First Use of "Gay"

[Fred Shapiro]

I have just seen the BBC/OED "Word Hunt" episode discussing the term _gay_
'homosexual,' in which the OED editors greatly frustrate the show's host
by rejecting all of her antedatings of this term.  Afterwards I sent the
following e-mail to OED editor John Simpson, which I am posting here
because it may be of some general interest.

Fred Shapiro


---------- Forwarded message ----------
Date: Sun, 29 Jan 2006 16:14:31 -0500 (EST)
From: Fred Shapiro <shapiro at pantheon.yale.edu>
To: john.simpson at oup.com
Subject: First Use of "Gay"


John,

I have just seen the P episode of the BBC series and enjoyed it greatly
(although they didn't give me any credit for the _pass the parcel_
antedating!).  I want to comment, however, on your handling of _gay_
'homosexual.' I think you were very conservative in rejecting all the pre-1935
citations, without even any mention of putting some of them in square brackets.
The OED's own first use, the 1935 Noel Ersine citation (which should be dated
1933), is hardly itself a clearcut usage of _gay_ 'homosexual.' If you are
going to be so conservative in not accepting these early approaches to _gay_,
then you should drop the Ersine citation or put it in square brackets.  I think
that may leave you with the 1941 Gershon Legman glossary as your first
unambiguous example.

Fred


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Fred R. Shapiro                             Editor
Associate Librarian for Collections and     YALE DICTIONARY OF QUOTATIONS
   Access and Lecturer in Legal Research     Yale University Press,
Yale Law School                             forthcoming
e-mail: fred.shapiro at yale.edu               http://quotationdictionary.com
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