I think a lot of people also severely underestimate the power of language. "It's just semantics" is one of the most ironic phrases I can think of.

As an example, the word war means one thing to me, a Canadian, and another thing completely to a Somalian, Angolan, or Rwandan.

you are awesome, but not because you are gay. being gay doesn't make you any more awesome than not being gay.

I dunno. Usually people who use these phrases are young and tend to say things through peer pressure without understanding the full context of it's meaning or the context of which they are applying it to. No doubt the association is there but the overall meaning or intent is secondary in directing it at homosexuals or negative connotations thereof. Maybe.Who knows

And that's exactly why the ads that are in the first post of this discussion are needed! :)

over in the racial slurs thread we veered off a bit, so i'm bringing it over here.

cellophanediety said something about dykes, i said i wanna be a dyke,

she said "See, the word "dyke" can now have positive meaning too! "

and i said "when did it have a negative meaning? really, i'm 40 fucking years old, all my life i thought dyke just meant lesbian."

she said "I've just heard too many men use the word "dyke" in an intensely negative way. "

and that brought up an interesting point to me.

they were using a word that wasn't necessarily negative in an intensely negative way. enough to where some people think dyke can have a negative meaning.

so...what if i started using the word "Tall" in an intensely negative way? i hated that movie, it was so tall. that food sucked, it was tall. dude, quit being so tall about it. those pants look totally tall on you, i wouldn't wear them.

would suddenly the tall people get offended? and if they did get offended, would anyone care, or would most people say "oh cmon, it has nothing to do with your height"?

It's beyond dispute that the term gay is frequently used to desribe homosexual people.

And it is beyond dispute (in my view) that homosexuality is a stigmatized er... sexual orientation. And it is a minority group.

On this basis, it seems wrong to me to use the term "that is so gay" in general public speech. Regardless of intent. Apart from which, it sounds rather lazy.

Words have meanings, within context. Ultimately, isn't it the responsibility of the speaker or writer to qualify their audience before making their statement?

In individual conversation, vocabularies can expand and definitions agreed upon. The larger the audience, the smaller the available vocabulary. Assume that the current slang or local colloquial usage will be applied to your message.

If a 90 years old woman uses "that's gay" to describe the present you brought her, she probably likes it and approves. If a middle school teacher said that about a gift from her students, she's likely to get her tires slashed.

---------- Post added at 11:52 AM ---------- Previous post was at 11:49 AM ----------

Say it loud! "I'm Tall and proud!"