Fwd: [Linganth] "That's so gay" controversy

[John McCreery]

On 3/12/07, Patrick, Peter L <patrickp at essex.ac.uk> wrote:
>
>  John's argument appears to imply that either (a) the use of "That's so
> gay" derives from the older senses of the adjective (meaning "carefree;
> colorful; jaunty; lighthearted"), or (b) at any rate is not directly derived
> from the sense meaning "(primarily male) homosexual". Both these arguments
> are obviously wrong.
>
John's question (not argument, just a question) implies nothing of the kind.
I have no position whatsoever on the origins of either sense of "gay," since
I have no evidence one way or the other. I don't find it relevant, moreover,
that if you ask 8-9 year olds living in 21st century Britain what "gay"
means, that the first thing they come up with is "man-love-man." The
question concerns the leap of faith that if "gay" means one thing in one
context, it must mean the same thing in all contexts. Historically speaking,
this is, of course, nonsense, since "gay" the word was in use in other
senses before it came to refer to homosexuality.

Evidence? A quick Google search for "define:gay" produces the following:
cheery: bright and pleasant; promoting a feeling of cheer; "a cheery hello";
"a gay sunny room"; "a sunny smile"
full of or showing high-spirited merriment; "when hearts were young and
gay"; "a poet could not but be gay, in such a jocund company"- Wordsworth;
"the jolly crowd at the reunion"; "jolly old Saint Nick"; "a jovial old
gentleman"; "have a merry Christmas"; "peals of merry laughter"; "a mirthful
laugh"
given to social pleasures often including dissipation; "led a gay Bohemian
life"; "a gay old rogue with an eye for the ladies"
brave: brightly colored and showy; "girls decked out in brave new dresses";
"brave banners flying"; "`braw' is a Scottish word"; "a dress a bit too gay
for her years"; "birds with gay plumage"
offering fun and gaiety; "a festive (or festal) occasion"; "gay and exciting
night life"; "a merry evening"
homosexual or arousing homosexual desires
homosexual: someone who practices homosexuality; having a sexual attraction
to persons of the same sex
wordnet.princeton.edu/perl/webwn<http://www.google.co.jp/url?sa=X&start=0&oi=define&q=http://wordnet.princeton.edu/perl/webwn%3Fs%3Dgay&usg=__R7tC1Ow1Nl-DFeLXHkm3VeSvbTg=>
Gay originally meant in English happy. In modern usage, the term is often
applied interchangeably with homosexual, though there are important
differences between the terms. While "homosexual" relates specifically to
sexuality, the term "gay" is a political or social marker.
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gay<http://www.google.co.jp/url?sa=X&start=7&oi=define&q=http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gay&usg=__bmZ3ZQGaUmEi5lL8RS_A6LFSOfI=>
Of or relating to males who experience a sexual attraction toward, and
responsiveness to, other males.
www.state.mi.us/msp/cjic/ucr/ucr_m.htm<http://www.google.co.jp/url?sa=X&start=8&oi=define&q=http://www.state.mi.us/msp/cjic/ucr/ucr_m.htm&usg=__lMvfsJ6sq4AADlgaoBIA58Ccb60=>
(or, shortened, gay)-a valley, a steep valley, a narrow gorge
(Brown-Driver-Briggs') 2011 Hinnom (hin-nome'); probably of foreign origin;
Hinnom, apparently a Jebusite: KJV-- Hinnom. (Strong's)
what-the-hell-is-hell.com/HellStats/hell_02.htm<http://www.google.co.jp/url?sa=X&start=9&oi=define&q=http://what-the-hell-is-hell.com/HellStats/hell_02.htm&usg=__jwVcjyaYUVe7SkWYrb2eKvvKFBY=>
Homosexual; especially male homosexuals.
highered.mcgraw-hill.com/sites/0072986360/student_view0/chapter15/glossary.html<http://www.google.co.jp/url?sa=X&start=10&oi=define&q=http://highered.mcgraw-hill.com/sites/0072986360/student_view0/chapter15/glossary.html&usg=__WWo_5ZJjOKCXDvlArUfQ-UWZnq0=>
A colloquial description of a homosexual or lesbian person.
www.12-12-12.org/bookappi.htm<http://www.google.co.jp/url?sa=X&start=11&oi=define&q=http://www.12-12-12.org/bookappi.htm&usg=__AVm5uoCPIJVPqQrgpY7rN_XREas=>
Movies/titles that feature homosexual males engaging in sexual acts with
another male.
www.24houradultdvd.com/category.htm<http://www.google.co.jp/url?sa=X&start=12&oi=define&q=http://www.24houradultdvd.com/category.htm&usg=__Umtq7M0vy3fLlWSIHcjiBCrE02c=>
The current use of "gay" with reference to homosexuality is manifestly
derivative of earlier usages with no such references. And the fact that a
sample of British school kids now act as though that were the primary
reference is only a data point, by no means definitive evidence that "gay"
must mean homosexual. To assert that it does is, I believe, a nice example
of reification, arguably a nasty bit of stereotyping and essentializing.

Please note that in my initial remark I did not deny that my daughter's
usage might be derived from another, more prejudicial usage. I am simply
raising the possibility that we may, indeed, live in a world where, in Grant
McCracken's eloquent phrase, "meaning flows," and attempts to make large
deductions from what things must mean, as if meaning were fixed for all
time, are inevitably problematic.

Admittedly, if I am right,  this will be hard on those who substitute
indignation for scholarship--the old-fashioned, hard-slogging kind that
could actually demonstrate shifts in meaning across time and space
empirically. The borscht-belt humor isn't in the usage of "gay." It is,
instead, in the grave and somber "analyses" of a new generation of
linguistic puritans, straight men (WARNING: vaudeville meaning) who generate
laughter by failing to grasp the jokes going on around them.

Cheers,

-- 
John McCreery
The Word Works, Ltd., Yokohama, JAPAN
Tel. +81-45-314-9324
http://www.wordworks.jp/
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