"Gay" as a bad word

[estebanhung]

hey , im a str8 guy, and one time i was talking with an aquantince of mine, she was telling me of a bad thing that happened to her to which i replied:

"thats gay" meaning "thats crumby" "or "that is a bad thing"

she said "dont say that word, gay poeple dont like it". now, even tho im str8 i think im pretty sensitive to gays. maybe its because i grew in an elementary school where the unknown thing known as "gay" was bad somehow, but i know that at this point i my life it is common to hear and to use the word "gay" in this way.
am i alone here, has any body else come across this usage and is any body offended, str8,bi or gay?

i really do just want to learn what every body thinks.

 

[DC_DEEP]

am i alone here, has any body else come across this usage and is any body offended, str8,bi or gay?

i really do just want to learn what every body thinks.

I have heard it, and yes, it is offensive. I'm not sure how you could even ask that.

Wouldn't it be just as easy to say "that was crummy" or "that's lame" instead of "that's gay?"

 

[IntoxicatingToxin]

My brother is gay and is also offended by that. He gets equally offended when someone uses the word "straight" to define something as good or cool.

 

[Tattooed Goddess]

Not to be the post nazi, but i thought this exact post was done not too long ago? Maybe im mistaken. Because im not gay i guess i dont understand first hand the frustrations one would have to endure in daily life. I guess since i dont go around insulting them or hear others, i forget there are some asses who do go around insulting them.

 

[Rugbypup]

Yeah, i've heard it used derogatorily loads of times, about all sorts. 'It's gay', 'that's fucking gay', 'how gay is that?' and i dont mean in reference to gay people.

It's shitty, i dont like it but it's kinda like the attitude of when a guy shags a girl he's a champ, when a girl shags a guy, she's a tramp eg. something str8 is a positive, something gay is a negitive.

But words for obscure meanings come and go in fashions. Remeber Phat, rad, as, blaitantly, randon and even cowabunga?

But like dyke, nigger, fag, words can also be forged into a possitive, it just takes time and peoples understanding of how they use words derogatorily.

 

[rob_just_rob]

I say "that's gay" ironically to my gay friends who can recognize irony. I suppose that I could claim that due to having been bisexual in the past, I can get away with it, and most of my friends are the type who would have called me on it if it bothered them.

In the same vein, I call some of my white friends "cracker" sometimes.

 

[Brendnj]

While I'm not offended by it, I think it reflects poorly on those who use it in that regard. It shows a general lack of maturity and class, in my opinion.

 

[Principessa]

Yeah, i've heard it used derogatorily loads of times, about all sorts. 'It's gay', 'that's fucking gay', 'how gay is that?' and i dont mean in reference to gay people.

It's shitty, i dont like it but it's kinda like the attitude of when a guy shags a girl he's a champ, when a girl shags a guy, she's a tramp eg. something str8 is a positive, something gay is a negitive.

But words for obscure meanings come and go in fashions. Remeber Phat, rad, as, blaitantly, randon and even cowabunga?

But like dyke, nigger, fag, words can also be forged into a positive, it just takes time and peoples understanding of how they use words derogatorily.

I was with you until the last paragraph. Those words are all derogatory and will never be seen in a positive way. At least I hope not! I have no desire to take back ownership of the "N word"

 

[Rugbypup]

I was with you until the last paragraph. Those words are all derogatory and will never be seen in a positive way. At least I hope not! I have no desire to take back ownership of the "N word"

Be that as it may, you can not deny that a large part of the African-American culture has taken it as a reclaimed positive word. In much the same way lesbiens have take dyke and gay men have taken fag.

Personally, I dont like fag as a reclaimed word, but that dosent mean it hasnt happed.

I clearly meant no offence.

 

[estebanhung]

great responeses thanks everybody, i guess, just because i always regarded gay dudes and duddettes as equals it doesnt mean i knew them well. i never spent any time around anybody who was openly gay so i could never learn how they truly would like to be teated. i guess its one thing to have an ideological mind set and another to have experience in the field. do you guys know i didnt meet an actual gay who was in the open until i was 19 years old? Please try not to think of us str8 guys with habits opposing your own as uneducated or low class or immature. just think of us as friends who dont understand yet ok? is that an outrageous request?, to want to be considered your equal until you learn about me? i think judgeing a person on a single phrase that leaves thier lips is wrong.

 

[ShowOff]

While I'm not offended by it, I think it reflects poorly on those who use it in that regard. It shows a general lack of maturity and class, in my opinion.

Oh bullshit, its a word and we all know words can have multiple meanings. When someone calls something 'gay' you know exactly what they mean. Because is a unisex word there is no hidden connotations behind it, unlike the word faggot which is meant to deprive someone of his masculinity.

gay Pronunciation: \ˈgā\
Function:adjective
Etymology:Middle English, from Anglo-French gai, of Germanic origin; akin to Old High German gāhi quick, sudden
Date:14th century
1 a: happily excited : merry <in a gay mood> b: keenly alive and exuberant : having or inducing high spirits <a bird's gay spring song>
2 a: bright, lively <gay sunny meadows> b: brilliant in color
3: given to social pleasures; also : licentious
4 a: homosexual <gay men> b: of, relating to, or used by homosexuals <the gay rights movement> <a gay bar>

Pardon me for using a word in its proper context thats been around for 700 years because you are so narrow minded that you only think of the definition which most pertains to you.

