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gay (adj.) late 14c., "full of joy, merry; light-hearted, carefree;" also "wanton, lewd, lascivious" (late 12c. as a surname, Philippus de Gay), from Old French gai "joyful, happy; pleasant, agreeably charming; forward, pert" (12c.; cf. Old Spanish gayo, Portuguese gaio, Italian gajo, probably French loan-words). Ultimate origin disputed; perhaps from Frankish *gahi (cf. Old High German wahi "pretty"), though not all etymologists accept this. Meaning "stately and beautiful; splendid and showily dressed" is from early 14c. The word gay by the 1890s had an overall tinge of promiscuity -- a gay house was a brothel. The suggestion of immorality in the word can be traced back at least to the 1630s, if not to Chaucer: But in oure bed he was so fressh and gay Whan that he wolde han my bele chose. Slang meaning "homosexual" (adj.) begins to appear in psychological writing late 1940s, evidently picked up from gay slang and not always easily distinguished from the older sense: After discharge A.Z. lived for some time at home. He was not happy at the farm and went to a Western city where he associated with a homosexual crowd, being "gay," and wearing female clothes and makeup. He always wished others would make advances to him. ["Rorschach Research Exchange and Journal of Projective Techniques," 1947, p.240] The association with (male) homosexuality likely got a boost from the term gay cat, used as far back as 1893 in American English for "young hobo," one who is new on the road, also one who sometimes does jobs. "A Gay Cat," said he, "is a loafing laborer, who works maybe a week, gets his wages and vagabonds about hunting for another 'pick and shovel' job. Do you want to know where they got their monica (nickname) 'Gay Cat'? See, Kid, cats sneak about and scratch immediately after chumming with you and then get gay (fresh). That's why we call them 'Gay Cats'." [Leon Ray Livingston ("America's Most Celebrated Tramp"), "Life and Adventures of A-no. 1," 1910] Quoting a tramp named Frenchy, who might not have known the origin. Gay cats were severely and cruelly abused by "real" tramps and bums, who considered them "an inferior order of beings who begs of and otherwise preys upon the bum -- as it were a jackal following up the king of beasts" [Prof. John J. McCook, "Tramps," in "The Public Treatment of Pauperism," 1893], but some accounts report certain older tramps would dominate a gay cat and employ him as a sort of slave. In "Sociology and Social Research" (1932-33) a paragraph on the "gay cat" phenomenon notes, "Homosexual practices are more common than rare in this group," and gey cat "homosexual boy" is attested in N. Erskine's 1933 dictionary of "Underworld & Prison Slang" (gey is a Scottish variant of gay). The "Dictionary of American Slang" reports that gay (adj.) was used by homosexuals, among themselves, in this sense since at least 1920. Rawson ["Wicked Words"] notes a male prostitute using gay in reference to male homosexuals (but also to female prostitutes) in London's notorious Cleveland Street Scandal of 1889. Ayto ["20th Century Words"] calls attention to the ambiguous use of the word in the 1868 song "The Gay Young Clerk in the Dry Goods Store," by U.S. female impersonator Will S. Hays, but the word evidently was not popularly felt in this sense by wider society until the 1950s at the earliest. "Gay" (or "gai") is now widely used in French, Dutch, Danish, Japanese, Swedish, and Catalan with the same sense as the English. It is coming into use in Germany and among the English-speaking upper classes of many cosmopolitan areas in other countries. [John Boswell, "Christianity, Social Tolerance, and Homosexuality," 1980] Gay as a noun meaning "a (usually male) homosexual" is attested from 1971; in Middle English it meant "excellent person, noble lady, gallant knight," also "something gay or bright; an ornament or badge" (c.1400). As a slang word meaning "bad, inferior, undesirable," from 2000. http://etymonline.com/?term=gay

Squirrels are like cigarettes: perfectly harmless until you put one in your mouth and light it on fire.

The Navy calls these hash marks as in hash marks on your skivvies. They also call the stripes on the forearm of your dress uniform signifying each 4 years under contract hash marks. Is this because you have put up with 4 more years of this shit? Go figure. Best regards, RA1

Makes sense she'd want to wear a memento of the only good thing to ever come out of her mouth.

The articles were written over a year ago before some guys had a melt down over the word fag and queer. I wonder if gay is next?

This is just the type of shit that has reduced once venerable news organizations to panderers of propaganda. I hope they show the balls to stand up and call their own shots as to how they run their business. We'll see.

Well that would be a FIRST for me ! Who knew I was a TOP ?

I just love the smell of a fresh brewed cup of coffee in the morning. Not as much as sex, but it is close.

I agree, the Atlantico Hotel was a mainstay for many on this site. However, that was a few years back. In the high days of Atlantico, there were three sauanas within walking distance of the hotel, Rogers, Estacao and Pointe 202. Rogers is gone, Estacao is gone and Pointe 202 might as well be gone unless one likes steroid muscled guys and a bill that is too often padded. Yes, Atlantico have a leant visitor policy but the hotel itself is not maintained. Considering the outlandish daily rates charged by the hotel, one would think there would be an ongoing upgrade to the hotel, but there isn't. In the former "presidential" suite on the roof of the hotel, the supposed suite was divided into several rooms that are modern but the rooms do not provide the type of privacy I would expect. The Marriott was mentioned. That is where I currently choose to stay while in Rio. I have never had any problem bringing a visitor to a room at Marriott. The Marriott is conveniently located and has a nice restaurant. I heartily recommend staying at the Marriott. The only drawback is that it is at the end of Siqueira Campos, at the ocean. At night, the area is sometimes poorly lighted and could be dangerous, depending on how late one returns to the hotel. -

Not to speak for TOZ but I have to think he has no opinion about Snowden or his opinion is not suggesting he is a traitor. I am willing to suppose that OZ used that moniker to simply identify Snowden. Best regards, RA1

Looks good.

I can only wait! (hito, are you hearing?)

Those are HOT shoes, but they are for when hito is reincarnated as a Dominatrix !

I am sending THIS gift to hito, with loving Freindship.... Please wear it Everyday, in good Health and Spirit !