'Gay, Defined\r'

'Liz Schmidt Kate Brady English 101 October 9, 2012 statuesque description: Gay (adj. ) delighted: happy and untroubled; glitteringly ornamental or colorful; transvestite. (n. ) A homosexual. (â€Å" mirthful”) Synonymous commentary: Gay (syn. ) glad, lighthearted, joyful, festal, sprightly, jolly, happy, joyous, gleeful, jovial, colorful, bright. (â€Å" braw”) Negative definition: Gay (adj. ) unhappy, lacking color, sad Be compositors case of the literal definition of the excogitate, race that atomic number 18 homosexual are often seen as â€Å"colorful” and â€Å"cheerful”. Etymological Definition: Gay (n) usually male, homosexual.In put English, it meant â€Å"excellent person” â€Å"noble lady” â€Å" lofty knight” or â€Å"something fairylike or bright”; â€Å"ornament or badge” (â€Å" festive”)2 Stipulative definition: Gay (adj. ) being homosexual Illustrative definition: Two men walking dow n the lane holding hands. Thesis statement: The nitty-gritty of the explicate jocund has changed vastly over time, which straight off, butt end be offensive. Liz Schmidt Kate Brady English 101 October 9, 2012 The definition of the vocalize â€Å" amusing” has evolved greatly over time. What you consider â€Å"gay” today is definitely not what was considered â€Å"gay” 200 historic period ago, or even 50 historic period ago. 00 years ago, the devise was employ as a experimental condition of promiscuity. It was also used as a slang expression term to call soulfulness a â€Å" unseasoned hobo. ” (â€Å"gay”) Today, we use the word mostly as â€Å"homosexual” or referring to someone who is attracted to the same sex. At the same time, the boyisher age group of the States is using the word â€Å"gay” as a substance to express dislike toward something. A viridity way would be recounting â€Å"that’s gay” when a friend tells them their team lost the game. This subvert of the word can often lead to anger the homosexual community. The core of the word ”gay” has changed vastly over time, which today, can be offensive.How did the signification of the word â€Å"gay” once turn from being â€Å"merry and happy” to â€Å"homosexual”? It all started around the 1630’s, when tidy sum often used it as both â€Å" minute and showily dressed to kill(p)” and calling a bordello a gay house. It is believed that the word was used this way up until about the early 1900’s. The slang meaning (homosexual) began to appear in psychological writing in the late 1940’s. At first, the word was used simply among homosexuals themselves, by mostly male prostitutes referring to each other, provided also female prostitutes. â€Å"gay-rights movement”) It seems to me that nobody constantly actually used the term as its aline meaning â€Å"m erry and happy”. However, there are songs in old musicals where they use it that way, so I guess that meaning wasn’t completely extinct. Although the â€Å"merry and happy” meaning of gay wasn’t genuinely used a whole bundle in the past, we do see the â€Å"bright and colorful” meaning in more Christmas songs. One well-k forthwithn drill is in â€Å"Deck the Halls”. The lyrics are â€Å"Don we now our gay apparel”; this most likely implies that they were dressed in bright colors.Without doubt, the word â€Å"gay” has a boundless history and has been used so m each different ways in the past. A stripling walks into their favorite store, and immediately spots something they love. They see that the worth is much more than they have currently, and furiously groans, â€Å" liter dollars? That’s gay! ” When someone says â€Å"that’s gay” about something that they find fairish plain foolish, why donà ¢â‚¬â„¢t they dear say â€Å"that’s stupid”? The improper use of this word may offend the homosexual community because it is a lot like calling them stupid. From my observation, this whole â€Å"that’s gay” thing started recently, within the last few years.Mostly unfledged people started saying it about nearly everything that they raise idiotic. It’s not even homophobic people using the word this way, it’s anybody. It’s a bad habit that most people in all likelihood picked up from hearing others say it. However if you say it wrongly you may be seen as homophobic. How can there be a double meaning of both â€Å"homosexual” and â€Å"stupid” for the word â€Å"gay”? Imagine if instead of â€Å"gay” people tell â€Å"that’s straight” about an object they didn’t like. Wouldn’t it be wrong, to basically call someone’s sexuality bad or stupid?It sounds silly, but the inapp ropriate usage of the word â€Å"gay” is implying that you think there is something wrong with being gay. It’s obvious that someone who is gay is going to be offended if they hear someone using the word the wrong way. They could take it as insulting, or they could just be a little annoyed. Either way, it’s not right. I once worked with a fille who was homosexual. Sometimes I would easily forget that she was in the room and catch myself saying â€Å"that’s gay” about something totally random. I never real noticed that it could be offensive until a fellow worker say something to me.She asked me, â€Å"Don’t you know Emily’s gay? ” When I said yes, she then told me that I should look into saying â€Å"that’s gay” in front of her. At this point, I felt really bad about it and definitely wanted to hold saying it completely. Saying â€Å"that’s gay” is such a bad habit of umpteen young people. I gue ss Emily understood that it was just a bad habit for me, but not everyone volition be that understanding. Furthermore, the word â€Å"gay” should be used solely for meaning â€Å"homosexual”. The other day, I was conversing with a friend about some parole in the media. She had told me that Brad Pitt makes 250 million dollars in just one sitting.I laughed, and replied, â€Å"that’s gay. ” After I said that I realized I should definitely stop saying that because it doesn’t even make any sense if you think about it. The meaning of the word â€Å"gay” shouldn’t be â€Å"stupid”, although it is for many people. The definition has changed greatly throughout the years, which may cause some people to take offense by it. Works Cited â€Å"gay-rights movement. ” The Columbia Encyclopedia. 2008. Credo Reference. Web. 8 Oct 2012. â€Å"gay. ” Webster’s Dictionary and Thesaurus. 1997. Print. â€Å"gay. ” Online Etymology Dictionary. Douglas Harper, 2012. Web. 8 Oct 2012.\r\n'