gay = bright, lively, cheerful

[RonButters at AOL.COM]

The use of GAY in any sense other than (1) 'homosexual' or (2) the slang
usage 'undesirable' seems to have all but passed from the scene except in archaic,
frozen uses (e.g., "Don we now our gay apparel").  I was therefore somewhat
surprised to find the following in an advertisement for nursery plants in an
insert in my local newspaper, The Orlando Sentinel (the insert was a slick-paper
coupon national advertising insert that I assume was put into newspapers
throughout the USA):

"... Produces Masses of Blue-Violet Flowering Spires ..."

The plant being thus marketed is "hardy lavender"; the marketer is Spring
River Nurseries, Hartford, Michigan. While the color "lavender" has, like the
word "gay" itself, long been associated with homosexuality, the ad shows no sign
of intending any sort of association with queer subculture.

ADS-L will not let me attach a pdf of the actual ad, but I will be happy to
send a copy to anyone who asks for it. The ad does not appear on the Spring
River Nurseries web page.


**************
Ideas to please picky eaters. Watch video
on AOL Living.

(http://living.aol.com/video/how-to-please-your-picky-eater/rachel-campos-duffy/2050827?NCID=aolcmp00300000002598)

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