An Introduction to Historical “Lavender” Linguistics

By Mark R. Martell, University of Illinois at Chicago

MMARTELL@UIC.EDU

Fill in the blanks using the words below by matching them with correct etymological reference.

WORD BANK: Lesbian, Bisexual, Homosexual, Faggot, Transgender, Dyke, Ally, Queer, Gay

1) _______________________Coined in 1869 by Karl Kertbeny in preference to the derogatory German term pederast with the hope
to eliminate Paragraph 175, Germany’s oppressive anti-pederasty law. Instead, the term backfired and became adopted by doctors to
describe a “disorder” until it was removed from the American Psychiatric Association list of disorders in 1973.

2) _______________________Surfaced in Provençal in the early 12th century with a link to sex and romance; probably derived from
Frankish wahi, meaning “lively” or “boiling.” Arrived in English during the late 13th century from Old French and became commonly
used in speech and literature. Acquired sexual associations in the late 17th century with the meaning "addicted to pleasures and
dissipations.” Used as an adjective to describe prostitutes, womanizers, and brothels.

3) _______________________Derived from the name of a Greek island; also home to a 6th-century poet whose name is also used
interchangeably. Documented in 1870 to describe erotic relationships, used in a medical dictionary in 1890 as an adjective to describe
tribadism, and recorded by 1925 as a noun.

4) _______________________Coined in the 19th century with its earlier meaning (1824)---“hermaphroditic." Used as an adjectival
sense starting in 1914 and began as a noun in 1922. Ambisexual was suggested 1924 in but never caught on. Common modern use
started in 1950ss.

5) _______________________Popularized in the 1970s describing people who wanted to live cross-gender, expanded in the 1980s to
an umbrella term uniting all those whose gender identity did not mesh with their gender assigned at birth, and took on a political
dimension in the 1990s.

6 _______________________Borrowed from the word’s 16th century meaning of “abnormal” and used in the early 1910s by American
gay men, mainly masculine men, who were attracted to other men but did not consider themselves effeminate. By the late 1940s,
some found this term offensive but underwent substantial changes over the latter course of the 20th Century with some LGBT people
re-claiming the term as a means of self-empowerment.

7) _______________________Derived from the Latin word fascis, meaning “a bundle of sticks.” The origins of the word as an
offensive epithet are obscured. Used in English since the late 16th century to mean "old or unpleasant woman," the application of the
term to old women is possibly a shortening of the term "faggot-gatherer", applied in the 19th century to people, especially older widows,
who made a meager living by gathering and selling firewood. The modern slang meaning may have developed from the standard
meaning as "bundle of sticks for burning," presumably with reference to burning at the stake of supposed witches often accused of
homosexual behavior during the Inquisition. The earliest known reference to the word with the pejorative meaning in print was in the
1914 Jackson and Hellyer A Vocabulary of Criminal Slang. Reinforced by Yiddish faygele which means "little bird."

8) _______________________Possibly derived from Boudicca, a Celtic queen who organized a revolt against the Roman Empire in 67
A.D. or from the name of the ancient Greek goddess of moral justice, and that its use to denote a wall or bank built to contain water or
enclose a separate land dates back to the 1st millennium BCE, shows a very long, deeply rooted history of positive meaning applicable
to women and to woman's power. The first recorded use appeared in 1942 but the term bulldyker, a longer form, was first printed in
1920s novels connected with the Harlem Renaissance. Shortened version became a derogatory label for a masculine or butch
woman however has also been reappropriated as a positive term implying assertiveness and toughness.

9) _______________________Coined in 1300, from Old French alier "combine, unite," from a differentiated stem of aleier from Latin
alligare "bind to." The noun was coined from the verb in1600 in the sense of "one united with another by treaty or league."
 References

Bisexuality. (n.d.) Online etymology dictionary. Retrieved 23 February 2010, http://www.etymonline.com/

Blumenfeld. W. & Raymond, D. (1988). Looking at gay and lesbian life. Boston: Beacon Press.
Ekins R., King D. (1997). Blending genders: Contributions to the emerging field of transgender studies. International
Journal of Transgenderism 1 (1).
Federici, S. (2004). Caliban and the Witch. Autonomedia: Brooklyn: Autonomedia. 192, 197.
Hogan, S. & Hudson, L. (1998). Completely queer: The gay and lesbian encyclopedia. New York: Henry Holt and
Company, Inc.
Kotula, D. (2002). A conversation with Dr. Milton Diamond. In the realm of the phallus palace: The female to male
transsexual. Los Angeles: Alyson Books. 35–56.
Savin-Williams, R. (2005). The new gay teenager. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.
Wilton, D. & Brunetti, I. (2004). Word myths: Debunking linguistic urban legends Oxford University Press US. 176.
Wikholm, A. (n.d.). The Mavens’ word of the day. (Formerly) Jesse’s word of the day. Retrieved 23 February 2010,
http://web.archive.org/web/20020125064021/www.randomhouse.com/wotd/
York, F. (2008). The new gay teenager. [Review of the book The new gay teenager]. National Association of Research &
Therapy of Homosexuals. Retrieved 23 February 2010 from http://www.narth.com/docs/newgayteenager2.html

Mark R. Martell
Assistant Director for Career Services, University of Illinois at Chicago

Mark R. Martell first worked at the University of Illinois at Chicago (UIC) in 2000 as a Resident Director for Campus
Housing. While there, he originated the Safe Zone program and became involved with the UIC Chancellor’s Committee on
the Status of LGBT Issues and ACPA’s Standing Committee on LGBT Awareness. In 2003, Mark worked as a Resident
Director for Semester at Sea, where he circumnavigated the world and visited ten countries. In this role, he acted as
advisor to the Gay Straight Alliance and educated the shipboard community on international LGBT issues and customs.
Returning to the States, Mark worked at Inspiration Corporation where he trained and assisted the homeless for the
workforce. Presently, Mark is an Assistant Director for Career Services at UIC, where he assists graduating students with
career development and preparation.

Mark comes with a Bachelor of Arts in English and a Master of Arts in Linguistics and is currently pursuing a PhD in Policy
Studies in Urban Education at UIC. His research interest includes gender, sexuality, and language and how those three
elements interact in a social and educational level. Mark has professional experience working at Florida International
University, Semester at Sea, Inspiration Corporation, and Harold Washington College. In his spare time, he volunteers as a
mentor at Broadway Youth Center and performs in musicals and theater productions with NightBlue Performing Arts Group.
LinkedIn Profile: http://www.linkedin.com/in/markrmartell or search Facebook for Mark R. Martell.

Presentation and slideshow available at http://uicocs.posterous.com/naspa.