'mo = homo

[Dave Wilton]

> -----Original Message-----
> From: American Dialect Society [mailto:ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU]On Behalf
> Of Lynne Murphy
> Sent: Sunday, March 07, 2004 6:48 AM
> To: ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU
> Subject: Re: 'mo = homo
>
>
> > On Mar 5, 2004, at 11:53 AM, Laurence Horn wrote:
> >
> >> I had thought 'za and 'rents were relatively recent undergraduate
> >> slang, but when we were discussing these as exceptions to
> >> generalizations on clipping last fall, one of my undergraduate
> >> students suspected, and then confirmed, that it was part of his
> >> father's active usage since the latter's undergraduate days...
>
> I learned 'rents from my 30-something Resident Director when I was a
> Resident Assistant at UMass in 1985/86 (I remember the 'eureka' feeling
> when I gleaned what it means). I particularly remember her using it in
> discussions about coming out, so it could've come to her via gay/lesbian
> subculture or the in loco parentis subculture of resident
> directors/assistants (or elsewhere...).

I recall 'rents (and 'za) from my American undergraduate days a few years
earlier (1981-85). There was no association with gay subculture. I recall
'mo as a insult from my high school days. It was not as common as 'rents was
a few years later.

--Dave Wilton
  dave at wilton.net
  http://www.wilton.net