Words get co- opted and attached to very narrow/restricted uses . How and why? Do you ever use the word "gay" and not mean "homosexual"? Do you dare?
The meaning I hear depends on the context in the sentence.
What other context besides homosexual have you heard in the last ten or twenty
years hartfire? That is my point. Thank you for your reply! :)
I think homosexual. They own that word now. Them gay homosexuals. They stole our word.
Merry.
That is the definition.
Of course I dare. Why let words get hijacked. The meanings of gay, pride, and any use of rainbow colors are stilled used in their original and historical context. If you don't, ask yourself why.
At Christmas time when I sing the song about dawning my gay attire fa la la la la la la. Cheers!
Some people just don't understand how language works. It's one of the many foibles of being human. We use language, but we don't understand it.
The "primary" definition is whatever is the most used at a specific time--dictionaries don't define words, humans define words as they use them. Dictionaries only record the definitions that we use. At one time, the word "deer" meant any animal, and then over time it came to refer specifically to cervids. Thus the definition changed. The only people take issue with "gay" being used to mean homosexual is because they see homosexuality as something bad, so they don't want "their" word taken over. They cling to some delusion that when the word "gay" meant primarily "happy", this was a more pure, innocent, and less "debauched" time.
We, and all of our English friends use gay to mean happy and merry. I don't like words being hijacked and used for controversial subjects. Do you know how or why the gay people chose to be called gay or was that pushed on them by others. I don't have any trouble knowing which definition of gay is being proposed in a sentence. Ever.
My mother always used gay to mean happy, often to mean slightly tipsy.
You can hear it in Christmas Carols, "Now rejoice with gay abandon.... fa, la, la, la, laah!"
You can hear it in old movies, classic plays, novels and poetry.
I don't mind saying "I'm feeling gay!" if I'm in a happy and playful mood.
a homosexual man
True. It is called progress. I'm not so sure. Thank you for your thoughtful reply WW and Happy Wednesday! :)
I couldn't disagree with you more. Thank you for your reply Nevan and Happy Wednesday. 
You're brave because saying that would set you up for homophobic comments. Yes. In the good OLD days one could use
the word to mean merry or happy. How it got attached to homosexual I do not know. I suppose I could Google it! Thank you for your reply hartfire! :)
Have you any idea how "gay" became synonymous with homosexual Sharonna? I'm going to Google it and see if I can find out its' genesis in that context. Thank you for your reply and Natalie Wood as Maria. Happy Wednesday! :)
Sad ain't it? Thank you for your reply sw! :)
