2006-08-12 02:22:16 · 14 answers · asked by Anonymous in Education & Reference ➔ Words & Wordplay
Much like most english words, meaning and usage change over time. That is why english has so many foreign words in it too.
"Nice" when referring to a girl used to mean that she was easy! (In Chaucer's time)
2006-08-12 02:33:04 · answer #1 · answered by rogue_samurai 3 · 1⤊ 0⤋
Mostly. Many of the youth don't really know of the old meaning, and the rest who don't use it are afraid to because of it's modern homosexual connotation.
If I were to say, "I am so gay today." Many people would automatically think I was saying I was homosexual. Which, however, is not and never will be the case.
So, I stay away from that word. I just use the word happy.
The former meaning of the word has minced off into oblivion because of the significance of the new meaning. Most heterosexuals do not want to appear in any way to have any affiliation with homosexuals.
2006-08-12 09:33:21 · answer #2 · answered by blueice_1820 2 · 1⤊ 0⤋
I think it has. Even when I hear "gay" used in it's original context (happy and carefree, giddy), I can't help but still feel the impression of the word's other use (homosexuality) and it's sometimes-negative connotations (negatively weak, pansy-ish), which, unfortunately, taints the word's original meaning with a negative nuance that detracts from the expression's intended positive meaning.
2006-08-12 13:13:40 · answer #3 · answered by livysmom27 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Yes. It used to be such a beautiful word, implying happiness, joy, blitheness, and with an e on the end, Gaye, was a girl's name that I always loved. Could never saddle a girl with the baggage the name has collected now. She'd be teased out of her life all her life.
2006-08-12 10:42:12 · answer #4 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
Unfortunately it seems so but the good thing about it is that it shows that the language is alive and dynamic. The society now decides what is acceptable or not in the language rather than a group of prescriptionists.
2006-08-12 12:22:00 · answer #5 · answered by tayobabalola 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Yes, just like the word felicitations. Language is a tool and changes with time. We adapt with it. Much like the caveman and his club. These days we have guns.
2006-08-12 21:09:16 · answer #6 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
When I was a boy gay meant happy and jolly whereas today it refers to puffs. I think it is sad that the language is corrupted this way.
2006-08-12 09:26:54 · answer #7 · answered by daisychain 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
yes only the other day i mentioned i was feeling happy and gay about the nice weather when this moustachied man in leather trousers asked me if i wanted a "run up to the border" - i promptly thrashed him to within an inch of his life with my walking stick
2006-08-12 09:30:55 · answer #8 · answered by mr_soapytitwank 3 · 0⤊ 1⤋
I am afraid so and it will continue to fade so long as we are entrenched int eh media as much as we are. It seems hat television shows now determine what words we should use and what they should mean.
2006-08-12 09:26:13 · answer #9 · answered by P 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Cute. And now that "gay" is used to describe something that is lame or moronic, it's even more muddled
2006-08-12 11:04:57 · answer #10 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