Definition of the Word "gay"

"A generic insult such as bad, stupid or whatever you want it to mean" would be how today's society would define the word "gay." Someone in my English 15 class could have whispered "This essay we have to write is so gay," the moment this particular essay was assigned. Chances are you often have heard this word being used in this ignorant manor such as the sentence I have just shared with you. Consequently, using this word in such context can be potentially dangerous taking into consideration that there are many diverse individuals around you who may find offense in using that term inaccurately.

In 1637, the Oxford English Dictionary described gay as "addicted to social pleasures and dissipations. Often euphemistically: Of loose and immoral life." During the 1800s, however, gay was used as a slang term meaning "copulate" and was used toward female prostitutes. It wasn't until the 1900s that the word took on the familiar definition of being homosexual, with homesexual originating from a central European doctor in 1869. Gaie, deriving from the Old French, was directed toward older men, whereas the word "geycat" was directed toward boys and young men. "A generic insult such as bad, stupid or whatever you want it to mean" would be how today's society would define the word "gay." Someone in my English 15 class could have whispered "This essay we have to write is so gay," the moment this particular essay was assigned. Chances are you often have heard this word being used in this ignorant manor such as the sentence I have just shared with you. Consequently, using this word in such context can be potentially dangerous taking into consideration that there are many diverse individuals around you who may find offense in using that term inaccurately.

In 1637, the Oxford English Dictionary described gay as "addicted to social pleasures and dissipations. Often euphemistically: Of loose and immoral life." During the 1800s, however, gay was used as a slang term meaning "copulate" and was used toward female prostitutes. It wasn't until the 1900s that the word took on the familiar definition of being homosexual, with homesexual originating from a central European doctor in 1869. Gaie, deriving from the Old French, was directed toward older men, whereas the word "geycat" was directed toward boys and young men. "A generic insult such as bad, stupid or whatever you want it to mean" would be how today's society would define the word "gay." Someone in my English 15 class could have whispered "This essay we have to write is so gay," the moment this particular essay was assigned. Chances are you often have heard this word being used in this ignorant manor such as the sentence I have just shared with you. Consequently, using this word in such context can be potentially dangerous