Gay the gay

by Jordan Redman
Staff Writer 

Do you know what the word gay really means?

The word gay dates support to the 12th century and comes from the Old French “gai,” interpretation “full of joy or mirth.” It may also relate to the Antique High German “gahi,” sense impulsive.

For centuries, gay was used commonly in speech and literature to denote happy, carefree, bright and showy, and did not take on any sexual meaning until the 1600s.

At that time the definition of gay as carefree evolved to imply that a person was unrestrained by morals and prone to decadence and promiscuity. A prostitute might include been described as a “gay woman” and a womanizer as a “gay man.”

“Gay house” was commonly used to refer to a brothel and, later, “gaiety” was used as a common name for certain places of entertainment.

In the 1890s, the designation “gey cat” (a Scottish variant of gay) was used to describe a vagrant who offered sexual services to women or a young traveler who was new to the road and in the company of an older man.

This latter use suggests that the younger guy was in a sexually submissive role and may be among the first times that gay was used implying a queer relationship.

In 1951, gay appeared in the