Don we now our gay apparel meaning

Apparently, Grant ad libbed the line, and director Howard Hawks left it in, which may explain how it got past the censors of Hays office who were intent on erasing sexuality from Hollywood movies. Compounding gay avoidance is its latest slang transformation: calling something, or someone, gay can signal 'that's uncool.

In any case, the episode is an enlightening illustration of the complex give-and-take of language marketing and language politics, not to mention the impact of internet pressure on everyone from Middle schoolers to Middle Eastern despots to greeting-card manufacturers.

Merriam-Webster traces adjectival fun back toand the American Heritage Dictionary 5e recognizes it as well. Follow me in merry measure, While I tell of Christmas treasure, Fast away the old year passes, Hail the new, ye lads and lasses! With its catchy phrase, Don we now our FUN apparel!

But they did change the lyrics, and despite the apology, the sweater ornament is still available on the Hallmark website, though in a tacit acknowledgment of the controversy over the wording, the web copy now reads. The company further " explained " why it chose fun to replace gay: The trend of wearing festively decorated Christmas sweaters to parties is all about fun, and this ornament is intended to play into that, so the planning team decided to say what we meant: 'fun.

But the purists would be wrong, as they often are when it comes to language. Hallmark shunned gay because of its sexual connotation. Hallmark's Keepsake Sweater Ornament says, "Don we now our fun apparel. When it comes to Christmas sweaters, gaudy can be good!

'Tis the season to be jolly, Don we now our gay apparel, Troll the ancient Christmas carol, See the blazing yule before us, Strike the harp and join the chorus. The OED cites this as an example of an early homosexual reference for the term, though it also cites earlier uses by Gertrude Stein and Noel Coward dated andrespectively.

Gay apparel does not mean homosexuality, but festive clothing that is colorful and joyous. Many American schools have mounted campaigns to get students to abandon this slang usage because it can be offensive there are similar campaigns against the slang use of retarded, not to mention lame, used in a similarly negative and potentially offensive sense.

Apparel can be gay, grammatically, and it can be funny, they would surely say, because funny is the adjective, though funny is not what Hallmark means here. Hang up this flashy sweater to make your tree's outfit complete.

Nov 1, pm by Dennis Baron. The joke that Hallmark got into trouble because it shied away from a word with sexual connotations? Deck the Halls Lyrics: Deck the halls with boughs of holly / Fa-la-la-la-la, la-la-la-la / 'Tis the season to be jolly / Fa-la-la-la-la, la-la-la-la / Don we now our gay apparel / Fa-la-la, la-la.

Don We Now Our

But gay had other meanings too. Sing we joyous all together, Heedless of the wind and. What joke, you might ask? By the nineteenth century gay could serve as a euphemism for prostitution.

What is the meaning

The trend of wearing festively decorated Christmas sweaters to parties is all about fun, and this ornament is intended to play into that, so the planning team decided to say what we meant: 'fun. Learn the origin and history of this phrase in the Christmas carol Deck the Halls and how it has evolved over time.

By the s in the United States, gay also began to acquire a slang sense referring to homosexuality. The company further " explained " why it chose fun to replace gay:.