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

[Treblaine]

Yeah, but not like that...

My group of friends say it to each other as a light insult. Not because it's bad to be homo or happy. We use it to mean stupid or shitty. For example:

"Aw man, I have to work 5-10 today, after a full day of college"

"That's gay"

And to any retard out there that says "look at the dictionary, it doesn't mean stupid!" I say shut the fuck up. It's meant homosexual long before it was in the dictionary as that. In a couple of years, it'll be in the dictionary as stupid.

And the blatantly HOMOPHOBIC etymology is fucking clear and undeniable.

It came from inbred backward bigots equating homosexuality in absolutely unambiguously categorical terms with the negative, not just stupid, but anything bad. Absolutely no positive connotations.

That's like saying eventually "jew" will end up in the dictionary as a term for anyone who is tight with their money, just as long as people use it enough. For the love of god, you think just because it is widely accepted and maybe if a dictionary picks it up it is acceptable?

Fuck. Sake. What the hell has happened to this website? What drew these type of people here?

 

[Treblaine]

we use gay, but not as an insult, more like a way of saying "what you just did" or "what you just said is something homosexual people does or says"

wich is only an insult to people that are either homophobics or plain stupid

ex:
"oh! i want that spotted dick in my mouth!!"

"hah, that sounds gay"

get it??

That's crude but I'd accept that.

I'm not obsessed with political correctness, the joke there is clearly the incongruity between his intentions and how it seemed, i.e. he isn't gay but he said something that inadvertently implied he was.

If anything that would make a gay person feel less ostracised, friends able to see the light hearted humour in homosexuality.

But if the response had been:

"That's fucking sick man, I don't want to hear about dicks and... eugh... shut the fuck up"

 

[Wereduck]

I never use "gay" as an insult per say, but I do use "suck" and the phrase "get bent over" which are both rooted in the basic homosexual=bad concept. It's borderline hypocritical but I do it anyway because I personally am straight so for me personally it's a bad thing to suck a dick or get sodomized.

 

[chieften]

It's kind of ironic really. Two of my best friends who are bi-sexual (1 guy 1 girl) use gay as an insult just as much as me.

 

[Zechnophobe]

'yes that is true, but the use of the word Gay is strictly negative in many cases, and those cases are where it is in appropriate.'

Let me see if I can get this straight (tch), you wish all negative uses of the word Gay to cease, despite it being a word adopted for a certain cause?

Do you know how many words there are that CAN mean male/male relationships? Would you prefer them ALL to be restrained from all negative uses? For a quick example : twink, Polari, chicken, basket, gunsel.

Are we to assume that you'll fight equally hard for words that are derogatory towards male/female relationships, female/female relationships, and other relationships? I think we can safely assume that the non-legal variety are still fine.

By the way, I looked up lallygagging. It's the present participle of lolly-gagging, which means male/male oral sex. So your example of masturbatory lallygagging actually means sucking your own dick.

See what studying the etymology of words allows? The understanding that words can be used for multiple viewpoints/ideals, while the contextual use of them can denote hate-crimes, it comes from the context.

I can still refer to my fat wallet without it being obese, or the other thing I keep in my trousers.

I can also refer to Homo Sapiens, without people thinking I'm talking about only gay men.

I'm glad a few posts down the line you actually got to know what I meant earlier. I didn't realize 'Masturbate' and 'Lallygag' were so uncommon they warranted a dictionary.

And yes, here's a quick rubric:

"Don't be so ____ "

Find any other minority identifier that can fit in there, and I will gladly admit it is a bad thing and should not be used. Also acceptable "That is so ___", when used in an obvious negative way. Of course, you looked up rare sexual pairing words, which aren't a minority group in an of themselves.

 

[bpm195]

I have a problem with people using any arbitrary word as an insult. It's the problem George Orwell explains the problem best in Politics and the English Language (http://www.resort.com/~prime8/Orwell/patee.html). I won't support meaningless insults when I could instead use something more meaningful. Ironically, such an act frequently ends with me being called gay.

 

[Sangtrain]

Nope. Drop the bundle of sticks line a few times when someone REALLY REALLY pisses me off but for the most part I stick with a slang word for a woman's reproductive organ.

 

[thom_cat_]

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"

http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=ghey

You don't get it. I'm not using it as an insult or in any condition that is insulting homosexuals.
Your example actually relates to a stereotype, whereas mine isn't connected to the original term.

Oh you're serious? Wow.

Do you use the term "gay" to describe a homosexual man? If so, don't use a term that sounds identical as an insult. It's immature, disingenuous and you're fooling no one but yourself.

The interpretation of the "ghey" insult is clear (even if you deny it yourself or play dumb about it) to both the target of the "ghey" insult and everyone else who hears, to shame them with accusations of homosexuality.

You're a hypocrite. You act as if you have a stance of moderation and acceptance of homosexuality - no nagging feelings of guilt - yet on the other you exploit and feed off homophobia for your own ends.

The real question is WHY? Why would you ever use the term "ghey" which comes from no where, it is UNDENIABLY a mere corruption of the word "gay".

If you think someone is a coward, call them a coward. If it's lame, call it lame.

