camp

[Tom Kysilko]

Partridge (Beale 1989) labels the uses of camp for effeminate, homosexual,
or ostentatious as "theatrical and Society".  His datings are all "since
19xx".

In the movie "In the Bleak Midwinter" (UK) or "A Midwinter's Tale" (US),
one character refers to a supposed theatrical tradition of calling men by
feminine names or pronouns as "camp".  That character is gay, but many of
the characters (British actors in the 1990s), male and female, gay and
straight, engage in the practice.  The younger characters are represented
as not knowing about the practice.

At 09:57 AM 2/28/2001 EST, Jim Landau wrote:
>Merriam-Webster's 10th Collegiate offers the following 4 definitions for
>"camp".  Note that these definitions are in HISTORICAL order:
>
>1.  exaggerated effeminate mannerisms exhibited esp. by homosexuals
>2.  a homosexual displaying camp
>3.  something so outrageously artifical, affected, inappropriate, or
>out-of-date as to be considered amusing
>4.  something self-consciously exaggerated or theatrical
>
>for about a generation now, in my experience, in the US, "camp" has been used
>only in meanings 3 and 4.  Note that I specify "in the US".  I have
>encountered British uses of "camp" to mean "homosexual".  Does anyone know if
>this is current British usage?


~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
  Tom Kysilko        Practical Data Services
  pds at visi.com       Saint Paul MN USA
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