# How Do You Say "GAY" In Spanish? And Other Languages? **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [February 20, 2013, 9:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-say-gay-in-spanish-and-other-languages/650906 "2013-02-20T21:15:38Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![KarlGrenze](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/dbc845/32.png) [@KarlGrenze](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KarlGrenze)\ **Post date:** [February 23, 2013, 2:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-say-gay-in-spanish-and-other-languages/650906/41 "2013-02-23T02:23:06Z")
As I just learned yesterday, while in Puerto Rico _cabrón_ (the misspelled cabrone) means a cuckold, in Chile it means a pimp. And yes, in Puerto Rico that word can be used to call buddies. “Hey _cabrón_!”, I yelled to my friend, while he thought I was calling him a pimp. Ah, regionalisms… The song I mentioned, _Pluma gay_, uses a word related to _maricón_. They are more offensive (at least in Puerto Rico) than the other words I mentioned. But again, the level of offensiveness varies by context, and in that song, it is not really offensive. ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [February 23, 2013, 5:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-say-gay-in-spanish-and-other-languages/650906/42 "2013-02-23T05:04:38Z")
> [@Zeke\_N.Destroi](#): > > I _know_ _maricon_ is, at least in some Spanish speaking countries, means gay but I don’t know the level of offensiveness the word brings with it. It’s highly offensive. One of the most offensive terms you can use. I would equate it to “faggot.” > [@](#): > > A co-worker from El Salvador told me that in most Spanish speaking countries _cabrone_ is kind of the equivalent of _buddy_ but never say it to a Columbian and if a Columbian uses the word toward you prepare to scrap - unless the speaker has bedroom eyes. _Cabron_ is one of the very worst insults you can use in most of Latin America. You better be prepared for a fight if you use it. While it technically means “cuckold,” in terms of offensiveness it equates to “motherfucker.” I suspect that your co-worker was putting you one and trying to get you in trouble (like Cheech telling Chong that “pendejo” means “friend.”) ---
**Author:** ![KarlGrenze](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/dbc845/32.png) [@KarlGrenze](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KarlGrenze)\ **Post date:** [February 23, 2013, 10:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-say-gay-in-spanish-and-other-languages/650906/43 "2013-02-23T10:28:54Z")
It depends, Colibrí. You can use it among friends, but I wouldn’t go yelling it to someone down the street. I do use it, sometimes, among my friends, but I wouldn’t dare use it on a stranger. And again, it seems in other regions of Latin America, while it is still an insult, it means something else (see above for pimp). ---
**Author:** ![Nava](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/da6949/32.png) [@Nava](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nava)\ **Post date:** [February 23, 2013, 11:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-say-gay-in-spanish-and-other-languages/650906/44 "2013-02-23T11:42:02Z")
Yeah but in Spanish that applies to any insult. Any word can be turned into an insult by tone and gesture, any insult can be used without offense if given with the right tone and gestures by those “who have the right” (the same kind of people you’d call to help you bury a corpse). ---
**Author:** ![KarlGrenze](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/dbc845/32.png) [@KarlGrenze](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KarlGrenze)\ **Post date:** [February 23, 2013, 1:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-say-gay-in-spanish-and-other-languages/650906/45 "2013-02-23T13:52:50Z")
Correct, so the way I read the comment being referenced was that, as long as the other person is truly your buddy, calling him/her _cabrón/cabrona_ will not be insulting, except for some reason in Colombia, where such name calling apparently is not commonplace (at least for that word). ---
**Author:** ![grama](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/7cd45c/32.png) [@grama](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/grama)\ **Post date:** [February 23, 2013, 2:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-say-gay-in-spanish-and-other-languages/650906/46 "2013-02-23T14:20:14Z")
FWIW, even though cabrón does mean pimp, it’s rarely used here (in any context), and for pimp I would say ‘cafiche’ is more common. And yes, maricón is traditionally offensive, but it’s used so much in other contexts that no one gets offended by it (unless you are really trying to be offensive, as said before, tone and gestures are ,much, much more relevant than the words themselves). ---
**Author:** ![Svejk\_1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ea666f/32.png) [@Svejk\_1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Svejk_1)\ **Post date:** [February 23, 2013, 3:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-say-gay-in-spanish-and-other-languages/650906/47 "2013-02-23T15:02:28Z")
> [@PookahMacPhellimey](#): > > In Dutch we still use “homo” - it’s not considered offensive. how do you mean ‘still’ - you seem to be suggesting that there’s something inherently offensive about ‘homo’ and that sooner or later the Dutch will come around to realize this. There isn’t, and they won’t. Just because homo in English is not the preferred nomenclature does not mean that the same should apply to Dutch; it’s a different language. ---
**Author:** ![Svejk\_1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ea666f/32.png) [@Svejk\_1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Svejk_1)\ **Post date:** [February 23, 2013, 3:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-say-gay-in-spanish-and-other-languages/650906/48 "2013-02-23T15:03:41Z")
BTW in Russian the adjective ‘goluboy’ meaning ‘blue’ also means gay but I’m not sure whether it’s offensive or not, nor do I know whether you can use the feminine ‘golubaya’ to refer to lesbians. ---
