Starrunner said:
So, according to the Urban Dictionary, a poof is defined as:
"A homosexual, the poor man's term for homosexual. A word made famous and most commonly associated with Monty Python."
http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=poof,
Then, according to The Free Dictionary, 'poof' is a term used to describe a sudden vanishing. The definition is followed by a second definition referring to it as a 'term used as a disparaging termmfor an effeminate man, especially an effeminate gay man.'
http://www.thefreedictionary.com/poof
It's interesting, as a gay man myself, I would have clued in to the reference about poof referring to biodegradable products but not the disparaging reference against gays. Tiny, I like to think it's because we're that much more civilized in this part of the world! :tongueout:
Oh, I don't think the word has anything to do with Monty Python. It was a pretty common phrase for gay (usually effeminate) men. Back in the 1960s and 70s it wouldn't have been
entirely polite, but it wouldn't have had
quite the same offensive connotations as in these more enlightened times.
There was a TV magician in the 1980s who put on a somewhat camp stage persona, and used to make things disappear with the phrase "pif, paf, poof" -- with "poof" being a pun referring to both his campness and an object vanishing. They were family-oriented programmes, so the word certainly wasn't seen as unsuitable for a young audience at that time.
Trevor said:
As an American who tries to keep up on Brit-speak, I found your thread a bit of a way homer. When I finally realized what you were getting at, I had a good laugh.
Ha ha... It's funny, isn't it?! We have almost the same language, but I still come across Americanisms I'm not familiar with! So... what's a "way homer"? (*Scrabbles away on google*).... Ohhh, right! Ha ha -- that's a cool phrase!
AdorableRabbit said:
Well your thread title bothered me honestly more than the diapers.
Really?! Why? I "observed" something that, to my eyes looked "politically incorrect" and "homophobic". :-/ It's was a play-on-words (or a play-on-concept) of Maxx's thread entitled, "Politically incorrect sexist observation".
AdorableRabbit said:
I'm not British so maybe I would feel otherwise if I knew, but if I found a brand of diapers in another country were labeled ... I dunno ... "Baby Gay!" because they didn't realize that the word had a couple of meanings, I'd laugh - not be offended.
Sure... same here. I laughed and thought, "
Wow! I can't believe they're called that!". It'd be pretty silly to be more offended by abstract symbols than idealogical concepts.
AdorableRabbit said:
I think it's more hurtful to think or imply that there can be 'too much gayness' out there rather than someone making a cultural mistake...
It shouldn't be hurtful at all if someone makes a cultural mistake; it should be funny. I mean... seriously... no one with any sense is going to see that brand of diapers and be offended by it (assuming the company were unaware of the pejorative sense of the word).
dogboy said:
I suppose this is the same British culture that calls cigarettes "fags".....sigh. Sort of kidding here.
Heh. In public schools, "fags" would also be the younger boys assigned as a kind of personal servant to the older boys. Fortunately this relic of a bygone era was phased out in the 70s/80s (so recently!).
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fagging
And we eat faggots for dinner, too. They look very much like what they're made of!