not masculine/queer

[Arnold M. Zwicky]

On Jan 29, 2006, at 10:08 AM, ronbutters at aol.com wrote:

> I made up the phrase, "We go to different gyms." There was no subtext,

oh, ron, i think we all understand that.  larry and dInIs and i are
just riffing metaphorically on what you wrote.

> e.g., I did not mean ro suggest that Arnold might be a closet
> heterosexual.

giggle.  no such suggestion taken.

> I am familiar with the question, "Do you play on our team?" meaning
> 'Are you queer?,

i've heard this from gay men, always (i think) in circumstances where
the answer is pretty obvious.  i've also heard it from straight guys,
always (i think) in circumstances where the speaker is suspicious of
the addressee's straightness -- that is, asking if the addressee is
straight, as a way of determining if he is gay.  i've also heard "Do
you play on the other team?" from a straight guy.  also, variants
with "for" rather than "on", "bat" rather than "play", and
declarative versions rather than interrogative ones.

arnold

------------------------------------------------------------
The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org