**Author:** ![Lamia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/8e7dd6/32.png) [@Lamia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lamia)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2013, 4:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-say-gay-in-spanish-and-other-languages/650906/49 "2013-02-24T04:38:08Z")
> [@Roderick\_Femm](#): > > In Japan, some people have adopted the English loan word “gay”, but it doesn’t get used much unless the context is very clear (i.e. talking about gay rights or a gay bar or something). This may be because there is a word that is pronounced exactly the same that means, roughly, “entertainment” (the “gei” in “geisha”). > > So if you use an expression that means “entertainer” it could, out of context, be taken to mean “gay person” instead. > > In my experience, “homo” is used more often, and doesn’t have the negative connotations that it has in English. I can’t remember ever hearing anyone say “homo” in Japan, although it’s been about ten years since I lived there. I did hear “gay”. A Japanese term that I heard used more than once in reference to gay men is _okama_, which is literally a kind of rice pot but as best as I could tell has roughly the same connotations as “faggot” in American English. Another term that came up was “new half” (derived from the use of “half” in Japan to describe biracial people who are half-Japanese), which means half man/half woman and seemed to cover everything from transwomen to drag queens to effeminate gay men. (I’m unclear as to whether the term also includes FtM transsexuals, female entertainers who dress as men such as the [Takarazuka Revue](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Takarazuka_Revue) actresses, or butch lesbians – I only ever seemed to hear it in reference to XY folks.) I once had a Japanese friend tell me she was confused about the distinction between “new half” and “gay”. Another Japanese friend who was present scolded her a bit for saying “new half”, which she considered derogatory, although when I asked a third friend about this later she said that “new half” wasn’t considered offensive: “That’s just what they’re called. It’s not insulting like _okama_.” ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2013, 6:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-say-gay-in-spanish-and-other-languages/650906/50 "2013-02-24T06:01:07Z")
> [@KarlGrenze](#): > > It depends, Colibrí. You can use it among friends, but I wouldn’t go yelling it to someone down the street. I do use it, sometimes, among my friends, but I wouldn’t dare use it on a stranger. You could say the same about “motherfucker” in English, the example I compared _cabron_ to. Almost anything is OK if said between friends in a jocular way. I’m of course talking about the degree of offensiveness of the insult if used in earnest or to a stranger. ---
**Author:** ![BellRungBookShut-CandleSnuffed](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/bcef8e/32.png) [@BellRungBookShut-CandleSnuffed](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BellRungBookShut-CandleSnuffed)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2013, 2:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-say-gay-in-spanish-and-other-languages/650906/51 "2013-02-24T14:55:18Z")
> [@Lamia](#): > > Another term that came up was “new half” (derived from the use of “half” in Japan to describe biracial people who are half-Japanese), which means half man/half woman and seemed to cover everything from transwomen to drag queens to effeminate gay men. (I’m unclear as to whether the term also includes FtM transsexuals, female entertainers who dress as men such as the [Takarazuka Revue](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Takarazuka_Revue) actresses, or butch lesbians – I only ever seemed to hear it in reference to XY folks.) I once had a Japanese friend tell me she was confused about the distinction between “new half” and “gay”. Another Japanese friend who was present scolded her a bit for saying “new half”, which she considered derogatory, although when I asked a third friend about this later she said that “new half” wasn’t considered offensive: “That’s just what they’re called. It’s not insulting like _okama_.” I never heard new half used for anything but transsexuals. I’m not sure if that includes FtM, but I definitely heard it used on TV (though I don’t think it was the news) for people like Haruna Ai, so maybe it’s not so derogatory these days. ---
**Author:** ![LawMonkey](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/d6d6ee/32.png) [@LawMonkey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LawMonkey)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2013, 5:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-say-gay-in-spanish-and-other-languages/650906/52 "2013-02-24T17:15:03Z")
> [@Svejk\_1](#): > > BTW in Russian the adjective ‘goluboy’ meaning ‘blue’ also means gay but I’m not sure whether it’s offensive or not, nor do I know whether you can use the feminine ‘golubaya’ to refer to lesbians. Light blue, actually. There’s not a direct analogue in English–it’s sort of to blue as “pink” is to red, from what I understand. Anyway, I’m no expert, but from an acquaintance who lived in Russia for a bit while on his Mormon mission thingy, I got the impression that it wasn’t necessarily derogatory as such–it was just the word. More or less equivalent to “gay” rather than “faggot.” On the other hand, Russia is not the most tolerant country out there–it’s no Jamaica, mind you, but they’re really not too cool with the голубые. So I expect there’s always a certain amount of disapproval in the word. ---
**Author:** ![feppytweed](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/feppytweed/32/4280_2.png) [@feppytweed](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/feppytweed)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2013, 7:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-say-gay-in-spanish-and-other-languages/650906/53 "2013-02-24T19:25:22Z")
When in Bolivia, I was told not to say “Estoy fresco” (I’m cool) because “fresco” meant “flamer”, colloquially. ---
