Where did the word gay come from

What Is the Origin : Gay in the 12th century But the word ‘gay’ itself has a long and interesting history through the English language

However, this word is rooted in the classification of certain types of people as illicit, counterculture or behaving in ways that go against the respectable conventions of society. Learn the origin and evolution of the word ‘gay’ from its original meaning of joyful or carefree to its current meaning of homosexual.

[1] While scant usage referring to male homosexuality dates to the late 19th century, that meaning became increasingly common by the midth century. The term originally meant "carefree", "cheerful', or "bright and showy".

How did gay come : Ghettoization of the term began to occur in the 60s so that today “gay” in the sense of “homosexual” has chased out all other uses of the word

Gay is not a bad word. 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. [2] In modern English, gay has come to be used as an adjective, and as a noun.

to also mean a homosexual. Gay is not a dirty word. When gay is used today to mean stupid or undesirable it has only been used in this way since the sit carries with it a history of negative judgment and rigid ideas about who or what is acceptable.

Login Register. Originating from Old French "gai" (12c.) meaning joyful or light-colored, "gay" evolved from "merry" and "wanton" in the 14c. However, gay is not an insult either. I just went gay. For centuries, gay was used commonly in speech and literature to mean happy, carefree, bright and showy, and did not take on any sexual meaning until the s.

June 17, a. This latter use suggests that the younger man was in a sexually submissive role and may be among the first times that gay was used implying a homosexual relationship. Skip to main content. Gay is a term that primarily refers to a homosexual person or the trait of being homosexual.

Today, gay is a socially acceptable term for homosexual people. Pride Month. Discover how gay men and women used the word to refer to themselves and others, and how it became a common term in popular culture. If you want to say something is stupid, lame, dumb or any other variation of those terms, use those terms.