in the English language... there are words that meant things that today seem to have no significance.
The word "Queer" Where you could feel queer or that someone was queer in the way that they walked or talked or.....were queer in general.

Poof!...was a word more used in a lounge where one had purchaced a footstool and named it such......in the older days this also meant someone that was of a homosexual persuasion.

The word faggot......Was a mixture and still is.....of liver onions etc......

The word Gay!.....I could say I was gay today but as the day went on....I started to feel a little queer.

The useage of words that I was brought up with has somewhat changed and the words themselves turned into derogotive phrases that in all honesty.....have no reference to the subjects to which they are being used.

Does anyone else have this problem with having to decipher the words into the context that they are being used for?
Or is it just me that cannot relate to the changing of words to the satisfaction of those that benefit from those words being changed?

No I don't have a problem diciphering them. It's all a question of context, isn't it? Do you really have a problem? Just continue describing yourself as "feeling a little bit queer", I'm sure everyone will know exactly what you mean...

Gay means rubbish now not homosexual or happy, so it's changed again. As in the phrase 'this thread is totally gay!'

Michael Jackson changed the word 'bad' to mean 'good' ... but only probably did this so that when his 'friends' were 'sleeping over' and he said he had 'bad head' people might get confused and get him some asprin:confused:

Erm I beg to differ mini. Gay does still mean homosexual and frankly I think its a bit rough on gay people that the one socially accepted and understood term to describe themselves has been turned into an insult. I have gay friends who find people saying something is "gay" very upsetting - what does it say about societies image of gay people?

I was in an exhibition of art for the home, or something like that, in London last year. It was crap, full of the horrible kind of stuff those two gay (in all three meanings of the word) Scottish blokes off The Million Pound Property Experiment would use to furnish a home. I remarked to a friend "this place is full of poofs", because there were indeed a large number of small round leather seats on offer (and also because I was very drunk). It was, I guess, poetic justice that when I went outside, to sit down and have a rest from staring at all that beige and purple, a man came and sat down next to me and started trying to chat me up. He had just bought a small round leather seat.

PS: Pants

Languages evolve. You can't put restrictions on what words should and shouldn't be used to mean. One of the themes of George Orwell's 1984 is "Newspeak" which basically is about stripping the language down and only allowing one word to mean one exact thing and limiting what people can talk about, and the theory is that it stops any radical thought.

I think the pejorative word "hijacking" used in this thread title is a little strange. I don't think anyone thought "right, I really want the words Gay and Queer to mean something else and I'm going to maliciously set about making it happen"

Originally posted by Yodameister
Languages evolve. You can't put restrictions on what words should and shouldn't be used to mean. One of the themes of George Orwell's 1984 is "Newspeak" which basically is about stripping the language down and only allowing one word to mean one exact thing and limiting what people can talk about, and the theory is that it stops any radical thought.



For more info on 'Newspeak' try this site Here (http://www.newspeakdictionary.com)

Originally posted by Sheffette
Erm I beg to differ mini. Gay does still mean homosexual and frankly I think its a bit rough on gay people that the one socially accepted and understood term to describe themselves has been turned into an insult. I have gay friends who find people saying something is "gay" very upsetting - what does it say about societies image of gay people? I recently heard a boy of about 8 years old tell his mother " I never want to have a girlfriend, that would be so gay!" It was funny coming from a child but I'm fed up of people saying 'gay' meaning rubbish and 'random' to mean funny. Have people stopped saying 'minging' over there yet? I hope so, it would drive me crazy!

It's called Semantic Shifting and it's part of the natural involvement of language. If you're that bothered you might want to get an etymological dictionary and look up the history of all the words in the English language, work out their original meanings and see if anybody can understand you!

For example:

Guy - Guido (Guy) Fawkes was the alleged leader of a plot to blow up the English Houses of Parliament on 5 November 1605. The burning on 5 November of an effigy of Fawkes, known as a "guy," led to the use of the word "guy" as a term of general reference for a man, as in "some guy called for you." In the 20th century, under the influence of American popular culture, "guy" gradually replaced "fellow," "bloke," "chap" and other such words throughout the English-speaking world, and is also referred to both genders (ie., "Come on you guys!" could refer to a group of men and women).

egregious - Originally described something that was remarkably good. The word is from the Latin egregius (outstanding) which is from e-, ex- (out of) + greg- or grex (flock). Now it means something that is remarkably bad or flagrant.

bureau was once a woolen covering used to cover a desk. It eventually came to mean the desk itself and then the office that used the desks.

Originally posted by Delboy3
Does anyone else have this problem with having to decipher the words into the context that they are being used for?
Or is it just me that cannot relate to the changing of words to the satisfaction of those that benefit from those words being changed?

It's just you. If you are having this amount of trouble deciphering words - I suggest you take Hook's advice and buy a dictionary of etymology.

The English language continues to evolve. We have an amazing lexicon of words, with new words constantly being added to the language (e.g, hoodie). The meanings of words also change (look up 'chav' in your new dictionary). Aggravate is generally used to mean irritate or annoy, whereas it actually means 'to worsen'.

I particularly enjoy discovering new words that originate from someone's name, e.g., 'Baker days' (a training day for teachers, named after a Minister of Education), and 'a Skinner' (a new motorway junction, named after Dennis Skinner MP, who has campaigned successfully for a new junction on the M1 in his Derbyshire constituency).

Well, a footstool is not a "poof" - it's a pouffe. Despite the obvious comedy aspect of the word, there is a subtle difference in pronunciation.

In any case, you sound like someone who would NEVER come over a little queer. Is that correct Del? ;)

What I was saying is the word hasn't lost the "old" meaning homosexual, which is why some gay people find it offensive and upsetting to have their sexuality used that way.
When I worked in a school I was surrounded by kids claiming things were gay morning til night and found myself thinking, what if some poor blighter in the class actually WAS gay. It was hardly going to encounrage him to come out, was it.
Those of you who say it has changed its meaning, what term do you use for the "old" meaning now?

Originally posted by redrobbo

I particularly enjoy discovering new words that originate from someone's name, e.g., 'Baker days' (a training day for teachers, named after a Minister of Education)

Baker Days! That takes me back, thanks Robbo!

In my "Merriam Webster Word of the Day" email this morning: Unctuous:

1 a : fatty, oily b : smooth and greasy in texture or appearance
2 : plastic
3 : revealing or marked by a smug, ingratiating, and false earnestness or spirituality

Apparently it originally meant to anoint or heal.

I like poofs but not faggots.

I would like to be more gay and less queer.

I hope I have made myself clear!:heyhey:

Originally posted by Sheffette
Erm I beg to differ mini. Gay does still mean homosexual and frankly I think its a bit rough on gay people that the one socially accepted and understood term to describe themselves has been turned into an insult. I have gay friends who find people saying something is "gay" very upsetting - what does it say about societies image of gay people?
Your post was so gay!!!

Aww shucks, thanks mini! :)