is now being recognized by the major style guides, who do not make these changes overnight), while the pejorative use less than fifteen.
 
geez folks, forget wikipedia and use common sense...


when homosexual men began co-opting the use of the word "gay" to describe themselves, it did not take long for the word "gay" to become a term of ridicule because it referred to homosexual behavior which was the object of much ridicule. Whether or not the actual application of the term "gay" as a pejorative has anything to do with homosexuality is irrelevant. The fact that it has a pejorative connotation at all has everything to do with its association with homosexuality.

That said, it is morphing into a gray area of acceptance - much like the term "bitching" is now pretty standard as a generic term for "complaining"
 
One Brow said:
If not defaming, at least stereotyping. Common for shallow thinkers. That so blues-fan of you.

Of course, since you're a fan of the blues, you took that as a compliment, right?
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Call me a blues fan all ya want, sho. It's what I is. If you think that has bad connotations, help yourself. I'll NEVER feel insulted because sumbuddy else is too damn thick to loves the blues.

That's the whole point, really. YOU (or I) can not like sumthin, but, except mebbe for you, in your own mind, your opinion does not establish the objective value (or lack thereof) of anything.

What would be gay of me would be to INSIST that you like and praise the blues, rather than "insult" me.

Put another way, it is straight-up GAY to claim you are "insulting" me by not liking or agreeing with me. Gay as all git-out.

Think about it. Can you imagine me runnin to the mods, whinin, and insistin that they make you stop dissin the blues, because I like it, and you don't? They would (and should) laff in my face.
 
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I could go on and on with examples. Spoze I smoke cigarettes, and you, and a bunch of your homeys, think that smokin is utterly stupid and disgustin, so you ridicule the smokin habit, and me, if I say I smoke.

Same with, say, drinkin. Or stealin. Or lyin. Or fishin. Or anything.

It would be asburd for me to insist that, because YOU don't like fishin, you call people you disapprove of "fisherman" and that, therefore, it is an insult, and therefore the mods must strictly prohibit you from callin anybuddy a "fisherman."
 
Hopper said:
Call me a blues fan all ya want, sho. It's what I is. If you think that has bad connotations, help yourself. I'll NEVER feel insulted because sumbuddy else is too damn thick to loves the blues.
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Works for me.

Hopper said:
That's the whole point, really. YOU (or I) can not like sumthin, but, except mebbe for you, in your own mind, your opinion does not establish the objective value (or lack thereof) of anything.
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Certainly not for me.

Hopper said:
What would be gay of me would be to INSIST that you like and praise the blues, rather than "insult" me.
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No one has asked you to like or praise anything.

Hopper said:
Put another way, it is straight-up GAY to claim you are "insulting" me by not liking or agreeing with me.
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I don't see that as being a characteristic of being a homosexual, so I must disagree with characterizing such a trait as "gay". I also don't see where anyone has said that mere disagreement/dislike is the same as being an insult (although sometimes KatieMCR can give off that vibe when she reacts strongly to things).

Hopper said:
Think about it. Can you imagine me runnin to the mods, ...
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Nope.
 
Hopper said:
I could go on and on with examples. Spoze I smoke cigarettes, and you, and a bunch of your homeys, think that smokin is utterly stupid and disgustin, so you ridicule the smokin habit, and me, if I say I smoke.
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You have completely missed the point. How blues-fan of you.
 
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