(US) The decade of the 1890s, characterised by decadence, social scandal and the beginning of the suffragette movement.
(US) The decade of the 1890s, characterised by decadence, social scandal and the beginning of the suffragette movement.
"Gay Nineties" means: The decade of the 1890s, characterised by decadence, social scandal and the beginning of the suffragette movement.. This is a fairly neutral word with no inherent risk attached. There is no real cause for parental concern; it is descriptive vocabulary rather than something dangerous. If your child uses it, context will usually make the meaning clear. A brief, curious question about where they heard it is generally enough to know whether to follow up.
"Gay Nineties" means: The decade of the 1890s, characterised by decadence, social scandal and the beginning of the suffragette movement.. Register: neutral, standard English, usable in most everyday contexts. Note the regional or dialect label (US) — usage may sound odd outside that variety. A common non-native mistake is to use the word in the wrong register, or to assume one fixed meaning when it is actually polysemous; always check the surrounding register and the audience before producing it yourself. In formal writing, prefer a neutral synonym or a short descriptive phrase, and use this word only when you have heard or read it being used naturally in a comparable context.
"Gay Nineties" means: The decade of the 1890s, characterised by decadence, social scandal and the beginning of the suffragette movement.. This is a fairly neutral word with no inherent risk attached. There is no real cause for parental concern; it is descriptive vocabulary rather than something dangerous. If your child uses it, context will usually make the meaning clear. A brief, curious question about where they heard it is generally enough to know whether to follow up.
Slang is read by different audiences for very different reasons. The For parents view re-explains the term in plain, non-judgemental language so a caregiver can understand what their child means without needing the surrounding subculture. The For English learners view focuses on register (when it's safe to use), formal alternatives, and common mistakes — what a textbook won't teach you.
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Regional slang from around the English-speaking world — British, Australian, Irish, Caribbean, Nigerian, Filipino, AAVE, and the hyphenated-English dialects that make the internet sound local.
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(US) The 1970s characterized by a rise of self-indulgence and narcissism in American society.
A 1990s cultural moment when androgynous or openly queer femininity became fashionable in mainstream media and fashion. The term captured a brief window where lesbian identity was treated as edgy or aspirational by straight culture rather than stigmatized — think k.d. lang on the cover of Vanity Fair. Critics pointed out it celebrated aesthetics while sidelining actual queer politics. Today it reads as dated, but it marks a real turning point in how queer women gained visibility in pop culture.
(historical, slang) A rough-and-tumble working-class young woman in Lower Manhattan between the late 1840s and the American Civil War period.
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(informal, somewhat, derogatory) The point in time by which it is perceived that a gay man has aged beyond his attractiveness, stereotypically at age 30 or even younger.