When I was younger, and being gay was not as socially acceptable as it is today (it is FAR better today, despite the right-wing shtick we are daily subjected to) there was no end of euphemisms for Gay (itself a euphemism, of course) I'd like to know which ones you may have heard about, here's one I heard decades ago: "hint of mint" :dry:
If the lesbian-ish words count here too, carpet muncher is my favorite In Norwegian we have a commonly used word which translates to "inclined" or "askew". (which goes for both lesbians and gay)
Some of the euphemisms I have heard are innapropriate, so I will try to keep it clean. Yes, they are rude slurs, which is why I am not fond of them. Lesbianator Manly-hearted woman Experiments of Nature Queer Bird Sissy Sugar in his Tank Sweet boy AIDS carrier Baby Butch Gal Boy Just a few that I immediately thought of...
That's actually very similar to "queer," which is derived from a German root meaning diagonal or transverse.
Ah, yeah, I did think the english equivalent would be queer in this context, but it`s a word we use in everyday life for stuff that isn`t positioned straight, like poles and other objects. It depends on the context which meaning it has. I wasn`t aware it was derived from German. That`s interesting. A funny word: telephone (english) telephone (french) telefon (norwegian) telefono (spanish) telefon (german) :lol: Another gay euphemism we have: "homsete" which I guess could be translated to queer. A direct translation would be "gay-like". Or "femi" which is simply a shortening of feminine, but a lot of people use it to describe a guy they think fits the "gay stereotype" :dry: We also have "lesbe", which again is a pretty unoriginal version of the english word lesbian. We use it as a norwegian word though, so it wouldn`t sound like english, often it was used offensively. But not so much now. :icon_bigg
Wait-- how can offensive terms be deemed a 'euphemism?' The word itself means a less-harsh substitute.
I often say that I "date guys" rather than just outright saying that I'm gay. It's not a slang term, but the point of a euphemism is to be a mild substitute for a word that is considered too blunt, and that's exactly the reason I say I "date guys"; it feels less blunt than "I'm gay." Technically, "queer" can also be used to mean that something is strange or odd, so it could be used in everyday life. I don't hear it much, though, because we've basically claimed the word for ourselves.
When marriage equality would NEVER have happened, I heard the phrase "confirmed bachelor" for gay men, and "lonely maid" for lesbians. One my older, country, southern baptist family uses is "Twiddle Dee" to refer to any homosexual person, male or female. My favorite though comes from the film "Clueless", which is "Friend of Dorothy."
In Chinese, gay men are euphemised colloquially as "rabbits". In literature there are even more, like "passion of the cut sleeve", "passion of the bitter peach" etc. My favourite one is "hairpin beneath the hat", which is used to describe effeminate gay men. In Cantonese, Lesbians are given a derogatory euphemism: "tofu grinders" As you can imagine, this originates from lesbian sexual acts.
I was waiting for that one. My best friend and her mom taught me that one. I adore it. That's the only one I use because I think a lot of people don't use it anymore (well, younger people.)
This has been an amazing cultural awakening! By far, my favourite is "Friends of Dorothy" :lol: I guess it is also important to distinguish between some of the nasty ones, the pejoratives that are designed to hurt, and the euphemisms which are designed to address things in a manner that is suggestive and light. I especially liked the international input, very interesting!
The only one that's not extensively derogatory is an old-fashioned "kochajÄ…cy inaczej", meaning "one that loves in a different way". Yeah. Pretty much everything else is an insult. Speaks volumes about the country.
Back in the 1970's "Swish" or "Swishy" and "Faggot". The one that makes me feel like I have been called "Nigg--" is when I am talked about as "Like that" I hate that with a passion! Oh in the 1980's "Weenie wistler" was big in my area. A local DJ named Bubba The Love Sponge back in the 90's called Lesbians as "Carpet munchers" as allready stated and "Sponsored by Rugs 4 Us" or something close to that.
i was trying to think of that haha! but i was like... its auntie dorris. something dorris. all wrong i only heard o it a few years back mind lol