Anybody out there young enough to remember a famous book (I think it was also a play) "Our Hearts Were Young and Gay"?
I have a note from a friend my age (real old) whose granddaughter's wedding will feature a gay man best friend instead of a bridesmaid. Granny says that if she had done that when she married, her country village forbears would have disowned her. If I had told my country village relatives I had a gay friend, they would have said, "That's nice. It's good for you to be with happy people."
It's time for us to reappropriate "gay." I like it and want it back. 35 years or so was long enough for it to be checked out to a subset of English speakers.
ReplyDeleteThey can call themselves "elated" for a while. How's that? And then rotate the term out again in another 35 years.
Yes! Let there be long lists of fine old words that need to be reappropriated, reclaimed and renewed.
ReplyDelete