purplesweat said:

It's just as bad as saying you got jewed or gypped to mean ripped off.

TotalAlisa said:

then please say geeky, nerdy, uncool and don't even bother saying retarded to replace it either. would you say that's so nig.ger too?

what a great example of a catholic you are
[Edited 11/27/08 2:11am]

alphastreet said:

So true.

and she sounds so proud of herself too....sad

alphastreet said:

She sounds almost offended that someone criticised people who say it. "hey i say that!" WTF?

npgmaverick said:

purplesweat said:

the church encourages it

purplesweat said:

the word "gay" means happy/merry.

alphastreet said:

DO ANY OF YOU REALIZE THE WORD GAY MEANS CHEERFUL, MERRY, HAPPY???

gay does NOT necessarily mean homosexual. People just used the word gay as homosexual. but it really is NOT the ORIGINAL literally meaning. Dictionaries just started noting the word gay as homosexual.

So i will continue using what i want.

The N-word is completely in its own league so don't even go there.
[Edited 11/27/08 10:17am]

TotalAlisa said:

You said yourself you use it to describe things that are "geeky, nerdy, uncool". Which has nothing to do with the original sense as you described it.

So what exactly is your point here?

TotalAlisa said:

Just say 'that's soo lame' or 'that's wack' (even though that's a super old expression), to avoid offending people. I have friends, gay and straight, who have used that expression a few times. The majority of the time, it's used to refer to something that is gay oriented or actually a gay stereotype. When my gay friends say, 'He or she is soo gay', I get a little confused, because they're gay too. I just think of it like me saying, 'She's soo black' and I'm black; it just doesn't make a whole lot of sense to me, but to each his own.

I don't like anyone using the N-word, because I think the word is ignorant no matter who is saying it. I find it (and all it's connotations) to be the most offensive word still being frequently and so lightly used today because it's got such a negative history behind it no matter how much hip-hop music has tried to change it into meaning something positive. It's just an ugly word and always has been. Gay has never been an ugly word even now with a double meaning...something that I've found to be the opposite when rainbows are being used for some oddball reason. I love rainbows; had a obsession with Rainbow Brite as a kid, but found out as I got older that rainbows are commonly associated with homosexuality. I didn't care, because I will wear a rainbow regardless of it's double meaning. I've had people, gay and straight, ask me about my sexual orientation because I was wearing a shirt with a rainbow on it and I just find that to be stupid and sad. In my 1999 Webster dictionary, a rainbow is defined as: "an arc or circle of colors formed by the refraction and reflection of the sun's rays in rain, spray, or mist", and that's all it says; maybe the newer dictionaries have added on to it's meaning, but that's what it symbolizes to me. I'm a straight person who loves rainbows and would love to not have to deal with people, straight or gay, who want to question my sexual preferences for it...seriously, what up with that? Just my

Annika said:

my point is if everyone else change change the original meaning why cant I

that's so gay

TotalAlisa said:

Because you're not changing the meaning. You use the word to mean geeky, uncool etc because of the word's association witb homosexuality, not inspite of it. You obviously consider homosexuality a negative, so you choose to take a word commonly associated with it and extend it to cover other social negatives as well. If this weren't the case, you might as well say "happy" to mean the things you listed.

By the way, note that you are not the one "changing" the word. The usage of it as a negative has been around for some time (for the reason I mentioned above, not because someone randomly decided to use it as a negative independently of its other common meaning). By buying into this usage you show your true colours as a bigot, plain and simple.

Annika said:

i use the word 'queer' in it's proper sense, i hope nobody objects to that. i.e "urgh! this drink tastes off to me, it tastes queer" that's ok right? in my part of the world it's just a phrase that's bandied around.

totalalisa, nice try, but I don't buy any of your BS and you did NOT mean happy when you were defending your use of the phrase.

estelle, I was also obsessed with rainbow brite in the 80's and early 90's and went crazy over anything that had to do with rainbows but didn't know about the gay association until high school and don't mind it cause I'm bi anyways
[Edited 11/28/08 4:54am]

purplesweat said:

I don't think too many females are thinking that way about ne-yo. He isnt attractive at all.

Oh geez... if something's gay it's gay... e.g. 80ies hairmetal bands are, from todays point of view, gay! And if someone tells a straight person "You're so gay!" then that is obviously a bad thing for that person, as that person doesn't want to be perceived as gay! So whatever!

PatrickS77 said:

That's what makes the slur so offensive to a lot of people. "Gay" is used as an insult, as a negative. It really is no better than saying you got jewed to mean ripped off, or to use another minority as an insult.

Not "whatever", dipshit.

meow85 said:

Well, to a gay person it's probably offensive if someone tells him "You're so straight!"... so why make a fuss out of it?

And it is just a fact that many gays.. oh well, the sterotype gays (the gays who flaunt their gayness) act in a certain gay way... lol that sounds bad, but I hope you know what i mean... (some) gay guys behave in a certain way which no straight guy would ever consciously behave, so therefore it's associated with being gay... so if e.g. 80ies rockstars wear tight spandex and use make up and have bigger hair than their girlfriends, they get called gay... I can't really see the offense!

There are just certain things which are usually exclusive to women or gay guys... where as ripping off people is not really exclusive to jews! So I can't really compare the two!

meow85 said:

Well, yes! Whatever! You cry about feeling insulted and in turn call others names!

Edit: Wow! I never used the word "gay" so many times in such a little post! I guess that's gay too!
[Edited 11/28/08 9:41am]

Annika said:

I am changing the meaning. Because the original meaning is happy/cheerful.

Now You are just assuming things. and i could care less. I think its hilarious how you some of you guys say that im so judgmental when all you do is assume things about what i believe, think, and do. So really you are the ones being judgmental.

seriously. Unless i happen to use another word because i get tired of using "gay" i won't stop. But of course i only use that word with friends and family.

TotalAlisa said:

You do realise that language evolves, right? No language is static, and the English language is especially prone to change, since it is influences by so many sources.

Not that it makes any difference, as my second point made clear: You are not the one changing the usage. You are not giving the word a new meaning. You are simply buying into an existing usage, which bases itself in a negative idea of homosexuality.

Incidentally, I never said you were judgemental, I said you were a bigot. Big, huge difference there. And yes, I am a judgemental person, I admit it.

I suspect that there is very little point in debating this with you, though, since you seem to be making no effort to understand any of the points being made to you.

Annika said:

okay YOU THINK im a bigot. Who cares, and you are actually displaying bigotry yourself SOOO Why NOT worry about yourself and stead of trying to worry about what i believe or how i use words.

i will continue to use that word and it has nothing to do with homosexuality. Being geeky, nerdy or whatever is NOT necessarily bad.

This thread is a bit queer!

TotalAlisa said:

How am I displaying bigotry? Do you even know what that word means?

Are you saying that you use the word gay to describe in a positive way something other than homosexuality or happiness? Do tell.

And we wonder why Prop H8 passed.

^^Oh geez... what does the one thing have to do with the other?? Get married all you want!

Annika said:

Yes i know what the word means. and you obviously cannot accept that i don't believe what you do, or i don't agree with you. Which is why YOU display bigotry.

I do NOT have to explain anything to you. I know that I would not use that word in a derogatory way.

Seriously, its not that serious. Im pretty sure you call women the B*** and use other things (profanities). and I pretty much think there are more serious things than using the word "gay" as uncool.

TotalAlisa said:

Ignorance truly knows no bounds.

It IS that serious.