Queer
Origin
Uncertain; perhaps (or perhaps even cognate with) German quer transverse, oblique, crosswise, at right angles, obstructive, (of things) going wrong (now rare), (of a person) peculiar (now obsolete in this sense), (of a glance) directed sideways, especially in a surreptitious or hostile manner (now rare), (of opinion and behaviour) at odds with others but the semantic correspondence is not exact, and the figurative senses in German are apparently much later developments than the English word.
Over the past two decades, an important change has occurred in the use of queer in sense 2d. The older, strongly pejorative use has certainly not vanished, but a use by some gay people and some academics as a neutral or even positive term has established itself. This development is most noticeable in the adjective but is reflected in the corresponding noun as well. The newer use is sometimes taken to be offensive, especially by older gay men who fostered the acceptance of gay in these uses and still have a strong preference for it.
Definitions
- 1a : worthless, counterfeit <queer money
- b : questionable, suspicious
- 2a : differing in some odd way from what is usual or normal
- b (1) : eccentric, unconventional (2) : mildly insane : touched
- c : absorbed or interested to an extreme or unreasonable degree : obsessed
- d (1) often disparaging : homosexual (2) sometimes offensive : gay
- 3: not quite well
Description
Queer has traditionally meant odd or unusual, though modern use often pertains to LGBT (gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender, intersex and non-normative heterosexual) people. Its usage is considered controversial and underwent substantial changes over the course of the 20th century with some LGBT people re-claiming the term as a means of self-empowerment. The term is still considered by some to be offensive and derisive, and by others as a re-appropriated term used to describe a sexual orientation and/or gender identity or gender expression that does not conform to heteronormative society.
Traditional usage
Since its emergence in the English language in the 16th century (related to the German quer, meaning "across, at right angle, diagonally or transverse"), queer has generally meant "strange," "unusual," or "out of alignment." It might refer to something suspicious or "not quite right," or to a person with mild derangement or who exhibits socially inappropriate behavior. The expression "in Queer Street" was used in the UK as of the 1811 edition of Francis Grose's A Classical Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue for someone in financial trouble.
In the 1904 Sherlock Holmes story The Adventure of the Second Stain',' the term is still used in a completely non-sexual context (Inspector Lestrade is threatening a misbehaving constable with "finding himself in Queer Street", i.e., in this context, being severely punished). By the time that story was published, however, the term was already starting to gain its implication of sexual deviance (especially that of homosexual and/or effeminate males), which is already known in the late 19th century; an early recorded usage of the word in this sense was in a letter by John Sholto Douglas, 9th Marquess of Queensberry to his son Lord Alfred Douglas.
Subsequently, for most of the 20th century, "queer" was frequently used as a derogatory term for effeminate gay males who were believed to engage in receptive or passive anal/oral sex with men, and others exhibiting untraditional gender behavior. Furthermore, masculine males, who performed the role of the 'penetrator' were in some cases considered 'straights'.[1]
