"gay" redux

[Jonathan Lighter]

Outing him, that is, to gay people, since hardly anybody else knew what gay
meant. If it did. Which would mean the screenwriter was probably also in
the closet and gay.

It's really amazing how much a close semantic analysis can reveal about the
meaning and impact of motion pictures.

PS: It's been brought to my attention that some people can't detect irony.
This and the previous message were that way. I mean ironic.

JL

On Mon, Oct 29, 2012 at 2:16 PM, Jonathan Lighter <wuxxmupp2000 at gmail.com>wrote:

> But maybe he's in the closet. Then the title would be the screenwriter's
> way of outing him. Then the title would mean he's gay, even if he's not gay
> in  the movie. Then somebody can cite the title as an early ex. of gay.
>
> JL
>
> On Mon, Oct 29, 2012 at 2:06 PM, Joel S. Berson <Berson at att.net> wrote:
>
>> ---------------------- Information from the mail header
>> -----------------------
>> Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
>> Poster:       "Joel S. Berson" <Berson at ATT.NET>
>> Subject:      Re: "gay" redux
>>
>> -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>>
>> At 10/29/2012 02:01 PM, Jonathan Lighter wrote:
>> >I've seen it. He's not gay.
>> >
>> >JL
>>
>> No, I suppose one would not ever call George Sanders
>> "gay".  "Debonair", perhaps.
>>
>> Joel
>>
>>
>> >On Mon, Oct 29, 2012 at 1:52 PM, Joel S. Berson <Berson at att.net> wrote:
>> >
>> > > ---------------------- Information from the mail header
>> > > -----------------------
>> > > Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
>> > > Poster:       "Joel S. Berson" <Berson at ATT.NET>
>> > > Subject:      "gay" redux
>> > >
>> > >
>> >
>> -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>> > >
>> > > OK, Jon, you didn't accept "Bringing Up Baby".  What about "The Gay
>> > > Falcon", 1941, starring George Sanders and Wendy Barrie?  (I haven't
>> > > watched it, so all I have is the title.)
>> > >
>> > > :-)
>> > > Joel
>> > >
>> > > ------------------------------------------------------------
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>> > >
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>> >
>> >
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>> >"If the truth is half as bad as I think it is, you can't handle the
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>> >
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>> ------------------------------------------------------------
>> The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org
>>
>
>
>
> --
> "If the truth is half as bad as I think it is, you can't handle the truth."
>



--
"If the truth is half as bad as I think it is, you can't handle the truth."

------------------------------------------------------------
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