LGBT slang
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LGBT slang, LGBT speak or gay slang is a set of slang used predominantly among lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) people. It has been used in various languages, including English and Japanese since the early 1900s as a means by members of the LGBT community as a group to self-advertise as a way for an individual to identify with the whole, and as a way to speak in code to brevity and speed to other members to other LGBTs.
Because of sodomy laws and threat of prosecution due to the criminalization of homosexuality, LGBT slang also serves as an argot, a secret language and a way for the LGBT community to communicate with each other publicly without revealing their sexual orientation to others.
Since the advent of queer studies in universities, LGBT slang and argot has become a subject of academic research among linguistic anthropology scholars.
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.
English
Slang is ephemeral. Terms used in one generation may pass out of usage in another. For example, in the 1960s and 1970s the terms "cottage" (UK) and "tearoom" (US) were used to denote public toilets used for sex. By 1999 these had fallen out of use to the point of being unrecognizable by members of the LGBT community
United Kingdom
During the first seven decades of the 20th century, a specific form of Polari was developed by gay men and lesbians in urban centers with established LGBT communities.
Although there are differences, modern gay slang has adopted many Polari words, as detailed in the table below:
| 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 man |
| cottaging | having or looking for sex in a public toilet |
| gym bunny/Muscle Mary | A person who works out merely for aesthetics |
| zhoosh | style |
Japanese
Although many slang words used in modern Japan are "loanwords" from American English, some native Japanese slang words remain in Japan's LGBT community such as the term "okoge," which serves the same purpose of the English slang word, "fag hag" – a "woman whose friends are mostly homosexual men." Although the literal English translation of okoge is burnt rice that sticks to the bottom of a pot. This is in reference to the Japanese equivalent to "faggot," okama (御釜, お釜, or 御竈; pot). Although there was a popular Japanese film titled Okoge (1992) the term remains little-known beyond Japan.
External links
- List of words and phrases
- GLTB Slang Dictionary
- Lavender Linguistics, from Guardian Unlimited
- Polari: British Gay Slang
- Queer Slang in the Gay 90s
- "Gay Language Guide" – gay slang in various languages: French, German, Italian, Spanish, Dutch, Portuguese, Japanese, Hungarian, Russian, Thai
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This article about lesbian, gay, bisexual and/or transgender issues Also see the article on Sexual orientation |
| Lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer (LGBTQ) slang |
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| Polari • Lavender linguistics • LGBT Terms • Terminology of homosexuality • Roles and Functions |
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