To say that someone is 'light hearted and carefree' is a bit of mouthfull so 'gay' is stil the most economic word for that disposition. I don't know whether you've noticed but the kids these days are tending to use the word to mean 'wayward, ludicrous and laughable' and most of 'em are not going to use three long words when one short one will do.

km

Academic use is often at odds with popular use. No news in that.

I'm impressed with The Lurking Lawyer's verbal gymnastics and his very clever rationalization of the use of language. In fact, he is a most cunning linguist.

Be that as it may, in practice today it's very rare to hear the word used in that context. Honestly, when was the last time you heard someone described as "gay" that wasn't in reference to their sexual orientation? Even the OED labels the "lighthearted and carefree" definition as "dated" ...

As for "the kids"' usage of the term, "wayward, laughable and ludicrous" derives from a derogatory stereotypical association of those traits with homosexual people. They are in essence using the term "gay" in exactly it's definition of a homosexual male. "That's so gay" pretty much = "that's so homosexual" ...

Don't know if it's airing in your area, but there's a youth-targeted PSA campaign running (I think produced by the Ad Council) to combat the use of the term "Gay" as a general derogatory term, "That's so gay" being the focus. I've had to give my own kid a verbal upside da haid for using that phrase. But I don't believe I've heard her dis anyone by calling them "wayward, laughable, or ludicrous."

Though this thread was derailed long ago and again went down the path of what words technically do or don't mean, especially when it comes to homosexuality; I do agree that among "young people" (and many really aren't that young anymore) "gay" has also come to mean uncool or laughable. Though, I do think it originally did come from homosexuality being seen as uncool, I think it has now transcended it's origins and people call something "gay" meaning uncool/laughable with no awareness or recognition of the original negative connotation. I even have gay friends who call uncool things gay.

I would say the number one definition of gay in modern usage is "homosexual", number two being "uncool", and a distant third being that old definition that only km and his imaginary friends use in their daily parlance. (:

+1!

I know the meaning of many words I don't use in daily parlance - I'm sure that goes for all of us. As a general rule although much depends on context I take the view that misunderstanding is best avoided by using the most precise word even if there's an imprecise or ambiguous multi-purpose word that the masses tend to use more often. If you take six for instance, he thinks the word 'gay' when used to mean 'laughable' is inevitably pejorative of homosexuals although others hold that the user may in fact have intended no such derogatory connotation

km

I totally agree with you, but I can't decide whether "clown" or "schmuck" is the better alternative to "lawyer".

Lest I Forget ---> <---