Gay slang

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Gay slang or LGBT slang in linguistics refers to a form of English slang used predominantly among LGBT (lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender) people.

Differences and similarities to Polari

Modern gay slang has origins in the English language. Polari was a cant or cryptolect used in the gay subculture in Britain. Polari derives from Italian languages, Mediterranean Lingua Franca, Yiddish and French.

Another difference between gay slang and Polari is that gay slang has become descriptive of the overall experience of life in the gay community, whereas Polari includes names for common words that have no exclusive relation to the LGBT culture (e.g., "glossies" for "magazines"). Gay slang also coexists along side regional slang and many gay men will combine them.

Although there are differences, modern gay slang has adopted many polari words, as detailed in the table below:

''Source: Fantabulosa: A Dictionary of Polari and Gay Slang

Glossary of gay slang taken from Polari
Word	Approximate meaning
basket	the bulge of male genitals through clothes
bumming	the act of gay sex
chicken	young boy
cottaging	having or looking for sex in a public toilet
zhoosh	style

Cultural impact

Many terms that originated as gay slang have become part of the popular lexicon. For example, the word drag was popularized by Hubert Selby, Jr. in his book Last Exit to Brooklyn. "Drag" has been traced back by the Oxford English Dictionary (OED) to the late 19th Century. Conversely, words such as banjee, while well-established in a subset of gay society, have never made the transition to popular use.

Footnotes

References

*

See also

• Friend of Dorothy
• Japanese gay slang
• Singapore gay

terminology

External links

• Dictionary of Gay Slang and Historical Terms
• GLTB Slang Dictionary
• Lavender Linguistics, from Guardian Unlimited
• Polari: British Gay Slang
• Queer Slang in the Gay 90's
• Sexuality as Identity: Gay and Lesbian Language
• "Gay Language Guide" - gay slang in various languages: French, German, Italian, Spanish, Dutch, Portuguese, Japanese, Hungarian, Russian, Thai

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Last updated on Wednesday March 12, 2008 at 14:16:02 PDT (GMT -0700)
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