Do gay mean happy
How ‘gay’ got its rainbow: What once meant merry is now a badge of identity for homosexuals
On Thursday, as the Supreme Court decriminalised homosexuality, reading down the controversial British-era section of the penal code, Mumbai-based Arnab Nandy took to social media to express his joy, as many across the country and the world were doing. “I am so Gay today…” he wrote in a coming-out verb that has since gone viral. But while Nandy’s choice of word was bang on that day, how did a synonyms that had originally meant light-hearted, carefree or cheerful, become associated with a community whose life has been often been anything but?
The Oxford English dictionary traces the history of the synonyms ‘gay’ to the French synonyms Gai. Merriam Webster takes it further back to a Germanic origin “akin to the Antique High German Gahi” that meant “quick or sudden”. According to both dictionaries, in English the use of ‘gay’ to verb happy, excited, merry, carefree or bright started in the Middle English period that stretches between the 12th and the 16th century.
All For An Identity
While some boo
by Jordan Redman
Staff Writer
Do you know what the word gay really means?
The word gay dates back to the 12th century and comes from the Elderly French “gai,” meaning “full of joy or mirth.” It may also relate to the Elderly High German “gahi,” meaning impulsive.
For centuries, gay was used commonly in speech and literature to mean happy, carefree, bright and showy, and did not seize on any sexual meaning until the s.
At that time the meaning of gay as carefree evolved to imply that a person was unrestrained by morals and prone to decadence and promiscuity. A prostitute might hold been described as a “gay woman” and a womanizer as a “gay man.”
“Gay house” was commonly used to refer to a brothel and, later, “gaiety” was used as a frequent name for certain places of entertainment.
In the s, the term “gey cat” (a Scottish variant of gay) was used to describe a vagrant who offered sexual services to women or a young traveler who was new to the road and in the company of an older man.
This latter use suggests that the younger man was in a sexually submissive role and may be among the fir
It&#;s Pride Month and one of the most colourful words in the English language &#; with more makeovers than Madonna and more dramatic life stories than Liza Minnelli &#; is the word &#;gay&#;!
Like every hero, &#;gay&#; has an origin story, but even today, scholars are in disagreement over the precise journey it took to reach the level of fame (or infamy) it commands nowadays. So, let&#;s piece together the history of this flamboyant one-syllable and acquire about the incredible historic events that shaped it into one of the most celebrated yet misunderstood three-letter words in the English language.
&#;Gay&#; was Germanic before it decided to go all French and fancy
The prevailing theory is that &#;gay&#; came from Old Germanic, originally sounding enjoy &#;gahi&#;, which meant &#;fast&#; or &#;quick.&#; &#;Gahi&#; eventually became &#;jäh&#; in modern German, meaning &#;abrupt&#;, &#;sudden&#;, &#;steep&#; or &#;sheer&#;. Lovely fitting for a word with so many sudden changes in meaning over the centuries.
From there, it somehow ended up being borrowed by the French, who tur
Today I found out how &#;gay&#; came to mean &#;homosexual&#;.
The synonyms &#;gay&#; seems to have its origins around the 12th century in England, derived from the Old French word &#;gai&#;, which in turn was probably derived from a Germanic word, though that isn&#;t completely known. The word&#;s original meaning meant something to the effect of &#;joyful&#;, &#;carefree&#;, &#;full of mirth&#;, or &#;bright and showy&#;.
However, around the early parts of the 17th century, the word began to be associated with immorality. By the mid 17th century, according to an Oxford dictionary definition at the time, the meaning of the word had changed to mean &#;addicted to pleasures and dissipations. Often euphemistically: Of loose and immoral life&#;. This is an extension of one of the original meanings of &#;carefree&#;, meaning more or less uninhibited.
Fast-forward to the 19th century and the word gay referred to a woman who was a prostitute and a gay man was someone who slept with a lot of women (ironically enough), often prostitutes. Also at this time, the phrase &#;gay it&#; mea