while trolling the OED...

[Shapiro, Fred]

I see that the OED itself, s.v. _perversion_, has the following note:

"the use of the term perversion to refer to homosexuality is now considered highly offensive"

So Larry's point seems like a pretty compelling one!

Fred Shapiro


________________________________________
From: American Dialect Society [ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU] on behalf of Laurence Horn [laurence.horn at YALE.EDU]
Sent: Saturday, February 18, 2012 10:05 PM
To: ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU
Subject: while trolling the OED...

…I noticed this gloss for the 'non-gay' sense of _straight_ (attested since 1941):

6 d. slang (orig. U.S.). Conventional, respectable, socially acceptable. Also spec.  (a) heterosexual; not practising sexual perversions

I know this probably just means the "S" entries haven't been revised yet, but perhaps this one should be giving special attestion, lest the Santorums (Santora?) of the current political scene leaf through their no doubt well-thumbed copy of the OED to prove their point in this regard, now that they can no longer support the view that same-sex partners are incapable of love (and that arranged marriages are abnormal) by citing the late, unlamented sense 4a of _love_, n., that was on the books until 2008:
'That feeling of attachment which is based upon difference of sex; the affection which subsists between lover and sweetheart and is the normal basis of marriage.'

LH

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