# When was the last non-ironic use of the word "gay" to mean happy ? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [January 5, 2011, 7:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-was-the-last-non-ironic-use-of-the-word-gay-to-mean-happy/566469 "2011-01-05T07:29:20Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 9\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Freddy\_the\_Pig](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/a587f6/32.png) [@Freddy\_the\_Pig](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Freddy_the_Pig)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2011, 9:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-was-the-last-non-ironic-use-of-the-word-gay-to-mean-happy/566469/41 "2011-01-12T21:06:06Z")
> [@An\_Gadai](#): > > Well there’s the popular Irish talkshow host, Gay Byrne (short for Gabriel). And of course the American (male) writer Gay Talese, born in 1932. I don’t believe his Gay is short for anything. ---
**Author:** ![ministryman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f6c823/32.png) [@ministryman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ministryman)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2011, 9:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-was-the-last-non-ironic-use-of-the-word-gay-to-mean-happy/566469/42 "2011-01-12T21:37:37Z")
OMG! I can’t believe no one said this: “West Side Story” - the movie “I feel pretty, Oh so pretty I feel pretty and witty and Gaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay” And that Sam Cooke song is ironic, since he _could_ have been talking about Greenwich Village… “Let me tell you ‘bout a place somewhere up New York way where the people are so gay twistin’ the night away” ---
**Author:** ![JThunder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e95f7d/32.png) [@JThunder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JThunder)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2011, 4:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-was-the-last-non-ironic-use-of-the-word-gay-to-mean-happy/566469/43 "2011-01-13T04:20:29Z")
Here’s a more recent one. The musical number _Happy Working Song_ from the movie _Enchanted_ contains the following stanza: And you’ll trill a cheery tune in the tub As we scrub a stubborn mildew stain Lug a hairball from the shower drain To the gay refrain Of a happy working song ---
**Author:** ![Markxxx](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/5daacb/32.png) [@Markxxx](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Markxxx)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2011, 5:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-was-the-last-non-ironic-use-of-the-word-gay-to-mean-happy/566469/44 "2011-01-13T05:43:58Z")
> [@Annie-Xmas](#): > > The song was written in [1956](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Why_Do_Fools_Fall_in_Love_(song)). Big hit for Frankie Lymon & The Teenagers. Lymon was 14 when the song was released! > > I know a 30 year old woman with the name of “Gai Spann.” Exactly my point, note I said HER version. Diana still felt comfortable enough with the word to release the song. You will note back in the 70s even _the Flintstones_ specials changed the word “gay” to “grand” for a few of the specials, before giving up and going back to the original lyrics. In the 80s gay basically became synonymous with AIDS. Though usage of the word gay was sporadic at best in the 70s, it became very difficult to use in the age of AIDS. Of course till gay today which has taken on a new meaning as Gay=Lame ---
**Author:** ![JThunder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e95f7d/32.png) [@JThunder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JThunder)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2011, 2:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-was-the-last-non-ironic-use-of-the-word-gay-to-mean-happy/566469/45 "2011-01-13T14:43:55Z")
BTW, my example from _Enchanted_ is from the year 2007. I think it wins. ---
**Author:** ![Hal\_Briston](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/a9a28c/32.png) [@Hal\_Briston](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hal_Briston)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2011, 2:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-was-the-last-non-ironic-use-of-the-word-gay-to-mean-happy/566469/46 "2011-01-13T14:56:38Z")
I’m have here my childhood copy of _The Charlie Brown Dictionary_ (c.1973), which now resides on The Littlest Briston’s bookshelf. It’s a simple thing, really – for most words, it’s just “Word in question” “Word used in a sentence” “Alternate sentence giving contextual definition” According to Schultz: > [@](#): > > **gay** > Snoopy is **gay**. > Snoopy is **happy**. ---
**Author:** ![Contrapuntal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e274bd/32.png) [@Contrapuntal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Contrapuntal)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2011, 3:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-was-the-last-non-ironic-use-of-the-word-gay-to-mean-happy/566469/47 "2011-01-13T15:00:50Z")
> [@Miller](#): > > [Here’s a picture of the titular hero from that film.](http://www.zorrolegend.com/zorrogayblade/gayblade4.jpg) If he’s all titular and shit he ain’t gay. Just sayin’. Tits Rule! ---
**Author:** ![One\_And\_Only\_Wanderers](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/838e76/32.png) [@One\_And\_Only\_Wanderers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/One_And_Only_Wanderers)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2011, 3:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-was-the-last-non-ironic-use-of-the-word-gay-to-mean-happy/566469/48 "2011-01-13T15:13:23Z")
nm someone got this one ---
**Author:** ![Don\_Draper](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b2d939/32.png) [@Don\_Draper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Don_Draper)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2011, 4:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-was-the-last-non-ironic-use-of-the-word-gay-to-mean-happy/566469/49 "2011-01-13T16:12:12Z")
> [@Spoke](#): > > I think the 70s were still transitional. I recall a sitcom scene (can’t remember which show) where a visitor in a family’s home announced “I’m gay!” to which the clueless mother replied “That’s wonderful! We love happy people!” I think you’re thinking about the movie [Next Stop, Greenwich Village](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0074963/). Specifically, the scene in which the main characters’ mother (played by Shelley Winters!) accidentally crashes a party he’s holding in his GV apartment. Mother (Winters): Who are you? Black gay guy: I’m Leonard Bernstein. Mother: YOU’RE jewish? Black gay guy: No, darlin’, I’m gay! Mother: Well, I don’t care how you feel, but you’re a real good dancer. Movie was released in '76 (though it takes place in the early 50s.) I happen to know a guy named “Gaylord.” He’s in mid 60s though, so he’d have been born in the late 40s/early 50s. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-was-the-last-non-ironic-use-of-the-word-gay-to-mean-happy/566469.md?page=2)