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Once, but long ago, according to Online Etymology it started off like this:
gay
1178, "full of joy or mirth," from O.Fr. gai "gay, merry," perhaps from Frank. *gahi (cf. O.H.G. wahi "pretty"). Meaning "brilliant, showy" is from c.1300.
From the time it became showy it may have gone downhill.
Then I will use merry or joyful.
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Gay, in modern usage as a term of sexual orientation, did, and still does for many, connote being out, open in some if not in all social settings about one's sexual orientation. More and more, in media reporting and commentary and elsewhere, gay is being substituted for homosexual, even when the person being described has previously maintained a heterosexual identity and denies, or does not admit, any homosexual tendency or conduct. Another distinction of meaning gets smeared.
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Some think the homo is the Latin for 'man, mankind', but that word would yield hominiphobia I suppose which still others might mistake for a 'fear of grits'.  hahahahahaha - what the heck is hominy grits anyway?? I confess to be a little hominiphobic - it sounds like some awful Southern food torture inflicted on Yankee tourists in roadside cafes! The word was coined inthe mid-19th century. Many have railed against the word, which like telescope, is a mix of Greek (homos) and Latin sexualis. Somehow they think that one oughtn't to mix roots from the Classical languages. That's the genius of English - to be able to make whatever it needs to communicate out of whatever left over recycled bits and pieces of language it can find! 
Last edited by The Pook; 04/19/08 02:18 AM.
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it sounds like some awful Southern food torture inflicted on Yankee tourists in roadside cafes!
Hum... Grits is respectable food if well prepared. We northern unspoiled youths were raised with reasonably good results on wheat and buckwheat grits. Italians have their corn grits- polenta, also good to very good. The Arab world has its grits in the form of coescoes or tabulei. (very good!) What zmjezhd with means with 'fear of grits' I would like to know too.
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I'm not fussed about polenta, but I like couscous (whatever way you choose to transliterate it) very much and tabouli is okay as long as they don't go overboard with the parsley. I believe couscous and tabouli are made from wheat, not corn like polenta a grits. Tabouli is made from Bourghul wheat and coucous from semolina.
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Carpal Tunnel
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What zmjezhd with means with 'fear of grits' I would like to know too.
Before maize was imported to Europe after the discovery of the New World, polenta was Latin for 'pearl barley'. BranShea, I didn't say I had a fear of grits. I love polenta (especially day-old, sliced and reheated, served with sugo or ragů), couscous, tabouli, pozole (< Nahuatl potzolli), jook (aka rice congee < Dravidian kanji) 'rice porridge'. I was just making a wee calembour: hominiphobia 'fear of mankind', hominyphobia 'fear of grits', humminaphobia 'fear of Ralph Kramden'.
Ceci n'est pas un seing.
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What zmjezhd with means with 'fear of grits' I would like to know too.
jook (aka rice congee Ah, jook - not as well known as the others but it's quite nice. Oriental people often give it to those who are ill, regarding it somewhat in the same way as westerners traditionally regard chicken soup.
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Carpal Tunnel
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Nice cooking! Edit: pearl barley is still eaten here under the name of 'gort', which comes close to 'grit'. (while grit officially translates to gries)
Last edited by BranShea; 04/19/08 01:36 PM.
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Oriental people often give it to those who are ill, regarding it somewhat in the same way as westerners traditionally regard chicken soup.
Ah, yes. I would call it a comfort food. In my environs, it's rather easily obtained, but there is a huge and well-established Cantonese community here. One of the best places to get jook (though it is not mentioned on the menu) is at a local casino where one can often see folks playing pai gow and eating congee. For invalids, plain jook is usual, but for the healthy (and especially at Sunday brunch) all sorts of things can be added, directly or as side dishes: e.g., fried wheat gluten, seafood, preserved eggs, pig's blood.
Ceci n'est pas un seing.
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gortEnglish grits < Middle English grutta 'course meal' < Old English grytta, pl. 'course meal, bran, chaff' ( link). German Grütze Dutch gort, and French gruau are related ( link).
Ceci n'est pas un seing.
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