# Speakers Of Other Languages: How Does Your Language/Culture Reference 'Coming Out Of The Closet'? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [April 28, 2020, 6:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/speakers-of-other-languages-how-does-your-language-culture-reference-coming-out-of-the-closet/852761 "2020-04-28T18:30:41Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 10\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![HeyHomie](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/heyhomie/32/207_2.png) [@HeyHomie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HeyHomie)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2020, 6:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/speakers-of-other-languages-how-does-your-language-culture-reference-coming-out-of-the-closet/852761/1 "2020-04-28T18:30:41Z")
How do other languages refer to the act of revealing one’s non-normative sexual identity? Is it just “coming out of the closet” translated into the local tongue (Do the Spanish say … _saliendo del armario_? The French … _sort du placard_? Or a different idiomatic expression? ---
**Author:** ![Hypnagogic\_Jerk](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hypnagogic_jerk/32/4252_2.png) [@Hypnagogic\_Jerk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hypnagogic_Jerk)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2020, 7:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/speakers-of-other-languages-how-does-your-language-culture-reference-coming-out-of-the-closet/852761/2 "2020-04-28T19:27:28Z")
_Sortir du placard_ is what I’ve heard in French. I think they just adopted a calque of the (American) English expression. ---
**Author:** ![Omar\_Little](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/omar_little/32/269_2.png) [@Omar\_Little](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Omar_Little)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2020, 9:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/speakers-of-other-languages-how-does-your-language-culture-reference-coming-out-of-the-closet/852761/3 "2020-04-28T21:37:09Z")
In Texas, they say, “He’s from California.” ---
**Author:** ![gkster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gkster/32/14107_2.png) [@gkster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gkster)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2020, 12:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/speakers-of-other-languages-how-does-your-language-culture-reference-coming-out-of-the-closet/852761/4 "2020-04-29T00:28:32Z")
Tagalog has a different idiom, “ladlad ng kapa”, opening up and taking off a cape or cloak \*magladlad ng kapa \*“to unfurl the cape” = to show one’s true colors = to come out of the closet \*Nagladlad ng kapa ang basketbolista. \*The basketball player came out of the closet. [https://www.tagaloglang.com/ladlad/](https://www.tagaloglang.com/ladlad/) The root word is “ladlad” with “magladlad” as infinitive verb, “paglaladlad” as participle, “Nagladlad” as past “This act and/or process of affirming one’s gayness is called Coming Out, roughly translating into _ **paglaladlad ng kapa** _ (unfurling one’s cape).” > **[Philippine Gay Culture](https://books.google.com/books?id=xEBB8LtGVbkC&pg=PA143&lpg=PA143&dq=process%2Baffirming%2Bgayness%2Bpaglaladlad%2Bng%2Bkapa&source=bl&ots=9p4ZvyKAL6&sig=ACfU3U1f9DyInllkscq-e8v3rFW-vtNsHw&hl=en&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwiRsY3wrozpAhXMmHIEHfiODgsQ6AEwAHoECAoQAQ)** > > The book is a descriptive survey of popular and academic writings on and by Filipino male homosexuals, as well as a genealogy of discourses of male homosexuality and the bakla and/or gay identities that emerged in urban Philippines from the1960s to... ---
**Author:** ![Saturn\_Dreams](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/dc4da7/32.png) [@Saturn\_Dreams](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Saturn_Dreams)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2020, 3:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/speakers-of-other-languages-how-does-your-language-culture-reference-coming-out-of-the-closet/852761/5 "2020-04-29T03:10:39Z")
In Japan we call it カミングアウト(coming out), which is a transliteration of the English phrase. It’s mostly to refer to the act of homosexuals revealing their true sexual orientation, but it can also be used more generally like when somebody reveals a secret of a personal nature that might have caused them some embarrassment or awkwardness were the truth to be known. ---
**Author:** ![EinsteinsHund](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/einsteinshund/32/8400_2.png) [@EinsteinsHund](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EinsteinsHund)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2020, 3:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/speakers-of-other-languages-how-does-your-language-culture-reference-coming-out-of-the-closet/852761/6 "2020-04-29T03:48:09Z")
Funnily, in German it’s a Denglish expression, “sich outen”, derived from “coming out” in English. ---
**Author:** ![Nava](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/da6949/32.png) [@Nava](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nava)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2020, 3:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/speakers-of-other-languages-how-does-your-language-culture-reference-coming-out-of-the-closet/852761/7 "2020-04-29T15:10:47Z")
> [@Hypnagogic\_Jerk](#): > > _Sortir du placard_ is what I’ve heard in French. I think they just adopted a calque of the (American) English expression. Spanish has also copied the English expression: _salir del armario_. I’ve also heard _se hizo entender_: made themself understood. In Spain slang, someone who understands is someone who’s queer; making oneself understood means you got people to realize that you… understand. It’s a bit of a messy slang, because of course you’ve got people who… understand… and then you’ve got people who… don’t understand, really… but who understand. If y’all understand what I mean. ---
**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:** [April 29, 2020, 5:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/speakers-of-other-languages-how-does-your-language-culture-reference-coming-out-of-the-closet/852761/8 "2020-04-29T17:00:03Z")
In Afrikaans, it’s “uit die kas te klim”, literally “climb out of the closet”. But it’s not a common expression really, the “kom uit”/“uitgekom” (“come out”/“came out”) short form would be much more common. Or a non-metaphorical expression, even more likely. ---
**Author:** ![BrotherCadfael](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/977dab/32.png) [@BrotherCadfael](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrotherCadfael)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2020, 7:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/speakers-of-other-languages-how-does-your-language-culture-reference-coming-out-of-the-closet/852761/9 "2020-04-29T19:10:48Z")
> [@Saturn Dreams](#): > > In Japan we call it カミングアウト(coming out), which is a transliteration of the English phrase. It’s mostly to refer to the act of homosexuals revealing their true sexual orientation, but it can also be used more generally like when somebody reveals a secret of a personal nature that might have caused them some embarrassment or awkwardness were the truth to be known. It can be used in English that way, too. ---
**Author:** ![Sofrito](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sofrito/32/510_2.png) [@Sofrito](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sofrito)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2020, 2:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/speakers-of-other-languages-how-does-your-language-culture-reference-coming-out-of-the-closet/852761/10 "2020-05-01T02:28:07Z")
> [@Nava](#): > > Spanish has also copied the English expression: _salir del armario_. > > I’ve also heard _se hizo entender_: made themself understood. In Spain slang, someone who understands is someone who’s queer; making oneself understood means you got people to realize that you… understand. It’s a bit of a messy slang, because of course you’ve got people who… understand… and then you’ve got people who… don’t understand, really… but who understand. If y’all understand what I mean. In Mexico we are more likely to use anglicisms, we just say “salir del closet”.