Gay, Defined

Liz Schmidt Kate Brady English 101 October 9, 2012 Formal definition lively (adj. ) merry talented and carefree brightly fancifyal or colorful homophile(prenominal). (n. ) A tribadistic. ( festal) Synonymous definition Gay (syn. ) merry, lighthearted, joyful, cheerful, sprightly, jolly, happy, joyous, gleeful, jovial, colorful, bright. ( frolicsome) Negative definition Gay (adj. ) unhappy, lacking color, heavyhearted Beca workout of the literal definition of the name, pack that are homosexual are often seen as colorful and cheerful. Etymological explanation Gay (n) usually male, homosexual.In middle English, it meant excellent person noble wench gallant knight or something man or bright ornament or badge ( frolicsome)2 Stipulative definition Gay (adj. ) being homosexual Illustrative definition Two men walking down the highway holding hands. Thesis statement The meaning of the vocalize gay has changed vastly everyplace time, which today, can be offensive. Liz Schmidt Kat e Brady English 101 October 9, 2012 The definition of the discourse gay has evolved greatly over time. What you consider gay today is definitely not what was considered gay 200 years ago, or stock-still 50 years ago. 00 years ago, the forge was apply as a border of promiscuity. It was also apply as a slang term to name someone a young hobo. (gay) Today, we use the word by and large as homosexual or referring to someone who is attracted to the aforementioned(prenominal) sex. At the same time, the younger age group of America is victimization the word gay as a way to express dislike toward something. A ballpark way would be speculateing thats gay when a booster rocket tells them their team lost the game. This misuse of the word can often head teacher to offending the homosexual community. The meaning of the word gay has changed vastly over time, which today, can be offensive.How did the meaning of the word gay once operate from being merry and happy to homosexual? It al l started around the 1630s, when people often utilize it as both splendid and showily dressed and calling a brothel a gay house. It is believed that the word was use this way up until somewhat the early 1900s. The slang meaning (homosexual) began to advance in psychological writing in the late 1940s. At first, the word was used solely among homosexuals themselves, by nearlyly male prostitutes referring to each other, muchover also female prostitutes. gay-rights movement) It seems to me that nobody ever really used the term as its true meaning merry and happy. However, in that respect are songs in old musicals where they use it that way, so I extrapolate that meaning wasnt completely extinct. Although the merry and happy meaning of gay wasnt really used a whole circumstances in the past, we do see the bright and colorful meaning in galore(postnominal) Christmas songs. One well-known example is in Deck the Halls. The lyrics are bust we now our gay apparel this most likely implies that they were dressed in bright colors.Without doubt, the word gay has a boundless history and has been used so many different ways in the past. A stripling walks into their favorite store, and immediately spots something they love. They see that the price is much more than they have currently, and furiously groans, Fifty dollars? Thats gay When someone says thats gay about something that they find just plain jerky, why hold outt they just say thats stupid? The improper use of this word may offend the homosexual community because it is a lot like calling them stupid. From my observation, this whole thats gay thing started recently, within the last few years.Mostly young people started saying it about more or less everything that they found idiotic. Its not even homophobic people using the word this way, its anybody. Its a bad habit that most people probably picked up from hearing others say it. However if you say it amiss(p)ly you may be seen as homophobic. How can there be a double meaning of both homosexual and stupid for the word gay? Imagine if instead of gay people tell thats straight about an object they didnt like. Wouldnt it be wrong, to essentially call someones sexuality bad or stupid?It sounds silly, and the inappropriate usage of the word gay is implying that you think there is something wrong with being gay. Its obvious that someone who is gay is spill to be offended if they hear someone using the word the wrong way. They could take it as insulting, or they could just be a small-minded annoyed. Either way, its not right. I once worked with a young woman who was homosexual. Sometimes I would easily forget that she was in the room and absorb myself saying thats gay about something totally random. I never really noticed that it could be offensive until a co-worker state something to me.She asked me, Dont you know Emilys gay? When I said yes, she then told me that I should stop saying thats gay in front of her. At this point, I felt really bad about it and definitely wanted to stop saying it completely. Saying thats gay is such a bad habit of many young people. I guess Emily understood that it was just a bad habit for me, but not everyone will be that understanding. Furthermore, the word gay should be used solely for meaning homosexual. The other day, I was conversing with a helper about some news in the media. She had told me that Brad Pitt makes 250 million dollars in just one sitting.I laughed, and replied, thats gay. After I said that I realized I should definitely stop saying that because it doesnt even make any sense if you think about it. The meaning of the word gay shouldnt be stupid, although it is for many people. The definition has changed greatly throughout the years, which may cause some people to take abuse by it. Works Cited gay-rights movement. The Columbia Encyclopedia. 2008. Credo Reference. Web. 8 Oct 2012. gay. Websters dictionary and Thesaurus. 1997. Print. gay. Online Etymolo gy Dictionary. Douglas Harper, 2012. Web. 8 Oct 2012.