15 Old-Timey Names for 'Gay'
Before 'gay' became common and accepted parlance, the world invented its own unofficial terms for men who dug men. Some names were self-created and others were thrust, often cruelly, upon gay, bi, and queer men. Before these words disappear forever, here is a linguistic reminder of days past.
Mary
A common, mostly innocuous term of the middle of the 20th century used among gay and bi men. An alternative: Mary Louise.
Light in the loafers
Mid-century American. It can refer more to demeanor than sexual practices, but it is mildly derogatory.
Friend of Dorothy
Refers to Dorothy Gale of The Wizard of Oz? Played by Judy Garland in the film? Get it? Huh?
Bent
Polite but derogatory. See the Broadway play and the film of the same name. Origin most likely the U.K.
Poof
Australian/British. Said to be derived from the sounds the bugee makes when expelling air from a freshly stretched anus. Don’t say we don’t do our homework here. Alternative: poofter.
Flit
1950s American slang popularized by J.D. Salinger’s novel The Catcher in the Rye.
Bugger
Can be as widely used as the word fuck with as many meanings. Based on the word buggery (sodomy). From the U.K., of course. It carries with it a rowdy feel, as it is a word straight British men tend to favor.
Fairy
This one denotes not only homosexuality but effeminacy. Please listen to Julie Andrews’s version of "There Are Fairies in the Bottom of Our Garden."
Pansy
A lovely flower with a face, but also we see references to tanks used by Germans in World War II — panzies, from panzers. OK, whatever. Here’s a story: When British eccentric Stephen Tennant was but a lad, he ran out of the family mansion one morning to play, only to come screaming back to his mother in tears. When she queried him about his distress, he replied, “Mother, there are pansies in the garden, and they are staring at me!”
Fruit, also Fruitcake
British, possibly from the gay subculture language Polari. Fruitcake can also mean a crazy person.
Uranian
Earliest reference we can find: Karl Heinrich Ulrichs published The Race of Uranian Hermaphrodites, i.e., the Man-Loving Half-Men in 1864. The term came to be used mostly by German men. Also: Urning. There is still a gay touring agency called Uranian Travel.
Nancy boy
Based on a vaudeville term. The Nance was a gay burlesque character that was a staple of the times. Now considered derogatory.
Pillow biter
British. Reportedly MP Jeremy Thorpe (above left), a former leader of the U.K. Liberal Party, was accused of having a homosexual affair with Norman Scott, a model (above right). He claimed to have had to “bite the pillow” to keep quiet so his wife would not hear him being buggered in the next room. This story seems fairly conflated, but amusing enough to repeat here.
Shirt lifter
Well, obviously you don’t want to get your shirt besmirched, do you? British (they seem to have as many words for gay as Alaskans do for ice). See the films Another Country or Maurice.
Invert
Essentially meaning that despite outward markers of male and female gender, a persons sexual nature was inverted. Popular at the late 19th and early 20th century by sexologists, but doubtfully used among the actual inverts. Maybe Radclyffe Hall used it. But Radclyffe was so hardcore.
