That's gay, but it's not homosexual; etc.

[Steve Kl.]

On Fri, 7 Sep 2001, Frank Abate wrote:

> I can report that the kids (my 15-year-old son and his crowd) use "gay" as a
> general term of disparagement, directed at anyone who does something they
> should not have done, and is viewed as weird, embarrassing, perhaps
> effeminate.  I cannot say whether this is widespread, but it is clearly in
> use in slang in the Northeast.

This has had national exposure for quite some time. Bart Simpson has used
it  on The Simpsons many seasons ago (in reference to Milhouse kissing a
girl, even.) Apparently it's used in the recent Kevin Smith movie too.
I read an article in Boston's Bay Windows whining about how 'our' word is
being taken away, using many of the same arguments people whined about
when we the 'queer' sense started supplanting the 'merry' one. I almost
wrote in a letter saying, get over it, words change, but I never got
around to it.

-- Steve Kl.