Poll: Do You Use the Word "Gay" as an Insult?

[Treblaine]

I don't because it's linguistically unnecessary.

If I want to be crude and call someone out (possibly humorously) for not being tough or bold enough, I cell them a Pussy.

Sure, I suppose that's sexist to women and their genitalia, but if someone's being a self-centred troublemaker I call them a Dick.

However, there are extreme variants I might use like the internet meme:

"DO IT ******!!!"

Too long to explain, but I find it is more a disparaging phrase of encouragement than a belittling insult. Like many internet memes it is deliberately controversial for it's intended effect, to shock.

 

[thom_cat_]

Never.
I use the word "Ghey", there is a difference

 

[TheRundownRabbit]

Well only if this gay was somehow prick tome, but I wouldn't call anyone who is actually gay "gay" to their face, I also call my friends gay sometimes but just jokingly (when they say something the wrong way, or something they do is really stupid)

 

[Murray Whitwell]

I do, but it's purely out of bad habit/humour. I'm just lucky I have a lot of gay friends who can laugh about it and not get offended since they understand I'm not the slightest bit homophobic.

 

[Wardnath]

No. Not to living people, anyway. And I'm on the autism spectrum, so I'll seldom use "retarded" as well.

 

[Signa]

I find this acceptable because while you are associating the word "gay" in a negative context, it in no way means you feel that gays are something to be viewed in a negative context. Take a look at the Harley driver episode of Southpark. No one calls each other "fags" because they hate gay people. The original meaning of those words has been subverted to general use for everything, and only the bleeding heart liberals think that you are disparaging a particular section of the population when you use those words.

Just remember folks, it's not the words but how you mean them. Y'all have a fucking nice day!

Thing is, despite how you intend to use the word, the fact that some people use the word as an insult towards gay people means there is still a problem. Put yourself in my shoes. As a closeted gay man in high school, when I heard the word gay used as an insult, where gay=stupid, what does that make me think? You have to realize, there are people around you that are gay, and you don't know they are. And being closeted means you are scared. You already feel horribly out of place, afraid that one person finding out will destroy your social life. And hearing gay mean stupid makes you feel even worse.

Isn't that just projecting your own sense of inadequacy or inferiority on other's words? I'm not saying you're wrong, because I didn't hear what context your friends used it in, but if you were my friend, you wouldn't have anything to worry about.

Now, in the context of highschool, I DO see the issue. Highschool is ruthless, so coming out there would probably be a bad idea. Still, in all my years of hearing people use it, never have I felt that some one was hating on a gay person just by using that word.

Trust me, as a strait dude, if we wanted to be insulting, gay is hardly the word we'd use. "Gay" is just saying it like it is, but to express true animosity, we'd spit other words like "******" "Queer" or "fudgepacker" directly at you. You just can't spit the word "gay" as offensively.

 

[Treblaine]

Yeah, words have many meanings.

Can't... resist...

Tobias: "OooOoooh! Would you like a ****** in the mouth? I remember back in 'ole' blighty' I couldn't go a day without a Saucy ****** Sandwich"

 

[maddawg IAJI]

Nope and I honestly don't like hanging out with people who do it a lot. I have a lot of friends who are gay and I don't like using it as an insult because in a sense, I would be insulting my friends. I don't force it on others, but I find it hypocritical that some of the most openly homosexual kids in my school will call each other gay based on what they're wearing.

 

[Treblaine]

Never.
I use the word "Ghey", there is a difference

(are you trying to be funny or sardonic or something?)


That's like you labelling someone you think ripped you off, as a: "Jeuw"

 

[Signa]

i fucking hate it when people think that their better then me just because they don't use certain words and think that because they think its wrong, i should also conform to their PC attitude towards the way everyone should speak. I have the freedom of speech and i plan to use it however i like.

Damn right!

I'm usually a little more polite in expressing myself, but this is what it boils down to. I don't need some one else telling me that I didn't mean what I meant because an uninvolved third party might not like it.

 

[F-I-D-O]

No, because it's an inaccurate term. I only use it(purely in a non-derogatory sense) when someone is actually homosexual. There are better adjectives around, and not everything is homosexual/erotic.
It's a huge pet peeve of mine when someone's list of adjectives only contains gay and profanity.

 

[Dragonforce525]

I don't use it to insult someone, I use it when in an annoying situation, for example:
*Just missed the bus by seconds*
ME: Gaaaaay

*Stepped in dog shit*
ME: Gaaaaay

*My PC gets a virus*
ME:GAAAAAAY

I know a gay person may find it insulting, but then I say grow the fuck up queermo.

