Terms for gay in different languages
This is a list of terms which are widely used today to refer to "gay" in different languages and which derive from concepts unrelated to homosexuality (e.g. the words "gay" or "pederast") or its common stereotypes. Their original meanings are also given.
Language |
Term |
Literal meaning |
Style |
|---|---|---|---|
Afrikaans |
moffie |
diminuitive |
derogatory |
Arabic |
لوطي (lūŧī) |
of Lot's people |
derogatory & religious |
Arabic |
مثلي (miθli) |
of the same |
neutral |
Arabic |
منحرف (munħaraf) |
queer/out of line |
slightly derogatory |
Arabic |
شاذ (shað) |
intruder |
neutral |
Arabic |
خول (xawal) |
fag |
Egypt highly derogatory |
Arabic |
متناك (metnæk) |
bottoms in [...] |
highly derogatory |
Chinese (Cantonese) |
基佬 (gēi-lóu) |
'basic' man (the Chinese character 基 (basic, pronounced: gēi) is phonetically similar to 'gay') |
slightly derogatory |
Chinese (Mandarin) |
同性恋 (tóngxìnglián) |
same-[...] love/yearning |
neutral/technical (equivalent to English "homosexual") |
Chinese (Mandarin) |
同志 (tóngzhì) |
comrade |
neutral/informal (equivalent to English "gay") |
Chinese (Mandarin) |
玻璃 (bōlī) |
glass, crystal |
derogatory |
Czech |
teplouš |
warm |
slightly derogatory |
Czech |
buzna/buzerant |
[...] |
derogatory |
Czech |
bukvice |
beechnut |
slightly derogatory |
Danish |
bøsse |
gun |
neutral |
Danish |
svans |
tail |
neutral |
Dutch |
nicht |
niece |
derogatory |
Dutch |
poot |
leg |
derogatory |
Dutch |
bruinridder |
brown knight |
derogatory |
Dutch |
flikker |
[...] |
very derogatory |
Dutch |
mietje |
from sodomite |
slightly derogatory |
English |
gay |
joyous, cheery, bright, lively |
neutral |
English |
queer |
strange |
slightly derogatory (but often embraced) |
English |
[...], fag |
bundle of sticks or branches, see [...] (wood) |
derogatory |
English |
fruit |
fruit |
slightly derogatory |
English |
fairy |
fairy |
slightly derogatory (but more than fruit) |
English |
bufftie |
? |
derogatory (mostly used in Scotland) |
Esperanto |
geja |
gay (cf. gaja = joyous, cheery, bright, lively) |
neutral |
Esperanto |
samseksema |
tending to the same [...] |
neutral |
Interlingua |
gay |
English loanword |
neutral |
Finnish |
hintti, hinttari |
? |
derogatory |
Finnish |
hinuri |
tower (as in a person who tows) |
derogatory |
Finnish |
lepakko |
bat |
slightly derogatory; used for lesbians |
Finnish |
ruskean reiän ritari |
knight of the brown hole |
neutral |
French |
folle |
feminine of "fou" |
derogatory |
French |
tante, tata |
aunt, auntie |
slightly derogatory |
French |
tantouze |
augmentative of "tante" |
derogatory |
French |
tapette |
flyswatter |
derogatory |
French |
pédé |
pederast attractive lad |
derogatory |
French |
gouine |
"lesbienne" or dyke |
derogatory |
French |
il en est |
he's one of them |
slightly derogatory |
French (Quebec) |
fifi, fif |
stereotypical name for a poodle |
derogatory |
French (Quebec) |
grande |
same meaning as "folle" |
derogatory |
French (Quebec) |
gai |
gay |
neutral |
German |
schwul |
warm, hot (cf. schwül which means warm and moist weather) |
formerly derogatory, now neutral |
German |
Schwuchtel |
mock feminine of schwul |
derogatory |
German |
Schwuppe |
Schwuler in northern Germany |
neutral |
German |
Tunte |
(cf. "Tante" = aunt) used for effeminate men |
slightly derogatory |
German |
warmer Bruder |
lit. warm brother |
slightly derogatory, anachronism |
German |
175er |
see Paragraph_175 |
