That's Gay.

[Sightless Wisdom]

You only say gay on reflex because you started saying it in the first place. I never used the term gay as any kind of expletive, it just seems stupid regardless of who it offends. Like that vending machine likes vending machines of the same gender!...wait what? I tend to say something along the lines of "fucking hell" or more recently "bollocks".

 

[Captain-Giggles]

I do use it myself, but if I'm using it as an insult, I like to extend it out, usually when someone does something mean in a game of magic the gathering. My common response will be: "Well, I expect that kind of move from someone who has sex with men." Or if I'm going victorian on them: "Well good sir, you seem to be the sort of gentleman who likes to see two pipes on his bedside table".

 

[ZeroMachine]

Two things... first, I've never understood, for lack of a better term, "reflexive vocabulary". I've never said anything out of habit of saying it. Just don't get it.

Second, more on topic, whenever I use the term "that's gay" I'm being deliberately douchy or ironic (usually both) and it's all just for a laugh. And I usually get at least a chuckle, even from my gay friends.

Which brings up a bit of a question to any gay people of the Escapist, do you mind if your friends use that terminology in the way I do? I've even called one of my gay friends "******" as a joke once or twice, and his answer was "Heh, yup."

That a norm or a rarity? Sorry if the question seems a bit insensitive.

 

[Susano]

Words don't matter, meaning and context do.
If you're not a homophobe then you're not a homophobe, so it doesn't matter.

Words always matter. Your person feelings on gay people don't matter, if you're saying "that's gay", you're not only associating being gay with whatever the bad thing you're describing it as, you're also saying to everyone else that it's ok to describe this group of people negatively, and that it's ok to use language like that.

 

[Baradiel]

You're right. Those scenarios are incredibly homosexual.

^ What I usually say when someone says somethings "Gay" (unless of course it actually IS gay)

If I ever say "Thats gay" then I mentally slap myself. Usually I just swear.

 

[Just_A_Glitch]

I use "gay" all the time. Its just a word, afterall.

However, no negative word gets used more than "Lame" with me.

 

[Oly J]

I stopped usin g "that's gay" a long time ago, I've recently taken to saying "oh seven shades of shit" when I'm irritated

 

[staika]

Sometimes I'll say "fuck" but most of the time I use "Jesus Christ" or some form of different swear words in different ways to make some sort of sentence with more swear words than actual words. And I admit I do use "That's gay" or just "gay" I don't say it that much but I do but I try not to say it in front of gay people for fear of offending them and then having a lot of people flame me about it.

 

[Ladette]

Usually I use the word "lame" to refer to such situations.

I do tend to use the word "fag" and every possible variation of it when i'm angry enough, usually while watching sports. That has lead to some amusing situations where i'll be called a homophobe and point out that I am, in fact, a lesbian.

 

[similar.squirrel]

Reminds me of something Seanbaby once wrote, in retaliation to being accused of homophobia: 'I only use the word fag in the strictest scientific sense.'

I tend to let loose a good old-fashioned 'for fuck's sake' when the going gets rough.

 

[Thaluikhain]

Words always matter. Your person feelings on the matter don't matter, if you're saying "that's gay", you're not only associating being gay with whatever the bad thing you're describing it as, you're also saying to everyone else that it's ok to describe this group of people negatively, and that it's ok to use language like that.

Exactly. You can't use a word meaning a group of people as an insult without insulting that group of people.

 

[thiosk]

How old are you? I came of age in the 90s. Gay was probably the most-used adjective throughout the decade.

I do not apologize for it. I know gay people who use gay as an adjective. Sticks and stones and all that. People these days have their OMGOFFENDED meters set to infinity.

For the folks who use Lame, watch out! The disabled will get all pissy about that one too. Well usually not the disabled, just the people who "care" about the disabled.

 

[GrizzlerBorno]

I never use "that's gay". Seems gay to me.

Yup that is indeed a paradox ^^

OT: I use either "Balls!" or if I'm feeling fancy "Bollocks!"

 

[TheDoctor455]

I tend to go for "Oh hell" or "Bugger".

Which some of my friends find odd, because 1. I'm an atheist. and 2. I'm not British.

Anyway...

every time I catch someone saying some variation of "that's gay", I tend to point out to them just how bigoted that statement is.

E.G.

Would anyone here ever say something like "that's so Black" or "That's so Jewish"?

 

[NinjaDeathSlap]

Words don't matter, meaning and context do.
If you're not a homophobe then you're not a homophobe, so it doesn't matter.

Words always matter. Your person feelings on gay people don't matter, if you're saying "that's gay", you're not only associating being gay with whatever the bad thing you're describing it as, you're also saying to everyone else that it's ok to describe this group of people negatively, and that it's ok to use language like that.

If that was true, every black person who uses the N-word is racist...

Without wishing to sound patronizing to them, I'm a lot better spoken than most of my friends, and I hear them using language like that all the time. However, it doesn't bother me because their language is just an insight into how they've been brought up, and I know that underneath it all none of them are actually homophobic. For one thing, I'm bi, and I've never had any abuse from them (beyond occasional jokes, but the key word there being 'jokes')

 

[Bara_no_Hime]

So, escapist, what sort of substitutes do you have, and more importantly, how would you go about integrating them into your reflex vocabulary?

I don't say "gay" to mean annoyed, and I dislike when others do. I don't even know how that got started.

Although, I love the South Park idea of changing the word "Fag" into a word that means "inconsiderate Harley Davidson bikers" - that is something I could get behind.

Not that ALL Harley bikers are inconsiderate - but the ones who are inconsiderate are really and truly annoying.

 

[malamud]

Is anyone who says things are 'gay' over seventeen? Really would like to know.

 

[sylekage]

I just say it because it's become part of my vocabulary.

But lately it's being replaced by "balls!"

Example:
*drop something on the ground* Oh, BALLS!

Or even "For Fuck's Sake!" (Same kind of situation)

 

[lacktheknack]

I never used it, I have no reason to stop saying "WHAT THE CHUFFING EXISTENCE?!"