_romance_ and _romantic (life)_ as euphemisms

[Ron Butters]

fife?????

Sent from my Droid Charge on Verizon 4GLTE

------Original Message------
From: Wilson Gray <hwgray at GMAIL.COM>
To: <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
Date: Thursday, January 5, 2012 3:27:31 AM GMT-0500
Subject: Re: [ADS-L] _romance_ and _romantic (life)_ as euphemisms

On Wed, Jan 4, 2012 at 1:52 PM, Laurence Horn <laurence.horn at yale.edu> wrote:
> _romantic life_

Back in the day, asking, "How's your family fife?" was gay-BE code for
ascertaining whether the man addressed was also gay.

--
-Wilson
-----
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.
-Mark Twain

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