Re: Fruitcakes was Re: Kentum/satem

 --- Dan Jones wrote:

> >  So, "a friend of Dorothy" became an oblique reference to a gay man.
>
> Probably the only one we came up with by ourselves for ourselves. Most of
> the others, like queer, poof, fag (I *hate* that one), fruit, fairy and
> even gay itself, were originally insults and are still used as such.
>
> But then again we have derogatory terms for heterosexuals ("breeder" being
> a very common one in the UK).
Isn't it common among homosexuals to apply such terms, used by outsiders in
a derogatory manner, on themselves (in a non-derogatory or sometimes joking
way)? I have quite some friends in Holland who proudly call themselves
"flikkers" (one of the more common of our VERY numerous words for it, could
be translated "queers"), perhaps in the same way that black people have no
problem calling themselves "niggers".
In Dutch we have a word for this: "Geuzennaam"; you take the (insulting)
name the enemy gives you and use it proudly as your own weapon!

Jan

=====
"You know, I used to think it was awful that life was so unfair. Then I thought,
wouldn't it be much worse if life were fair, and all the terrible things that
happen to us come because we actually deserve them? So, now I take great
comfort in the general hostility and unfairness of the universe." --- J.
Michael Straczynski

__________________________________________________
Do You Yahoo!?
Everything you'll ever need on one web page
from News and Sport to Email and Music Charts
http://uk.my.yahoo.com

Reply