Use of the word "gay"
 

Do you think that saying something is "gay" is grounds for scrutiny and harassment? I recently said that something was gay within earshot of this uptight lesbian, and she got all pissed at me saying "nice Dave, real nice."

I dunno, maybe I secretly hate gays like this girl seems to think, but I feel like in 2008, if someone says something is gay when they are CLEARLY not talking about homosexuals in a derogatory way, it shouldn't be an issue. It's not like I'm saying "wow that's faggoty" or something, which I could see her taking offense to. But gay? I don't really see that as that bad of a word... But then again, I'm not gay, so I guess I have no say in the matter.

The word gay has been overused for years, I'm kinda surprised anyone is still bothered by it. I remember how stupid arguments were in high school.... "You're gay!" "No! You're gay!"

Now people kinda overuse the word emo. They'll call anything that's gothic or depressing emo. Even if it's something that's legitimately depressing.

People really shouldn't be surprised by misuse of words/labels these days...

It's their fault for hijacking a word that originally meant "happy" in the first place.

You think fags chose it?

Man don't that beat all.

I've used it a few times at work. People don't respond all that warmly to it. I suppose that's what I get for living in New England.

Yeah, I sometimes use the word "gay" in a derogatory manner, but without any homosexual connotations. Well, at least I hope that's what it sounds like (I don't intend to come across as homophobic), but I'm sure different people respond differently. It's always either "That's lame", "That sucks", or "That's gay" for me. The second and third aren't necessarily mutually exclusive, though...:tpg:

Same as Muzza. Usually my friends know what I'm implying so even if I do say something like, "That was gay as hell" to a really bad movie, they'd know what I meant and stuff.

I don't use gay unless it's really to denote that it's homosexual in someway, not in a derogatory fashion.

I wasn't aware people still used the word like that. I remember back in 4th-8th grade ('95-'99) it was huge and everyone seemed to use it, but I never hear anyone say it anymore.

This is a wicked gay thread. I'm just saying.

It's just a word. Let's all move beyond that.

I kinda shocked when I hear a christmas song used the word "gay day", that's when I realize my english vocabulary is far from good.

I remember saying something was "gay" only to discover that a nearby girl was a lesbian. She got horribly pissed at my wordage. I then remarked that she was as jumpy on shit as a Catholic, only to discover that someone else nearby was a Catholic.

This went on for about five minutes before I had to run from the mob that had formed.

I've explored this subject in the past, as a few may remember (tis moot now). I would say that the term "gay" used to describe something other than something filled with joy or homosexual is a bit backward with where I feel we should move as a society. Then again, the ironic use of the term gay in that sense is at times very appropriate. I also hold the opinion that words shouldn't be rid of for something like this, even though it is offensive to many.

Removing words or particular definitions of a word forcefully isn't exactly constructive or progressive in any way. In fact, if you'll bear with me while I say it, doing that is pretty fucking gay. The best way to change the way people think is to simply be the change you want to see in the world, something I learned from my friend Ghandi who used to say a lot of gay ass shit like that.

On another note, whenever I hear someone say something is gay I make sure to bring up sodomy.

I hope that this sentence is meant to be funny, because if not... :gonk:

Eh, it's like the non-cuss words that you say in place of bad words. Use it enough and people start interpreting it as such.

For example, I say "sugar" quite a bit in place of where I would normally say "shit" or "fuck" when I'm in the office. As soon as my bosses figured out I'm not actually on a sugar crave and interpreted as "oh, she's cussing again," the manager had to give me "the talk" about my professionalism around the workplace. Which is quite odd in other people's eyes, because I haven't said a single word of profanity.

See where I'm going with this?

I dunno about you Americans, but saying gay isn't really grounds for scrutiny, harassment, or discrimination.

Some people are just too word sensitive. It's so gay.

English isn't Eriol's first language (from what I recall), so it's a possible mistake ='D

@Fresh Frank+Gechmir
um yeah, I meant it to be funny, partially. I didn't realize the original meaning of 'gay' means 'happy', so that phrase means "happy day" isn't it? :O

Tis true. Back in the day, gay did have a different meaning than it does today. In my opinion, I don't think that being called gay turned into a big deal until the sixties or seventies... Ya know, with all the drugs stuff going around at the time.

I don't think you could've sounded any more ignorant and childish in that post if you tried.

Why don't we just bury it like we did with the N-word?

Me or erol?

Like hell if I know when they changed the meaning for gay, I'm just stating my two cents on it here. :eye:

According to some quick research I just did, the meaning started to change around the early seventies.

There's all these posters around campus about GAYpril events. It's pretty fucking gay.

My 10 y/o brother uses this particualr word for anything displeasing, and its ten times worse if he's on XBOX LIVE.

Sometimes I'll use "gay" with the meaning, "whack." It used to almost be a tendency to just say, "Damn, how gay," but nowadays I catch myself before saying it and just choose from the other hundreds of adjectives I can use to convey the same thing, which is handy with all the gay bullshit that goes on in BRAWL. :3:

I use to say it alot when i was 13 or 14, but yes i agree its being overused, why not think of something original.