What was happening then? It was the gay rights movement, spurred in part by the AIDS epidemic. The Dictionary of American Slang says “in the early 1990s queer was adopted as a non-pejorative designation by some homosexuals, in the spirit of ‘gay pride.’” The OED says that transformation began in the late 1980s.
It lists “queer” this way: “ homosexual: in general usage, still chiefly a slang term of contempt or derision, but lately used as by some academics and homosexual activists as a descriptive term without negative connotations.” (Even the dictionary can use a proofreader occasionally.) Webster’s New World College Dictionary, Fifth Edition, the current one, used by the Associated Press and many news organizations, is expansive by comparison. The Concise New Partridge Dictionary of Slang says the adjective “queer” began to mean “homosexual” about 1914, mostly in the United States, and notes it was “derogatory from the outside, not from within,” a hint that it was being embraced as a self-description even then.ĭictionaries show a progression for “queer.” The 1949 printing of Webster’s New Collegiate Dictionary lists just one slang usage for “queer”: “Counterfeit money.” (Keep in mind that general-circulation dictionaries back then often shied away from words or definitions that could be considered offensive, so they could be shared with schoolchildren.) The 1965 printing of Webster’s New World Dictionary, College Edition, lists “queer,” noun and adjective, as slang for homosexual. The Oxford English Dictionary says the noun “queer” was first used to mean homosexual by the Marquess of Queensbury, in 1894. ICYMI: A problematic USA Today scoop about people in prison amid government shutdown Counterfeit money was “queer” someone who is sick might say they “feel queer” playground bullies would call someone “queer” without knowing or intending any sexual connotations. Since it first showed up in English about 1513, “queer” has always meant something not normal, something peculiar, something odd. In response, some activists in the gay community (to use a broad term) started calling themselves “queer” in a prideful way.
The same thing cannot be said of “queer.” Originally a derogatory name for a homosexual, “queer” has been embraced by some in the nonheterosexual community. That happened with little input from the “geeks” themselves. Last week, we talked about how “geek” had become almost a cool term for a computer savvy, but perhaps socially inept person.