[Ads-l] "get tres gay on"

Arnold M. Zwicky zwicky at STANFORD.EDU
Wed Dec 27 03:19:02 UTC 2017


> On Dec 26, 2017, at 4:31 PM, Dan Goncharoff <thegonch at GMAIL.COM> wrote:
> 
> I was listening to SiriusXM 40s Junction today in the car.
> 
> The Bing Crosby/Andrews Sisters version of Route 66 came on.
> 
> At the end of the song, Bing sings "get tres gay on (Route 66)", which
> strikes me as an unusual construction for the 1940s.

not really surprising.  it's a variant of the 'festive, cheerful' sense of gay, tending towards 'naughty' (as in the Gay Ninetiies, Gay Paree, etc.)

arnold "toujours gai, toujours gai, archy"

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