**Author:** ![Nava](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/da6949/32.png) [@Nava](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nava)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2013, 4:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-say-gay-in-spanish-and-other-languages/650906/54 "2013-02-25T04:30:09Z")
Well, it’s also horrible grammar… either _soy (un) fresco_ (which depending on the location will mean “I’m a flamer” or “I’m cheeky”) or _tengo fresco_ (which will mean “I’m cold”, but in many locations it would be more common to say _tengo frío_). ---
**Author:** ![Rack-a-Bones](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/77aa72/32.png) [@Rack-a-Bones](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rack-a-Bones)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2013, 8:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-say-gay-in-spanish-and-other-languages/650906/55 "2013-02-25T08:42:22Z")
> [@Nava](#): > > Well, it’s also horrible grammar… either _soy (un) fresco_ (which depending on the location will mean “I’m a flamer” or “I’m cheeky”) or _tengo fresco_ (which will mean “I’m cold”, but in many locations it would be more common to say _tengo frío_). When I was first learning the difference between soy/estoy I said ‘soy frio’ a few times and was chastised by my Guatemalan hosts. _Tengo frio_ was what they said to say when cold. They used the word _hueco_ (hollow, hole) for gay. But I think it was fairly derogatory; along the lines of ‘faggot.’ ---
**Author:** ![Nava](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/da6949/32.png) [@Nava](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nava)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2013, 6:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-say-gay-in-spanish-and-other-languages/650906/56 "2013-02-25T18:13:02Z")
There are places where _soy frío_ would mean “I’ve got no sex drive” and the most likely response would be along the lines of a deadpan “have you tried seeing a doctor about that?” The _ser/estar/tener_ trio seems to be the worst problem for many EFL learners of Spanish. ---
**Author:** ![sunstone](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sunstone/32/3372_2.png) [@sunstone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sunstone)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2013, 1:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-say-gay-in-spanish-and-other-languages/650906/57 "2013-02-26T01:08:11Z")
Here is a listing of Spanish terms, some of which are not nice and others which are not insulting as far as I am aware. The link is used to avoid possible NSFW and also insulting others. See the seventh entry, but be sure to read the rest. http ://forum.wordreference.com/showthread.php?t=906187 ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_Angel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/d26b3c/32.png) [@Johnny\_Angel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_Angel)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2013, 7:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-say-gay-in-spanish-and-other-languages/650906/58 "2013-02-26T07:13:17Z")
I was engaged in some dispute a couple of years ago about the status of the Latin _Cinaedus_. The discussion was in Latin and the other guy was a homosexual, and insisted that the word was offensive. None of the dictionaries I have mark it as such, and J.N. Adams’ _The Latin Sexual Vocabulary_ doesn’t suggest it’s much of a burn – it originally meant ‘dancer’ and Adams considers one case of the comparative degree of the word in Martial to mean little more than “shameless” in a non-sexual sense. The book [Ancient Rome in So Many Words](http://www.amazon.com/Ancient-Rome-So-Many-Words/dp/0781811538/) describes an attitude that the cinaedī were regarded as sort of _outré_. They were these sort of womany men who were hired to stand around at parties entertaining people with their unsettling mix of gender cues. So, is that more like ‘queer’ or more like ‘fag’? ---
**Author:** ![TokyoBayer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tokyobayer/32/13989_2.png) [@TokyoBayer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TokyoBayer)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2013, 1:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-say-gay-in-spanish-and-other-languages/650906/59 "2013-02-26T13:51:28Z")
> [@BellRungBookShut-CandleSnuffed](#): > > I never heard new half used for anything but transsexuals. I’m not sure if that includes FtM, but I definitely heard it used on TV (though I don’t think it was the news) for people like Haruna Ai, so maybe it’s not so derogatory these days. “New Half” is for transsexuals, but seems to be exclusively MtF, and includes people TV personalities who do the “New Half” thing just to be on TV. FtM are called “onabe” (pot). The more formal term for homosexual is 同性愛 _dooseiai_ which is the term which scholars and government would use for more formal usage. ---
**Author:** ![MrDibble](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mrdibble/32/114_2.png) [@MrDibble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrDibble)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2013, 2:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-say-gay-in-spanish-and-other-languages/650906/60 "2013-02-26T14:31:50Z")
The only common Afrikaans slang I know for a (male, effeminate) homosexual, _moffie_, can have varying degrees of offensiveness but it’s generally not nice - it’s equivalent to “fairy”. So’s the less-common _watermuis_ (water mouse). Others are even more offensive (_holnaaier_, lit. buttfucker) or both niche and offensive (_bunny_, the English word, is used in Cape Flats gang and prison argot, as is[the number 28](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Numbers_Gang#28s). _Staban_ or _iStabane_ is the Xhosa & Zulu slang which properly means intersexed but nowadays is derogatory for both gays and lesbians and is creeping into other languages) The nice way to refer to gay people in Afrikaans is English _gay_ or _homoseksueel_, basically, and usually the former. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-say-gay-in-spanish-and-other-languages/650906.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-say-gay-in-spanish-and-other-languages/650906.md?page=4)