Paper #2 Revision

Alyssa Grimes
English 102
3/24/2008

Since the beginning of spoken language there has been great evolution in the meaning of words, and change in language has become a very natural process throughout history. Our modern and connected culture has taken many liberties in applying new meanings to words that are commonly used to mean other things. This can easily be seen in the word “gay”. While this word first appeared in the year 1310 and meant a person full of joy and mirth, in present time it is popularly used as a word that means someone who is homosexual. This word’s use in reference to being homosexual seems to be the most popular use for it today, and certainly the most valid regardless of its increasingly popular use in meaning something that is stupid.

Gay is a word that has been around since the transition of Old English to Middle English in the 1300’s. For a period of about five hundred years this word retained the general meaning of being joyful or having qualities that are good or charming. This word held high esteem and once was a word that was used to describe the best kings of the English Empire. Gay, however, changed slightly in the 1700’s to describe someone that lived a joyful lifestyle but in too much excess. While this word still held its meaning in the 1700’s it seemed to gain somewhat of a negative connotation, and it is sometimes thought that it also gained a sexual implication (OED). These new negative attributes being given to the word gay was the probable reason for its transition into its most common meaning today. With gay still holding a meaning of uninhibited or carefree in the 1920’s it made its transition into the meaning of homosexual. People of the 20’s were thought to lead a carefree lifestyle, one that was not considered to have any moral strength. This later led to many conservatives of the day claiming that others were living a gay, or extravagant, lifestyle. Some of the people leading this new counterculture also happened to be homosexual, giving a new meaning to the word gay (Cardinale).

In 1935 the first use of gay with the meaning of homosexual was used in a text. This work was Underworld and Prison Slang by Ernise (OED). This would suggest that it was still not a commonly spoken word, but it would also suggest that many people knew about this new meaning. In the 1950’s the usage of the word to mean homosexual become more popular. The use of it as a word to mean happy or joyful, however, declined. With the backlash from the counterculture in the 1960’s a movement for gay rights began to stir (OED). Many gay people found the word homosexual to be too clinical and carry many negative connotations along with it. When using homosexual people would describe the gay lifestyle as something that was a mental disease that needed to be treated with the help of doctors or medication. It has also become more popular as today’s society has become more accepting of a gay lifestyle (Cardinale).

It is somewhat credible to say that the word gay may still hold the meaning of something that is joyous, full of life, or beautiful. This is because of many older generations that have stuck with this definition. When I was little I would ask if a person meant gay or if they meant happy when they would tell me that something is gay. Today I no longer have to ask that question. It seems that no matter the meaning that you hold for the word gay society has set that this word now means homosexual. Regardless of the meanings of many words in dictionaries, many people take liberties with the English language. Language is used how people want to use it.

While people are free to use language how they want to it is important to take into consideration the feelings and lifestyles of other people. When using the word gay it refers to a very large group of people in the US and to offend these people with our incorrect usage of this word would be wrong. A great example of this is using the word in a derogatory way to mean something that is stupid or wrong. The usage of gay in this way has become very popular recently. It was first seen used this way in the early 1980’s and recently has even been the topic or works in The Washington Post (OED). The misuse of language can be very offensive whether it be profanity or a hateful statement. This is taking a word that means homosexual and using in place of something that means foolish. Replacing stupid with the word gay is almost like calling every gay person stupid. If not calling them stupid it is in the very least relating the gay lifestyle to something that is foolish or inappropriate. With the misuse of this word there is the ability to undermine a huge aspect of someone’s life. While change is an important part of language it is also important to realize that all actions have consequences and it is not fair to completely disregard such a sizeable group in this countries population.

Change in language over time is a very normal process for every language around the world. This can easily be seen in the transitions of the word gay. While the word has a long history or meaning of happy or bright and lively, it has commonly come to hold the meaning of homosexual; more recently it has even taken on the meaning of stupid or foolish. With the word gay gradually loosing its mean as joyous, and it meaning as something stupid being very offensive to many gay people its most common and useful meaning is homosexual. Many people may be resistant to word adaptation but it is something that we all must take notice of or one could risk losing touch with the spoken language today. Words like gay have come to adapt overtime and hold very important meaning in modern society.