discussion Most gay slang was stolen from Black Women...

[Distantconstellation]

It's just hilarious seeing some of these gays, specially foreign ones thinking those words started with the gay community when they stole all that from black women without giving them credit. Some of u really think that slang started on Twitter or atrl? Smh get out more. 

[feelslikeadream]

No offense, but as someone who studied language evolution as part of my graduate school training, this is actually a somewhat reductive take.

 

Yes, there's a lot of overlap between contemporary gay lingo and Black vernacular language, including phrases used more often by women.

 

But there is simultaneously a lot of contemporary gay lingo that originates in queer subcultures, and is NOT used by non-queer Black women. Rather than attributing "most gay slang" to Black women, it's more accurate (and imo, interesting) to consider how language in POC-dominant queer spaces is taken up by white gays, which then speeds up the process of the language being adopted into the mainstream.

 

My final point is that language is fluid and always evolving anyway, so I think attribution games are not particularly worthwhile. The beauty of language is that it can be picked up, revised, and adapted to various groups, both minoritarian and majoritarian. Like we can talk about when "wig" started being used in queer subcultures, but we can also talk about how the French popularized the term in the 16th century, which they likely adapted from a Latin term.

[lillavend3r]

What's the point of gatekeeping language no one in the real world gives a fcvk about that. 

[harwee]

A lot of them from black and latino drag and ballroom scenes, so I don't mind LGBT claiming them too. Stream seminal doc Paris is Burning.

[Gorjesspazze9]

Well obviously. But no one cares, most Slang in general is taken from black hip culture. Especially American words.

I don't really know anyone that thinks they actually created online slang. It's language, it's supposed to be shared. 

[Daddy]

Clock that tea, gworl!

[Apolonio ₃₄]

Ok and Happy Juneteenth 

[TedMiracle]

FACTS!

[selena_lavigne]

Why would me leaving my house help you prove that this is true?

[Superbitch]

5 minutes ago, selena_lavigne said:

Why would me leaving my house help you prove that this is true?

[Vegvisir]

28 minutes ago, feelslikeadream said:

No offense, but as someone who studied language evolution as part of my graduate school training, this is actually a somewhat reductive take.

 

Yes, there's a lot of overall between contemporary gay lingo and Black vernacular language, including phrases used more often by women.

 

But there is simultaneously a lot of contemporary gay lingo that originates in queer subcultures, and is NOT used by non-queer Black women. Rather than attributing "most gay slang" to Black women, it's more accurate (and imo, interesting) to consider how language in POC-dominant queer spaces is taken up by white gays, which then speeds up the process of the language being adopted into the mainstream.

 

My final point is that language is fluid and always evolving anyway, so I think attribution games are not particularly worthwhile. The beauty of language is that it can be picked up, revised, and adapted to various groups, both minoritarian and majoritarian. Like we can talk about when "wig" started being used in queer subcultures, but we can also talk about how the French popularized the term in the 16th century, which they likely adapted from a Latin term.

The only sane take I have EVER seen on this subject 

[jezebelvictoria]

What does 'without giving them credit' even mean? Should every person who uses slang words make sure to say after every word they say 'brought to you by black women'? Like what do you want? That statement is beyond pathetic. 

Edited June 20 by jezebelvictoria

[NoOneDiesFromLove]

Tbh no one thinks that, language is language and it is constantly evolving. And even if they did think that, who's it hurting?

[dawnettakins]

Gatekeeping language like that is insane. Language is always changing, evolving, and shifting, with certain lingos going in and out of fashion with the common vernacular.

 

Starting to police it there is just silly because then you could just police any slang or lingo since it all can be traced back to nondominant subcultures in some way.

[LegaMyth]

Black guys damn near make up their own lingo. 

[mike_int]

51 minutes ago, jezebelvictoria said:

What does 'without giving them credit' even mean? Should every person who uses slang words make sure to say after every word they say 'brought to you by black women'? Like what do you want? That statement is beyond pathetic. 

This ;)

[LIT]

My understanding was that a lot of 'gay slang' originates from queer people of color (particularly black queer people, in the context of North American English) whose positionalities allow them to then transmit these neologisms more-or-less simultaneously to cishet people of color & queer white people.

[ICLDXU4HS]

"Gay slang" barely even exists now and doesn't exclusively belong to the gays in 2024 anyway, lbr. It's more like niche-y internet or social media language now. Then there's also the impact of English on other languages. The overuse of Anglicisms and literal translations that make no sense that I hear coming from any random German person on Tik Tok every day...

[Lana Banana]

2 hours ago, feelslikeadream said:

No offense, but as someone who studied language evolution as part of my graduate school training, this is actually a somewhat reductive take.

 

Yes, there's a lot of overall between contemporary gay lingo and Black vernacular language, including phrases used more often by women.

 

But there is simultaneously a lot of contemporary gay lingo that originates in queer subcultures, and is NOT used by non-queer Black women. Rather than attributing "most gay slang" to Black women, it's more accurate (and imo, interesting) to consider how language in POC-dominant queer spaces is taken up by white gays, which then speeds up the process of the language being adopted into the mainstream.

 

My final point is that language is fluid and always evolving anyway, so I think attribution games are not particularly worthwhile. The beauty of language is that it can be picked up, revised, and adapted to various groups, both minoritarian and majoritarian. Like we can talk about when "wig" started being used in queer subcultures, but we can also talk about how the French popularized the term in the 16th century, which they likely adapted from a Latin term.

If we take the word "wig" and just focus on in 2024, it is definitely true to say - yes, some social groups use it in a rather different way than what it means and when another social group tries to reuse it, it becomes something different as in not what it originally was or not even with a bit of innuendo from the first hand slang. But of course, language is there to be used, misused and abused, therefore in 2094, "wig" will definitely not mean what we are talking about right now. Maybe it will be about a cow's hair that they are going to stop from burning into beef or something ¯\(ツ)/¯ 

[BGKC]

A lot of the lingo comes from fem queens of color that overlaps with straight black women in general. They grew up together, so it's shared lingo. White gays are free to use it as far as I can tell, but It's honestly just morphed into a language that Gen Z girls and gays use to express emotions.

[Illuminati]

A lot of it comes from queer black people and drag/ballroom scene as someone already pointed out. So when gay people claim it as gay slang they're not entirely wrong. It was popularized and exposed to a wider audience in part (among other things) because of current drag queen popularity led by Ru Paul's Drag Race, a show created by a black drag queen.

 

And sure people do quote plenty of black women as well but when gays on twitter or ATRL quote someone like Tiffany Pollard it's usually accompanied by a gif of the woman who came up with the quote, so the credit is there. Really not sure what your point is, that we should go against the purpose of language

 

 

[XO_Life]

Stolen? So they no longer have it or can use it?  

 

 

[P.O.P]

Hey, I am foreign.

 

Yes, we learn words (especially slang) from native speakers and yes, we mimic them.

 

So what do you suggest, we start picking up words from white people only? 

[Asscatchem]

water is wet

[Terrielle]

That's simply historically inaccurate. Let's be real, the first time the mainstream (including straight black women) were mass introduced to words like 'Shade' ' reading', etc was through mediums like Paris is Burning.