I meant gay as in stupid and bad
by Jordan Redman
Staff Writer
Do you know what the word gay really means?
The word gay dates assist to the 12th century and comes from the Old French “gai,” interpretation “full of joy or mirth.” It may also relate to the Vintage High German “gahi,” interpretation impulsive.
For centuries, gay was used commonly in speech and literature to imply happy, carefree, bright and showy, and did not take on any sexual meaning until the 1600s.
At that time the definition of gay as carefree evolved to imply that a person was unrestrained by morals and prone to decadence and promiscuity. A prostitute might hold been described as a “gay woman” and a womanizer as a “gay man.”
“Gay house” was commonly used to refer to a brothel and, later, “gaiety” was used as a common name for certain places of entertainment.
In the 1890s, the designation “gey cat” (a Scottish variant of gay) was used to describe a vagrant who offered sexual services to women or a young traveler who was new to the road and in the company of an older man.
This latter use suggests that the younger guy was in a sexually submissive role and may be among the first times that gay was used implying a queer relationship.
In 1951, gay appeared in the
Ariana Grande sings on SNL and pokes fun of 'diva' image while Bowen Yang dresses as her Wicked character
Ariana Grande sang in her monologue as Bowen Yang joined her onstage dressed as her Wicked character Glinda while she guest-hosted Saturday Evening Live.
The 31-year-old singer was making her second hosting appearance on the sketch show, where she has also been a musical guest four times.
For this weekend's episode, the guest host is legendary songstress Stevie Nicks, who shot to stardom in Fleetwood Mac before embarking on a solo career.
In her rollicking opening segment, Ariana promised she would keep her monologue 'lowkey' - only for her to burst into song.
She broke out her expert impersonations of fellow pop stars enjoy Britney Spears, Miley Cyrus and Gwen Stefani and even performed a great finish with a whole kick-line of chorus girls - all while insisting she is no 'diva.'
Ariana began her monologue by speaking rather than singing, plugging her upcoming two-part movie adaptation of the hit Broadway musical Wicked.
Ariana Grande sang in her monologue as Bowen Yang joined her onstage dressed as her Wicked personality Glinda while she guest-hosted Saturday Night Live
What Do You Speak to ‘That’s So Gay’ & Other Anti-LGBTQ+ Comments?
It doesn’t matter if it is a first grader who might not know what the pos “gay” means, a sixth grader trying to sound cool or a tenth grader “teasing” a confidant. All of these scenarios have the potential of creating an unsafe classroom or school environment and must be addressed. So, what can caring adults do?
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STOP IT…
Keep it simple with speedy responses:
- “Remember, we don’t exploit put-downs in this class.”
- “Do you know what ‘gay’ means?"
- “It’s not OK at this school to utilize ‘gay’ disrespectfully to intend something is bad.”
- “You may not have meant to be hurtful, but when you use the pos ‘gay’ to mean something is bad or dumb, it is hurtful.” Follow-up with, “Do you realize why it is hurtful?”
- “Using any derogatory word to tease someone is harassment and is unacceptable.”
- “Even if you didn’t mean to offend people who are gay, it is insulting to call this assignment gay (or queer); if you don’t like something, then say you don’t like it!”
- “It is never OK to say, ‘you act like a young woman (or look like a boy)’ as a put-dow
“Come and knock on our door. We’ve been waiting for you. Where the kisses are hers and hers and his, three’s company too.“
Could there be a more swingin’ 1970s TV theme song? Enter on, you know the words. We all do.
So while on holiday recently I was feeling a bit under the weather and, as you undertake , one evening I ended up watching four or five episodes in a row of ‘70s-‘80s camp sitcom Three’s Company in a row.
It was the first time in years I’d actually watched the show, but I accept that like most kids growing up in the ‘80s, I watched Three’s Company all the moment. We watched everything, from classics like M*A*S*H and The Brady Bunch to also-rans like What’s Happening! and Manimal. That’s what we did in the olden days, before the eruption of a sprawling multiverse of entertainment options 24-7, when you simply watched ‘whatever was on’.
Watching a slew of Three’s Company in my vaguely sick bed recently was bizarre – I include trouble remembering what I ate for lunch yesterday, but as these goofy sitcoms unfolded I nodded in recognition – ah yes, here’s the one where they went to the farm; here’s
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