gay = bright, lively, cheerful

[Wilson Gray]

Well, the use of "gay" in its literal sense is a surprise. The caption
of a Playboy cartoon made a joke of the Christmas-carol line, "Don we
now our _gay_ apparel" back in the mid-'Sixties, nearly 45 years ago,
now.

-Wilson

On Mon, Feb 25, 2008 at 8:29 PM,  <RonButters at aol.com> wrote:
> ---------------------- Information from the mail header -----------------------
>  Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
>  Poster:       RonButters at AOL.COM
>  Subject:      gay = bright, lively, cheerful
>  -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
>  What surprised me was not the use of "lavender" but the use of "gay" (which=20=
>  I=20
>  stupidly left out of the first message).
>
>   "... *Produces Gay Masses of Blue-Violet Flowering Spires ..."
>
>  In a message dated 2/25/08 8:26:01 PM, thnidu at GMAIL.COM writes:
>
>
>  > I'm not surprised at all. Lavender is the name of a plant, or a family of
>  > plants, and there isn't any real alternative for the word. What's more, th=
>  is
>  > is the *word*, not the color (that is, not the color itself; the name of t=
>  he
>  > color is another use of the word, thank you very much White Knight
>  > endofdigression).
>  >=20
>  > =A0=A0 - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lavender
>  > =A0=A0 - http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/lavender
>  >=20
>  > m a m
>  >=20
>
>
>
>
>  **************
>  Ideas to please picky eaters. Watch video on AOL Living.
>      =20
>  (http://living.aol.com/video/how-to-please-your-picky-eater/rachel-campos-du=
>  ffy/
>  2050827?NCID=3Daolcmp00300000002598)
>
>  ------------------------------------------------------------
>  The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org
>



--
All say, "How hard it is that we have to die"---a strange complaint to
come from the mouths of people who have had to live.
-----
                                              -Sam'l Clemens

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