However, she cared for nobody; and some said it was for the sake of a far-away cousin of her own, one of the ' gay Gordons.
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- Translations of “gay”;
Old Spanish gayo , Portuguese gaio , Italian gajo , probably French loan-words. Old High German wahi "pretty" , though not all etymologists accept this. Meaning "stately and beautiful; splendid and showily dressed" is from early 14c. The word gay by the s had an overall tinge of promiscuity -- a gay house was a brothel. The suggestion of immorality in the word can be traced back at least to the s, if not to Chaucer:. Slang meaning "homosexual" adj.
When Did the Word ‘Gay’ Stop Meaning ‘Happy’ and Start Referring to Homosexuals?
The association with male homosexuality likely got a boost from the term gay cat , used as far back as in American English for "young hobo," one who is new on the road, also one who sometimes does jobs. Quoting a tramp named Frenchy, who might not have known the origin. Gay cats were severely and cruelly abused by "real" tramps and bums, who considered them "an inferior order of beings who begs of and otherwise preys upon the bum -- as it were a jackal following up the king of beasts" [Prof.
John J.
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McCook, "Tramps," in "The Public Treatment of Pauperism," ], but some accounts report certain older tramps would dominate a gay cat and employ him as a sort of slave. In "Sociology and Social Research" a paragraph on the "gay cat" phenomenon notes, "Homosexual practices are more common than rare in this group," and gey cat "homosexual boy" is attested in N.
The "Dictionary of American Slang" reports that gay adj. Rawson ["Wicked Words"] notes a male prostitute using gay in reference to male homosexuals but also to female prostitutes in London's notorious Cleveland Street Scandal of Hays, but the word evidently was not popularly felt in this sense by wider society until the s at the earliest.
Gay as a noun meaning "a usually male homosexual" is attested from ; in Middle English it meant "excellent person, noble lady, gallant knight," also "something gay or bright; an ornament or badge" c. As a slang word meaning "bad, inferior, undesirable," from More Definitions for gay. Kids Definition of gay. Buck, The Big Wave.
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More from Merriam-Webster on gay Rhyming Dictionary: Words that rhyme with gay Thesaurus: All synonyms and antonyms for gay Spanish Central: Translation of gay Nglish: Translation of gay for Spanish Speakers Britannica English: Translation of gay for Arabic Speakers Britannica. Comments on gay What made you want to look up gay? Get Word of the Day daily email! Test Your Vocabulary.
What Does “Gay” Mean?
Love words? Need even more definitions? Merriam-Webster unabridged. A History There's lots of shade in this one. Ask the Editors On Contractions of Multiple Words You all would not have guessed some of these A Look at Uncommon Onomatopoeia Some imitative words are more surprising than others Literally How to use a word that literally drives some people nuts. Is Singular 'They' a Better Choice?
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Gay - Wikipedia
Not of good quality. Translator tool. Sign up now Log in. Glaring errors and patent nonsense: April 10, Cambridge Dictionary. Meaning of gay in English. Mark knew he was gay by the time he was fourteen. More examples Her speech caused outrage among the gay community.