 

[Brendnj]

Oh bullshit, its a word and we all know words can have multiple meanings. When someone calls something 'gay' you know exactly what they mean. Because is a unisex word there is no hidden connotations behind it, unlike the word faggot which is meant to deprive someone of his masculinity.
ain Entry:1gayPronunciation: \&#712;g&#257;\ Function:adjective Etymology:Middle English, from Anglo-French gai, of Germanic origin; akin to Old High German g&#257;hi quick, suddenDate:14th century1 a: happily excited : merry <in a gay mood> b: keenly alive and exuberant : having or inducing high spirits <a bird's gay spring song>2 a: bright, lively <gay sunny meadows> b: brilliant in color3: given to social pleasures; also : licentious4 a: homosexual <gay men> b: of, relating to, or used by homosexuals <the gay rights movement> <a gay bar>

Pardon me for using a word in its proper context thats been around for 700 years because you are so narrow minded that you only think of the definition which most pertains to you.

People that feel the need to use the word in every other sentence surely aren't implying happiness or excitement. When's the last time you heard someone say "well I'm feeling awfully gay today!" I'll stand by my original comment.

 

[estebanhung]

People that feel the need to use the word in every other sentence surely aren't implying happiness or excitement. When's the last time you heard someone say "well I'm feeling awfully gay today!" I'll stand by my original comment.

feel free to stand by your comment bro, but so far your opinions seem to be the only one which are discriminatory and set in stone.

 

[Rugbypup]

learn how they truly would like to be teated.

What the fuck? We are no fucking different from you, you arse, treat people as you wish to be treated yourself. Dont treat people differently based on their sexuality, that's what divides people.

an actual gay who was in the open

What are we to you? Wild karibu?

Please try not to think of us str8 guys with habits opposing your own as uneducated or low class or immature. just think of us as friends who dont understand yet ok?

What the fuck is there to understand. The very statement makes you that which you descibe! What are we, so alien you need lessons to interact or speek to us. What an arse. We're people, just like you. There is as much the 'learn' about someone being gay as there is in someone not liking broccoli. We are not 'the gays' of some evil childhood fairy tales. Just accept us for who we are... normal, run of the mill, everyday people.

Jesus, what an 'str8' thing to say.

*Pup sharpens his teeth!*

 

[ShowOff]

People that feel the need to use the word in every other sentence surely aren't implying happiness or excitement. When's the last time you heard someone say "well I'm feeling awfully gay today!" I'll stand by my original comment.

Im sorry I guess there are some morons who dont know when its being using in a non inflammatory context and just assumes everyone is a homophobe and out to get them... grow up.

 

[Rugbypup]

Oh bullshit, its a word and we all know words can have multiple meanings. When someone calls something 'gay' you know exactly what they mean. Because is a unisex word there is no hidden connotations behind it, unlike the word faggot which is meant to deprive someone of his masculinity.

gay Pronunciation: \&#712;g&#257;\
Function:adjective
Etymology:Middle English, from Anglo-French gai, of Germanic origin; akin to Old High German g&#257;hi quick, sudden
Date:14th century
1 a: happily excited : merry <in a gay mood> b: keenly alive and exuberant : having or inducing high spirits <a bird's gay spring song>
2 a: bright, lively <gay sunny meadows> b: brilliant in color
3: given to social pleasures; also : licentious
4 a: homosexual <gay men> b: of, relating to, or used by homosexuals <the gay rights movement> <a gay bar>

Pardon me for using a word in its proper context thats been around for 700 years because you are so narrow minded that you only think of the definition which most pertains to you.

Please, thats kinda weak. In 2008 the word gay clearly means in reference to homosexuality. When was the last time you ran gay abandon amidst a summer meadow.

 

[ShowOff]

Please, thats kinda weak. In 2008 the word gay clearly means in reference to homosexuality. When was the last time you ran gay abandon amidst a summer meadow.

Well allow me to retort... when was the last time you heard someone say that a particular statement was gay (ie this topic is gay) and it meant that this topic likes other topics?... stop while youre ahead.. you know the context.

 

[estebanhung]

What the fuck? you arse,
i was not expecting to encounter violence, please address me with courtesy


What are we to you? Wild karibu?

lol at this

"The very statement makes you that which you descibe!"

how does it make me low class, i admitted i needed to learn in first post but i dont think i should be considered low class, that comment hurts my feelings.

"What an arse.
Jesus, what an 'str8' thing to say."

dont descriminate my st8 status...., or wait, that was a joke? like what a "gay" thing to say? hmmm, interesting, perhaps im begining to understand...

 

[alex8.5]

I don't care enough about strangers to care what they call me.

 

[Rugbypup]

What the fuck? you arse,
i was not expecting to encounter violence, please address me with courtesy


What are we to you? Wild karibu?

lol at this
"The very statement makes you that which you descibe!"

how does it make me low class, i admitted i needed to learn in first post but i dont think i should be considered low class, that comment hurts my feelings.

"What an arse.
Jesus, what an 'str8' thing to say."

dont descriminate my st8 status...., or wait, that was a joke? like what a "gay" thing to say? hmmm, interesting, perhaps im begining to understand...

Clearly on this you are no rapier wit. One of the joys of this site is that if you trump up with something dumb, someone will tell you most virulently.

Consider not refering to gay people as a foreign species that you have just encountered, you will get your arse bit!