After a period of disuse, usage became more frequent in the twentieth century, in parallel with the rise of popular literature and pervasive media. We're doing our best to make sure our content is useful, accurate and. While scant usage referring to male homosexuality dates to the late 19th century, that meaning became increasingly common by the mid-20th century.
The term originally meant 'carefree', 'cheerful', or 'bright and showy'. The word appears to have been in common usage from the Middle Ages until the eighteenth century. Gay is a term that primarily refers to a homosexual person or the trait of being homosexual.
The term originally meant carefree, cheerful, or bright and showy. as "an offensive way to refer to a woman" the Macquarie Dictionary of Australian English states that it is "a despicable man", however when used with a positive qualifier in Britain, New Zealand and Australia, it can convey a positive sense of the object or person referred to. Gay is a term that primarily refers to a homosexual person or the trait of being homosexual. Reflecting different national usages, cunt is described as "an unpleasant or stupid person" in the Compact Oxford English Dictionary, whereas Merriam-Webster has a usage of the term as "usually disparaging and obscene: woman", noting that it is used in the U.S. It is also sometimes used neutrally to refer in a general way to gay people, as in gays serving in the military. This usage is relatively recent, dating from the late nineteenth century. A top is usually a person who penetrates. Scholar Germaine Greer has said that "it is one of the few remaining words in the English language with a genuine power to shock."Ĭunt is also used as a derogatory epithet referring to people of either sex. In human sexuality, top, bottom, and versatile are roles during sexual activity, especially between two men. The earliest citation of this usage in the 1972 Oxford English Dictionary, c 1230, refers to the London street known as Gropecunt Lane. Click to skip ahead and jump to the top 5 countries with. Freebase (3.85 / 7 votes) Rate this definition:Ĭunt is a word for the female genitalia, particularly the vulva, and is widely considered to be vulgar. The top 13 countries with the biggest gay populations are surprisingly very rarely in the list of countries where gay marriage is legal.