'homosexual' with short o

[Geoffrey Nunberg]

When did people begin to pronouce 'homosexual' with a "long o," as if it came from Latin for "man" (the species, not only its males, who are 'vir')  rather than with an etymologically correct "short o," as in 'homogenize' etc. etc.? Or have they always?

The 1927 New Century gives only short o; the 1933 OED entry gives both, with long-o first. Webster's Third in 1961 gives only long o for 'homosexual' but gives short o as a variant in 'homoerotic'.

 There's other evidence for variation in this period. Kinsey's 1953 Sexual Behavior in the Human Female says:

> The term homosexual comes from the Greek prefix homo, referring to  the sameness of the individuals involved, and not from the Latin word him which means man. It contrasts with the term heterosexual which refers to  responses or contacts between individuals of different (hetero) sexes.

Some potentially earlier evidence is found in Evelyn Waugh's Unconditional Surrender, published in 1961 but set during the war; the second speaker is an older upper-class man.

> "You're not a homosexual?"…
> "Good gracious, no. Besides the "o" is short. It comes from the Greek not the Latin."

Or maybe the real question should be when the short-o pronunciation disappeared, if it was ever prevalent in the first place. You'd figure this would reinforce the widespread tendency to restrict the term to males.

Geoff

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