![gay definition origin gay definition origin](https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/images/ic/704xn/p05ggnc6.jpg)
I… should probably back up and explain what some of those words mean as well. “Poggers” belongs to a sort of family of words that includes “ PogChamp” and “ MonkaS.” All three of these are derived from BetterTTV emotes used on Twitch. ::best Patrick Bateman impression:: There is an idea of poggers, some kind of abstraction, but there is no real poggers, only an entity, something illusory… So, I’ll be discussing this word based on what I learned and where all the myriad thoughts about the term seem to point.
#Gay definition origin how to#
That means there’s no one official, Oxford English Dictionary definition and no one unified standard of usage.Īsk a dozen people what it means, or how to use it, and it seems you’ll get a dozen answers, each with their own nuance. Let’s get one thing out of the way: Poggers, in its current, Twitch-based incarnation, is a product of the internet. The word “poggers” is used to express excitement during a game when something exciting occurs. Nowadays, “poggers” refers to a specific emoticon available on Twitch which depicts a surprised-looking Pepe the Frog. Primarily, we’ll be wading through some weird meme-ry from the heart of Twitch-streaming, but we’ll also go deep to find every use of the term we can find. There are a handful of uses of this expression that I came across, though some are more common than others.
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![gay definition origin gay definition origin](https://www.dictionary.com/e/wp-content/uploads/2018/07/20200908_nohomo_1000x700.png)
“Are Pogs making a comeback?” I wondered. “POGGERS,” it read, floating with seeming innocence in the middle of a sentence.Īt first I thought I was witnessing yet another “member-berries” nostalgia moment-someone dragging me back to the 90s and our inexplicable love of stacking tiny circles of cardboard with printed images on them. We live in a time where visibility and recognition feel vital, and reading between the lines becomes the nesting ground for a deep connection to a community.The other day a strange word landed on my screen. It allows us to understand ourselves and how we have been understood in society: through rewriting the story for ourselves, empowerment and visibility become more apparent than ever.
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The history of LGBTQ language is the history of LGBTQ people. Smaller groups reclaiming the word and rewriting history. Today, the meaning of the word has returned mainly to how it was originally used: without negative connotation leftover from the 70s. By the mid-1800s, “nut” was slang for “mental” and used in everyday language. This was when “fruit” wove into “fruitcake,” fusing into the well-known phrase “nutty as a fruitcake.” As many know, “nuts” became a synonym for “crazy” because of this association.
#Gay definition origin manual#
But as the words became more mainstream, the word twisted itself as a joke used against the community rather than by it and became an internationally used phrase, moving to North America.įast forward to 1952, and the APA’s manual had defined being gay as a “sociopathic personality disturbance,” issuing a need for therapy involving physical and mental procedures in the hopes of “curing” homosexuality. Gay men especially would use the term among themselves, gently poking fun at their feminine qualities. In the 19th Century, the origins of phrases related to “fruit” lay in British sex workers and the LGBTQ community. This is not to say that we must analyze every term ever used, but instead educate ourselves when discussing valuable topics such as gender, race, sexuality, and others deeply rooted in history. So often is it that people will repeat and recite words without understanding the underlying message behind them. As Mayukn Sen states elegantly, “It is important… for modern queer activists and audiences and people to establish our history because history is where we find validation: it’s a validation against the accusation of us as sin, as aberrant.” Not only does this allow queer history to unearth a previously disregarded part of the past, but it offers a place to analyze the phrases used. While some only hear the word “fruity” through comedians or the modern-day “gay TikTok,” resurrecting LGBTQ language allows a narrative that makes sexuality a common conversation in the everyday. It’s essential to dive into where these terms have come from. “Fruity” and “fruitcake” have long been used as slurs for gay or effeminate men.Īs slurs and slang fold their way into our day-to-day lives, how important is it to identify and understand the deep-rooted history behind them? Phrases are adjusted and filtered down throughout many generations, while many disregard them because they’re insensitive in 2021.