 

[SamtheDeathclaw]

No, I don't. And yes, I judge the shit out of people that do. It's associating homosexuality with negative feelings. Just my two centsss.

 

[AvsJoe]

"Only when it's appropriate"? It's never appropriate.

With that out of the way, yes, I do say it. I've been using it as an insult since I was a kid. I've been phasing it out though; for instance, I've replaced "gaaaaay..." with "mooooan..." or "whiiiiine..." and "That's f-n GAY!" with "That f-n SUCKS!".

 

[Nouw]

I couldn't explain why using gay is wrong so I rarely use it. Note that people around me are all degenerates...

 

[Aphroditty]

Really? Franzibald yacht spittoon truncheon magnificent lychee's salubrious.

Sorry? You mean you can't understand what I'm saying? But wasn't it obvious that I meant "You're talking utter bollocks if you think the meaning of words doesn't matter"?

Clearly, you're a complete idiot. Try and discern what I mean by that! If you take offense, do remind yourself that the actual words aren't relevant. It's what I mean when I say them.

Hm, that was an especially pathetic retort. Doesn't even attempt to bring any serious discussion to the table.

Words don't mean anything in themselves, they only signify something insofar as we assign meaning to them. Hypothesize that you have sufficient likability to have ever had a friend. Imagine, then, that you and this friend engage in banter. You jokingly call him a douchemobile, he, in good humor, calls you feckless. The dictionary definition of these words would indicate that you are either not friends, or are upset with each other. Can you concede the strict definitions of these words do not give any approximation of reality, in this case? If you can, then the person who you quoted had a strong point to make.

And in fact, it's true that the literal meanings behind words aren't as important as you make out. The majority of human communication occurs beyond the content of a message; body language, facial expressions as a subset of body language, pitch and tone of the voice, all are just as important to understanding a person as what they actually said.

It's why the words "You're a genius, Bill" can mean that Bill is a genius, or that Bill is a complete idiot. It's why people on the internet, despite probably being mildly intelligent people in their non-virtual lives, can come off as smug, moronic fools twittering whatever pops up in their heads first. It is why human communication is so difficult, even between people who speak the exact same language and come from the same family--because at that level, meaning is fluid and changes from person to person.

 

[LarenzoAOG]

Only around my gay cousin because he actually finds it funny, once he was telling me about his boyfriend and I said "What are you? Some kind of homo?" and he knew I was joking and laughed, in that kind of situation I don't see a problem, as long as you're not being negative or hateful about it and you stop if you offend someone.

 

[Shuichi_boy]

Honestly, if someone used the word "gay" in any negative connotation whatsoever, that is now a person I want to know. I will make all due efforts to never speak to and make sure I'm never spoken to by that person again.

Not only is it crude, insulting, and reinforcing of the negativity that many gay people feel, it is also profoundly uncreative and unimaginative as an insult or epithet. In other words, people who use that word in that way aren't very bright.

 

[Madara XIII]

This is pretty much my response to anybody who thinks it's an appropriate insult.


Being a only very very slightly bi-leaning-mostly-gay-woman, I don't see why I'd use it as an insult.

You wouldn't. Straight males use it in a heavily straight male environment as a term to attack another straight male's masculinity. It's part of the rhetoric of the constant straight male struggle of establishing a pecking order where the top of the heap bullies the bottom feeders.

Yes, it's completely and totally stupid. As a straight male, I find it to be an utterly retarded and backwards providence that serves no purpose other than to boost or crumble a person's ego. I'm also one of the "bottom feeders", so take that as you will.

And yet you use "retarded" in your post. Don't get me wrong, I agree with you, I just found it a little hypocritical.

That's all you got out of that? Seriously?

Okay, this is fixable. Just post a picture of yourself and I'll replace the word "retarded" with something describing you. Good enough?

Edit: You know what, let me expand that point. It's CAVEMAN BEHAVIOR!!! It's how primates conduct themselves in the wild. It's what roosters do to each other so they can f**k the most hens. You're 100% correct, retarded people are much more evolved.

Wow man! I feel your pain. Screw the bleeding heart liberals and their politically correct vernacular!

It's just asinine to have to deal with.

 

[Madara XIII]

Yes, but I never say gay to describe those with homosexual tendencies. I tend to not reference sexual orientation much anyway.

You're a very smart man