Gricean Love

It is not altogether rare that a discussion of homosexuality springs in CLASSICS-L. Indeed, the classic world was full of it!

I was pointing that, even if Plato was, he wouldn't call himself 'gay' (or 'straight' for that matter).


From:

http://lsv.uky.edu/scripts/wa.exe?A2=ind0809B&L=CLASSICS-L&P=R624&I=-3

As M. Davidson points out, 'gay', while a modern term, was used "at least since the 1600" to denote something figuratively.

It was a bad thing, too, yet another of what I call 'borrowings'.

I cannot see why you call them 'borrowings into the English language' (in this case, from French, and ultimately Latin, gaius?) if you never returned them.

F. Nietzsche's book on "gay science" did not help.

I once had a discussion with various people about 'gay'. I recall an
argument to the effect that Donald Duck was gay on account of his now wearing pants, being with younger 'nephews', and being blatantly single. Etc.

To me, to apply it to Megalexander is not a far cry than from applying it to Donald Duck.

I never saw Colin Farrell in the film, but he was proud to have portrayed a
bisexual character, which was quite the 'norm' in Ibiza by the time he was
filming the thing ('the golden boy' look -- artificial blonde -- did perhaps
help).

Anyway, I wouldn't know about the other authors. Plato possibly. I
personally don't care. One way or the other.

What IS sad, is that 'gay' is overused today, and so is 'greek'.

I double checked for 'greek' not too much avail. It's slang for "Irishman" for some reason, too.

It relates to 'cheat at cards'.

"merry greek" is used as 'of loose moral character'.

I seldom go by their definitions, but the quotes were nothing to write home about.

One wonders if the Romans were already discriminating "Greek love" by their
use of "graecus".

I know Pliny discriminates against lack of prudery in Greek statuary:

"We clothe our statues, the Greeks sculpt them _naked_."

But that's a far cry from the implicature we are working on: "Greek" --> 'sodomize', and 'bulgarize', if not 'vulgarise'.