[Gays] Do you get offended..

[kk.]

yeh but if you say something like, that's so gay, as in to something bad, then gay people may take that as gay being a bad thing. This would make them be offended by the use of the term because its used for insults when its actually perfectly natural to them

[Moh]

yeh but if you say something like, that's so gay, as in to something bad, then gay people may take that as gay being a bad thing. This would make them be offended by the use of the term because its used for insults when its actually perfectly natural to them

Well its usually used without thinking, so their not personally trying to offend.

[kk.]

true, but its the fact that its so commonly used now because it was used to cause offence. Now, not so much, but some may still find it offensive

[Moh]

true, but its the fact that its so commonly used now because it was used to cause offence. Now, not so much, but some may still find it offensive

And some just like to use it as an excuse to bash at straight people

[kk.]

yeh but that would be going back to the point, why should being gay be an insult!?

[Technologic]

yeh but that would be going back to the point, why should being gay be an insult!?

Because the bible said so.

[kk.]

For example, many Christians don't know that:

Jesus says nothing about same-sex behavior.
The Jewish prophets are silent about homosexuality.
Only six or seven of the Bible's one million verses refer to same-sex behavior in any way -- and none of these verses refer to homosexual orientation as it's understood today.

http://www.soulforce.org/article/hom...-gay-christian

[PriceTags]

How can they take it as an insult since it's technically not their word anyway. I don't remember the Oxford just agreeing to hand over the common word for happy to a sexual preference...

The way Oxford works is to find out what words are being used, in what context and what to mean, and report on that in their dictionaries. They don't say "gay means happy, here homosexuals, you can have it". It's fallen into use, and Oxford have reported that. Its first use in a sexual context was about prostitutes. If you sold your body, you were 'gay'. If you look in the Oxford dictionary today, the meaning of homosexuality would be in there as well as that of jolly and cheerful.

[Sammeth.]

Yeah, exactly. Society decids the meanings of words. For example, the word spastic used to be a perfectly acceptable term for someone with Cerebral Palsy and there used to be The Spastic Society which was a charity for those sufferers. However due to society and people taking that word and adding negative connotations to it, the charity had to change their name to Scope and now the word spastic isn't exactly a nice one. After a word gets used enough and enough eventually the meaning will simply change to what is the most common usage, whether it be a good use or a bad use.

[leah]

Yeah, exactly. Society decids the meanings of words. For example, the word spastic used to be a perfectly acceptable term for someone with Cerebral Palsy and there used to be The Spastic Society which was a charity for those sufferers. However due to society and people taking that word and adding negative connotations to it, the charity had to change their name to Scope and now the word spastic isn't exactly a nice one. After a word gets used enough and enough eventually the meaning will simply change to what is the most common usage, whether it be a good use or a bad use.

Exactly, thats why sometimes the Law is misinterpreted because of the way society change the meanings of words over periods of time.