In contexts where it's not relevant, why do you care if people think you're gay? Saying "no homo" doesn't just "clarify that the comment you just made wasn't meant homosexually," it does so using language that is more likely to offend gay people than a (currently) neutral term like "gay."Ģ) Why would you want to "be clear about your sexual orientation" in a context where it's not already clear? It seems to me that in contexts where it's relevant, it's likely to be already clear. (disclaimer: as far as I know definitely could be mistaken)ġ) The word "homo" is not a neutral term. Now homophobic guys use it, black and white, but it's still mostly restricted to types that listen to non-mainstream rap. Only males use it, for one, and as the video points out, it started out in NYC rap subculture (I wouldn't even say it's mainstream rap), then slowly started spreading. Those of you who have never heard of this, don't fret. Does this make me old? I'm too young to be old. It was educational though, not having heard it.
Just like some people use "gay" to mean negative, and some people use it in a similar way to make fun of those people… but they're still saying it and offending some people. Interesting point he brings up about using the phrase to mock others who use it seriously, but that could still be deemed offensive. I guess I'm not as hip and cool as I thought I was. I think Dan Savage still uses "'mo", though. You're such a 'mo, quit 'mo-ing me up"etc.
When I was 11 years old, we called homosexuals by a shorter than "homo" contraction. Is looking up an address on mapquest enough to get you called an old person? I had occasion to look up an address on mapquest (UPS didn't believe it existed) and was led to believe that there were three places in the target town with that address, none of which were on the road in question. In this case, the class of people who are familiar with this phrase, mostly used by young people, and adults who may not be familiar with the term. The term isn't meant to offend, only to differentiate between groups of people whose paradigms differ. People like me might refer to someone who still gives directions to a place instead of just an address (easily looked up on googlemaps) as an "old person," because they still aren't internet-thinking. I'm 21, but I've gotten labeled an "old person" by teenagers because I don't text. In youth culture, "old people" refers to anyone not up on the latest trends, be they linguistic, technologic, etc. I don't use this phrase, by the way, nor am I now inclined to, but I don't really see a problem with a non-homophobe using it other than the offense that other people impute. But there's nothing wrong with wanting to be clear about your sexual orientation. The offensiveness of this phrase is based on the assumption that saying that something is not a certain way means that it shouldn't be a certain way and in certain contexts, I can see that connection. I can see how this is a touchy subject these days, public acceptance of homosexuality being as iffy as it is, but what's wrong with clarifying that the comment you just made wasn't meant homosexually? It seems like an occasionally useful tag, especially if you're communicating with someone who isn't already familiar with your sexual orientation. So, instead of calling myself a geezer I have to say I'm Methusaloid? Of course that would pretty much shut down discourse and virtually all publication, but it would be small price to pay for an unoffended populace. Perhaps if we just promise never again to use adjectives, and nouns that aren't proper names, for people we can get past all this. At the time, I gathered, this was a kind of reaction to political correctness: if he couldn't say "chick" or whatever–I can't imagine him ever saying "chick," actually–we young whippersnappers right out of college couldn't say "old." I wasn't allowed to use the variable name "old_value". "Old"? I was once (in 1987) told by one of the most aged members of my department (who was then several years younger than I am now) that "old" is offensive. That was like well funny, and much more enlightening than that other thread (it's still ok to use "other", right?).