Gay happy definition
How ‘gay’ got its rainbow: What once meant merry is now a badge of identity for homosexuals
On Thursday, as the Supreme Court decriminalised homosexuality, reading down the controversial British-era section of the penal code, Mumbai-based Arnab Nandy took to social media to convey his joy, as many across the country and the world were doing. “I am so Gay today…” he wrote in a coming-out post that has since gone viral. But while Nandy’s choice of word was bang on that night, how did a word that had originally meant light-hearted, carefree or cheerful, become associated with a community whose life has been often been anything but?
The Oxford English dictionary traces the history of the word ‘gay’ to the French pos Gai. Merriam Webster takes it further back to a Germanic origin “akin to the Vintage High German Gahi” that meant “quick or sudden”. According to both dictionaries, in English the use of ‘gay’ to mean joyful, excited, merry, carefree or bright started in the Middle English period that stretches between the 12th and the 16th century.
All For An Identity
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Origin and history of gay
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gay(adj.)
late 14c., "full of joy, merry; light-hearted, carefree;" also "wanton, lewd, lascivious" (late 12c. as a surname, Philippus de Gay), from Old French gai "joyful, happy; pleasant, agreeably charming; forward, pert; light-colored" (12c.; compare Elderly Spanish gayo, Portuguese gaio, Italian gajo, probably French loan-words). The ultimate inception is disputed; perhaps from Frankish *gahi (related to Old High German wahi "pretty"), though not all etymologists accept this.
The interpretation "stately and beautiful; splendid and showily dressed" is from early 14c. Of things, "sumptuous, showy, affluent, ornate," midc. of colors, etc., "shining, glittering, gleaming, bright, vivid," late 14c.; of persons, "dressed up, decked out in finery," also late 14c. In the English of Yorkshire and Scotland formerly it could mean "moderately, rather, considerable" (; compare the sense development in pretty (adj.)).
The word gay by the s h
by Jordan Redman
Staff Writer
Do you know what the word lgbtq+ really means?
The word gay dates back to the 12th century and comes from the Antique French “gai,” meaning “full of joy or mirth.” It may also relate to the Elderly High German “gahi,” meaning impulsive.
For centuries, gay was used commonly in speech and literature to mean happy, carefree, bright and showy, and did not seize on any sexual meaning until the s.
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. A prostitute might own 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 prevalent name for certain places of entertainment.
In the s, 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 man was in a sexually submissive role and may be among the fir
Today I found out how &#;gay&#; came to imply &#;homosexual&#;.
The word &#;gay&#; seems to have its origins around the 12th century in England, derived from the Old French synonyms &#;gai&#;, which in shift was probably derived from a Germanic word, though that isn&#;t completely known. The word&#;s original interpretation meant something to the effect of &#;joyful&#;, &#;carefree&#;, &#;full of mirth&#;, or &#;bright and showy&#;.
However, around the early parts of the 17th century, the word began to be associated with immorality. By the mid 17th century, according to an Oxford dictionary definition at the time, the meaning of the word had changed to mean &#;addicted to pleasures and dissipations. Often euphemistically: Of loose and immoral life&#;. This is an extension of one of the original meanings of &#;carefree&#;, meaning more or less uninhibited.
Fast-forward to the 19th century and the word gay referred to a woman who was a prostitute and a gay man was someone who slept with a lot of women (ironically enough), often prostitutes. Also at this age, the phrase &#;gay it&#; mea