"gay vague"

[Amorelli]

Is that vague as in 'nouvelle vague'?
M.I.Amorelli
EAP, Faculties of Economics and Law,
Sassari
----- Original Message -----
From: "Steve Kl." <stevekl at PANIX.COM>
To: <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
Sent: Tuesday, June 21, 2005 2:22 PM
Subject: "gay vague"


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> Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
> Poster:       "Steve Kl." <stevekl at PANIX.COM>
> Subject:      "gay vague"
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>
> I'm nominating "gay vague" for something next January, not sure what.
> Probably most unnecessary.
>
> http://www.nytimes.com/2005/06/19/fashion/sundaystyles/19GAYDAR.html
>
> The weird thing about reading this article is that almost all of the
> quotations sound stilted, like the reporter asked the people to use "gay
> vague" in a sentence. I find it odd that that many people would
> spontaneously produce this phrase to describe this "phenomenon".
>
> (It's not new to 2005, per
> http://www.commercialcloset.org/cgi-bin/iowa/portrayals.html?mode=4 it
> appears to have been coined in 1997. But unless it dies a quick death, it
> will be newly prominent this year thanks to the NYT exposure.)
>
> I find it odd for something coined in 1997 that has only about 800 google
> hits being featured in an article where people are dropping the term into
> their quotations left and right, as though it were a phrase on everyone's
> tongues. (I have never heard it uttered out loud, myself. Maybe Boston's
> just too parochial.)
>
> It's also not that productive: "gay vagueness" gets 19 hits.
>
> New Yorkers: is this phrase bandied about on the streets the way this
> article would have us believe?
>
> -- Steve K
>
>
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