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Quoting a tramp named Frenchy, who might not have known the origin. Do you want to know where they got their monica (nickname) 'Gay Cat'? See, Kid, cats sneak about and scratch immediately after chumming with you and then get gay (fresh). "A Gay Cat," said he, "is a loafing laborer, who works maybe a week, gets his wages and vagabonds about hunting for another 'pick and shovel' job. The association with (male) homosexuality likely got a boost from the term gay cat, used as far back as 1893 in American English for "young hobo," one who is new on the road, also one who sometimes does jobs.
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He always wished others would make advances to him. He was not happy at the farm and went to a Western city where he associated with a homosexual crowd, being "gay," and wearing female clothes and makeup. Slang meaning "homosexual" (adj.) begins to appear in psychological writing late 1940s, evidently picked up from gay slang and not always easily distinguished from the older sense:Īfter discharge A.Z. The suggestion of immorality in the word can be traced back at least to the 1630s, if not to Chaucer: But in oure bed he was so fressh and gay Whan that he wolde han my bele chose. The word gay by the 1890s had an overall tinge of promiscuity - a gay house was a brothel. In the English of Yorkshire and Scotland formerly it could mean "moderately, rather, considerable" (1796 compare sense development in pretty (adj.)). of persons, "dressed up, decked out in finery," late 14c. of colors, etc., "shining, glittering, gleaming, bright, vivid," late 14c. Of things, "sumptuous, showy, rich, ornate," mid-14c. Meaning "stately and beautiful splendid and showily dressed" is from early 14c. Ultimate origin disputed perhaps from Frankish *gahi (related to Old High German wahi "pretty"), though not all etymologists accept this. compare Old Spanish gayo, Portuguese gaio, Italian gajo, probably French loan-words). as a surname, Philippus de Gay), from Old French gai "joyful, happy pleasant, agreeably charming forward, pert light-colored" (12c. Send us feedback.Late 14c., "full of joy, merry light-hearted, carefree " also "wanton, lewd, lascivious" (late 12c. These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'gay.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. 2022 This March, the gay magazine Butt, which stopped publishing a decade ago, relaunched with one of King’s images on the cover.ĭoreen St.
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2022 The film follows on the heels of Chloe Zhao’s Eternals, which was banned across much of the Gulf in November following the inclusion of a same-gender couple in the film and the MCU’s first gay superhero.Īlex Ritman, The Hollywood Reporter, 22 Apr. Pam Kragen, San Diego Union-Tribune, 22 Apr. 2022 Some historians have pondered whether Joan of Arc was transgender or gay. 2022 That's what two gay parents, Robbie Pierce and Neal Broverman, experienced this week when a man accosted them and their two small children on an Amtrak train from Los Angeles to San Francisco.Īllison Hope, CNN, 23 Apr. 2022 And that was sort of the conventional wisdom for a lot of gay comedians. 2022 He’s half of one of the most high-profile gay couples in the world his husband is British diver Tom Daly, who won a gold medal at the 2020 Olympics. 2022 Florida governor DeSantis this week signed a bill punishing our parent company Disney for the so-called don't say gay bill and forced a congressional map that eliminates two Black majority districts.ĪBC News, 24 Apr. Recent Examples on the Web: Adjective The gay community was outraged when the mural was defaced two days after it was unveiled last year during Pride Month.