Don't give me this white-guilt bullshit of "That's so gay, no offence to gay people because I'M TOO MUCH OF A COWARD to openly admit my prejudice and am stupid enough to think I can just bluff my way out with claims it's just a different spelling"

It's like the KKK using abusive language and them saying:

"Oh no, I was just saying 'neggars' not 'niggers', I swear!"

Still, you're totally wrong. I'm not using it as an insult that is any way related to homosexuals. Your parallel of 'neggars' has exactly the same issue that your previous one did.

I personally am friends with 5 gay people and know and talk to countless more. I'm part of a school gay-straight alliance and I have gone on a street campaign with others, if more of my friends had gone on the one that is happening right NOW (melbourne CBD) I would have gone too. So saying I "exploit and feed off homophobia for your own ends" is moronic, and you have no right to say that without knowing me personally.

In reality the term I use doesn't have any connection with homosexuality. It's like all those other swear words out there. When I say 'fuck' or '****' or whatever else I do it's not like I'm actually talking about sexual intercourse or vaginas. If I call someone a 'retard' that's not me talking down people with intellectual disabilities. It's just a word that has been adapted to mean 'stupid' or 'thick'.

 

[thenoblitt]

if something happens like my friend trying to be a jackass and grinding up against me ill say stuff like dude stop being gay not trying to be mean to anybody but he was acting gay and i dont want him all up on me cause its well gay

 

[JJMUG]

It came from inbred backward bigots equating homosexuality in absolutely unambiguously categorical terms with the negative, not just stupid, but anything bad. Absolutely no positive connotations.

The "Dictionary of American Slang" reports that gay (adj.) was used by homosexuals, among themselves, in this sense since at least 1920. I don't happen to have a copy of the Historical Dictionary of American Slang readily available at the moment.


Yep them homosexuals sure are backwoods bigots. Also the word in 1637 had why different meanings and was once used as a teem for prostitutes. The word is comes from is gaiety which means happy while gay means joyful. Interesting how a group takes a word to describe themselves, and you ascribe it to bigotry.
Dictionary.com (?Usage note
In addition to its original and continuing senses of ?merry, lively? and ?bright or showy,? gay has had various senses dealing with sexual conduct since the 17th century. A gay woman was a prostitute, a gay man a womanizer, a gay house a brothel. This sexual world included homosexuals too, and gay as an adjective meaning ?homosexual? goes back at least to the early 1900s. After World War II, as social attitudes toward sexuality began to change, gay was applied openly by homosexuals to themselves, first as an adjective and later as a noun. Today, the noun often designates only a male homosexual: gays and lesbians. The word has ceased to be slang and is not used disparagingly. Homosexual as a noun is sometimes used only in reference to a male.)

Isn't history fun?

The word has evolved and will continue to evolve. Also you could have done some research on the word gay. A quick Google search got me all of this information. I do and will continue to use it as a insult, for i don know the history of the word. Plus its just a word words only have power if your give them power. More interestingly the homosexual people i know and it seems like some others as evidence in the very thread use it as in insult themselves and don't care it someone else does.

 

[The_root_of_all_evil]

"Don't be so ____ "

Find any other minority identifier that can fit in there, and I will gladly admit it is a bad thing and should not be used. Also acceptable "That is so ___", when used in an obvious negative way.

You have just destroyed ANY joke that relies on a difference between parts of humanity.

What you've also done is accentuate the differences in any minority, so that they receive favourable protection in regards to the majority.

Knock on effect? You've just delineated, and accelerated the degree to which they are prejudiced against.

For example, using your rubric.

"Don't be so special."

I can easily use that to imply that you are mentally retarded. (Oh, and if you think gay is offensive, take a look at how many times retard is used in this thread alone) But there's actually nothing wrong with that word, it's just been co-opted as an insult.

As has gay.

As will any other word that can be used. You ban gay, people will adopt homo, and so on, and so on.

"Don't be so precious"

Equivalent to either diva-dom, or acting towards the gay stereotype.

Of course, you looked up rare sexual pairing words, which aren't a minority group in an of themselves.

Rare swearing words that you gave me. Which are used for a purpose other than what you originally intended.

See why that's so important?

 

[Asuka Soryu]

I say it meaning, 'happy'

Guy: What was your first gay experience?

Mr. Burns: When I was six, my Dad took me to the park. Oh, that was a gay old time. I ate so many wieners.

 

[MorganL4]

I remember back when I first heard the term homo used as an insult...... I instantly thought it was an awesome insult...... what better way to poke fun at someone than to accuse them of being homophobic...... three weeks later after I had added it to my vernacular I was told it meant homosexual..... I was confused, how is calling something gay an insult? its like saying HA HA you're a red head...... it doesn't make sense, that was how I felt then and its how I feel now

 

[MR T3D]

very rarely, and not since I was listening to a talk-radio show host whom came up with the much better idea of just calling it "bieber" inplace of times you'd use 'gay' as an insult, because, well, 'beiber' is just a better term to convey the fussiness/pansyness of something

"this shit's so bieber, I'm out."

 

[Dimensional Vortex]

I've recently stopped because I see how grossly wrong it is to use, like I don't get it when people will be for Gay Rights and still call someone a "fag"