Current Events > When has this definition for gay ever been used?

(+) Yeah! (+)

lighthearted and carefree.

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The theme song of The Flintstones

Romantic-era poetry

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In Christmas songs

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Definitely seen it in old timey books such as The Secret Garden.

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While scant usage referring to male homosexuality dates to the late 19th century, that meaning became increasingly common by the mid-20th century.[2] In modern English, gay has come to be used as an adjective, and as a noun, referring to the community, practices and cultures associated with homosexuality. In the 1960s, gay became the word favored by homosexual men to describe their sexual orientation.[3] By the end of the 20th century, the word gay was recommended by major LGBT groups and style guides to describe people attracted to members of the same sex,[4][5] although it is more commonly used to refer specifically to men.[6

I remember hearing Lucy Ricardo use it

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During ww2 gay was used as happy and carefree as in the gay housewife

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For like...600 years?

pretty much immediately before it's use for homosexual.

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I know it's used like that in pretty much all the classic US musicals.

So not in decades?

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That's the old school definition, yes.

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Lairen posted...

So not in decades?

i mean, you still can. it still does. but without a lot of context people are going to think of the more common usage.

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Lairen posted...

So not in decades?

Generally it's not been used in modern times to mean happy or carefree, yes.
However it's quite possible to be used in the original meaning if the time period calls for it.
I wouldn't write a story set in 2010 and describe a man as gay to mean happy or carefree. But likewise, I wouldn't write a story set in 1910 and describe a man as gay to mean he's homosexual.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X1itIzmKUm0
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