# What do you think of when you hear this word? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [July 15, 2009, 2:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-think-of-when-you-hear-this-word/503073 "2009-07-15T02:01:22Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![dangermom](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e274bd/32.png) [@dangermom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dangermom)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2009, 5:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-think-of-when-you-hear-this-word/503073/21 "2009-07-15T05:19:45Z")
Haven’t looked at any of the answers. A mood or personality like a fairy, of the old kind, the scary kind. Slightly spooky and eldritch, not entirely of this world. ETA: I’ve never heard it used to describe homosexuality. ---
**Author:** ![Renee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/renee/32/287_2.png) [@Renee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Renee)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2009, 5:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-think-of-when-you-hear-this-word/503073/22 "2009-07-15T05:49:05Z")
Effeminate. ---
**Author:** ![madmonk28](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/madmonk28/32/20811_2.png) [@madmonk28](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/madmonk28)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2009, 6:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-think-of-when-you-hear-this-word/503073/23 "2009-07-15T06:14:17Z")
effeminate. ---
**Author:** ![Stealth\_Potato](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d78d45/32.png) [@Stealth\_Potato](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stealth_Potato)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2009, 6:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-think-of-when-you-hear-this-word/503073/24 "2009-07-15T06:25:44Z")
A lot of people so far have said “effeminate.” Is there some usage of the word that actually implies that? I’ve never heard it used to mean that, so that interpretation seems a bit surprising to me. ---
**Author:** ![Animastryfe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/8797f3/32.png) [@Animastryfe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Animastryfe)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2009, 6:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-think-of-when-you-hear-this-word/503073/25 "2009-07-15T06:44:32Z")
Ethereal looking, a bit pale, elf-like. I’ve never heard this as a description for a real person, though. ---
**Author:** ![Kiwi\_Fruit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kiwi_fruit/32/12_2.png) [@Kiwi\_Fruit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kiwi_Fruit)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2009, 8:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-think-of-when-you-hear-this-word/503073/26 "2009-07-15T08:15:19Z")
Someone with sixth sense; able to ‘see’ things in the future. ---
**Author:** ![wizard\_of\_aus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/ecc23a/32.png) [@wizard\_of\_aus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wizard_of_aus)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2009, 8:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-think-of-when-you-hear-this-word/503073/27 "2009-07-15T08:26:47Z")
… from the other world but with a sense of being slightly evil … WoAus in fey mood ---
**Author:** ![EpicNonsense](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/c37758/32.png) [@EpicNonsense](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EpicNonsense)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2009, 8:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-think-of-when-you-hear-this-word/503073/28 "2009-07-15T08:36:44Z")
No idea what it means… I’m guessing, shy?.. ---
**Author:** ![Nametag](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/nametag/32/406_2.png) [@Nametag](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nametag)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2009, 10:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-think-of-when-you-hear-this-word/503073/29 "2009-07-15T10:31:36Z")
Mad. Thousand-yard-stare, pushed-beyond-endurance-or-sanity, about-to-giggle-maniacally-or-gut-you-like-a-trout-could-go-either-way crazy. ---
**Author:** ![Chez\_Guevara](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/aeb1de/32.png) [@Chez\_Guevara](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chez_Guevara)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2009, 10:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-think-of-when-you-hear-this-word/503073/30 "2009-07-15T10:47:06Z")
Wray. ---
**Author:** ![delphica](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e9a140/32.png) [@delphica](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/delphica)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2009, 10:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-think-of-when-you-hear-this-word/503073/31 "2009-07-15T10:57:10Z")
Fairy-like, delicate, otherworldly … But for me, myself, I most often describe a person as fey if I were rolling my eyes at what I thought was an act, like possibly about an annoying New Age-y type person. I know it was also used to mean effeminate or homosexual. I don’t know how common that usage is now, I always associated it with those bizarre-sounding 1950s/1960s epithets like “a little light in his loafers.” I know, what? ---
**Author:** ![sandra\_nz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/eada6e/32.png) [@sandra\_nz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sandra_nz)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2009, 11:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-think-of-when-you-hear-this-word/503073/32 "2009-07-15T11:12:02Z")
Hmm…I’m associating it with fairy folk, but I don’t know why. If it was being used to describe a guy, I’d imagine him to be somewhat feminine in appearance and mannerisms. For a woman, I’d imagine someone quite small and slender, quiet in personality. ---
**Author:** ![Dead\_Cat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/9fc29f/32.png) [@Dead\_Cat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dead_Cat)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2009, 12:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-think-of-when-you-hear-this-word/503073/33 "2009-07-15T12:59:18Z")
Camp (as in gay), but having looked at the other answers, I suspect that this may not be a “correct” meaning of the word. ---
**Author:** ![twickster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ec9cab/32.png) [@twickster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/twickster)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2009, 1:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-think-of-when-you-hear-this-word/503073/34 "2009-07-15T13:25:00Z")
> [@Stealth\_Potato](#): > > A lot of people so far have said “effeminate.” Is there some usage of the word that actually implies that? I’ve never heard it used to mean that, so that interpretation seems a bit surprising to me. Back in the day, “fairy” was slang for “homosexual,” so “fey” came to be used to mean “effeminate.” ---
**Author:** ![Shirley\_Ujest](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/45deac/32.png) [@Shirley\_Ujest](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shirley_Ujest)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2009, 1:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-think-of-when-you-hear-this-word/503073/35 "2009-07-15T13:37:21Z")
Fey = visions in my book. ---
**Author:** ![Paintcharge](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/paintcharge/32/7946_2.png) [@Paintcharge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Paintcharge)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2009, 1:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-think-of-when-you-hear-this-word/503073/36 "2009-07-15T13:43:16Z")
Effeminate. Never heard it used to describe a woman or girl. ---
**Author:** ![purplehorseshoe](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/purplehorseshoe/32/2996_2.png) [@purplehorseshoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/purplehorseshoe)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2009, 1:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-think-of-when-you-hear-this-word/503073/37 "2009-07-15T13:46:45Z")
Not peeking, so don’t know yet if you’ve revealed the “why” part … It depends slightly on context. If it’s in the context of anything that can loosely be lumped into what I think of as “English 301 class” then fey = like a fairy, where fairy is used in the classical sense of a little winged sprite or other supernatural little bug-lady of the woods. If it’s in anything approaching daily life or pop culture, then fey = lower case tina. ---
**Author:** ![Gary\_T](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/3ec8ea/32.png) [@Gary\_T](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gary_T)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2009, 1:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-think-of-when-you-hear-this-word/503073/38 "2009-07-15T13:48:45Z")
Lightheartedly cheerful. ---
**Author:** ![Chessic\_Sense](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/7c8e57/32.png) [@Chessic\_Sense](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chessic_Sense)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2009, 1:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-think-of-when-you-hear-this-word/503073/39 "2009-07-15T13:51:15Z")
Put me down for another “Effeminate” vote. ---
**Author:** ![WOOKINPANUB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wookinpanub/32/132_2.png) [@WOOKINPANUB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WOOKINPANUB)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2009, 1:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-think-of-when-you-hear-this-word/503073/40 "2009-07-15T13:52:38Z")
Effeminate. Have I been misunderstanding it this whole time? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-think-of-when-you-hear-this-word/503073.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-think-of-when-you-hear-this-word/503073.md?page=3)