"poser" (before 1990?)

[Gordon, Matthew J.]

It was not a gay bar, at least not a full time one.

I agree it's an odd name for any kind of bar, and I remember being struck by the pejorative sense of the name at the time. FWIW it was a pretty cool, alternative club in the late 80s, not a jocky-type place. Then again, I guess it couldn't have been too cool if I got in.

-----Original Message-----
From: American Dialect Society on behalf of Arnold M. Zwicky
Sent: Wed 6/1/2005 12:39 PM
To: ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU
Subject:      Re: "poser" (before 1990?)
 
On Jun 1, 2005, at 8:56 AM, Matthew Gordon wrote:

> There was a bar/club in Georgetown in the 80's (maybe still around)
> called
> Posers.

i don't find evidence of it on google.

it could be the name of a gay bar.  in gay bar lingo a poser is a
beautiful young man who "stands and models" -- displays himself,
often haughtily.  (i have observed them in situ in a number of
locations, in both the u.s. and the u.k.)  some posers are hustlers,
but many are not.

Posers wouldn't be a great name for a gay bar.  but then it wouldn't
be a great name  for a bar, period, if it's taken in its current
teenage sense.

arnold