old, neutral or slightly derogatory |
Greek |
πούστη (poústi) |
[...] |
derogatory |
Greek |
σύκο (síko) |
fig |
slightly derogatory |
Hebrew |
גאה (m: ge'e, f: ge'a) |
proud |
neutral/positive |
Hebrew |
עליז (aliz) |
gay, happy, joyful |
neutral, anachronism |
Hebrew |
קומקום (koomkoom) |
kettle, water boiler |
derogatory |
Hungarian |
buzi |
sodomite (from German Buserant, originating indirectly from "Bulgarian" as "heretic") |
derogatory |
Hungarian |
köcsög |
jug, pitcher |
derogatory |
Hungarian |
meleg |
warm |
neutral, PC |
Irish |
aerach |
airy as "gay" (loan-translation from English) |
neutral |
IsiZulu |
unqingili |
? |
derogatory |
Italian |
finocchio |
fennel (a herb) |
derogatory |
Italian |
frocio |
old term for the Swiss Pope guards in Rome |
derogatory |
Italian |
culattone |
fat [...] |
derogatory |
Japanese |
ネコ (neko) |
cat |
slightly derogatory; used for effeminate men |
Japanese |
御釜, お釜, おかま, オカマ (okama) |
cooking pot |
derogatory |
Japanese |
おなべ (onabe) |
pot |
derogatory; used for lesbians |
Luxembourgish |
lénks |
left |
derogatory, but also neutral |
Luxembourgish |
tatta |
aunty |
derogatory; used for effeminate men |
Macedonian |
пешкир (peškir) |
towel |
derogatory |
Norwegian |
rompis |
play on the Norwegian word for comrade "kompis", rompis it therefore a friend of the [...] |
derogatory, used for men |
Norwegian |
skeiv |
crooked, as in not straight |
neutral |
Norwegian |
traktorlesbe |
Tractor lesbian, often referring to butch woman wearing manly workingclothes |
derogatory, used for lesbians |
Norwegian |
homse |
slang derived from "homo" |
derogatory, used for men |
Norwegian |
skinkerytter |
"ham-rider", straightforwardly someone who engages in anal [...] |
derogatory, used for men |
Norwegian |
bæsjdytter |
"poop-shover", straightforwardly someone who engages in anal [...] |
derogatory, used for men |
Norwegian |
bønnebryter |
"bean-breaker", straightforwardly someone who engages in anal [...] |
derogatory, used for men |
Polish |
pedał |
pedal |
derogatory |
Polish |
homoś |
a homo |
slightly derogatory |
Polish |
kochający inaczej |
the one who loves in a different way |
neutral |
Polish |
ciota |
aunt (augmentative) |
derogatory |
Polish |
fajociąg |
cocksucker |
very derogatory |
Polish |
dupogrzmot |
assfucker |
very derogatory |
Polish |
cwel |
male [...] slave (prison slang) |
very derogatory |
Portuguese |
bicha |
beast (feminine form) |
derogatory |
Portuguese |
boiola |
used to designate delicate little boys, young lads working in theaters in the 19th century |
derogatory (mostly used in Brazil) |
Portuguese |
frutinha, fruta |
little fruit or fruit |
slightly derogatory |
Portuguese |
mariquinha(s) |
originally a diminutive for the name "Maria" |
derogatory |
Portuguese |
morde-fronha |
pillowcase biter |
derogatory |
Portuguese |
paneleiro |
vendor of pots and pans |
highly derogatory (in Portugal) |
Portuguese |
rabeta, rabete |
the one who likes (or has) buttocks/tail |
derogatory (Portugal) |
Portuguese |
roto |
torn |
derogatory (Portugal) |
Portuguese |
queima-rosca |
the one who has anal [...], doughnut burner |
offensive |
Portuguese |
veado, veadinho |
deer, little deer |
neutral or derogatory (in Brazil) |
Romanian |
bulangiu |
from "bulan", police stick. Bulangiu also means "one that does not hold his part of a deal", and is more likely to be used with this meaning |
derogatory |
Romanian |
poponar |
derived from popou, meaning "tooshie" |
highly derogatory |
Romanian |
curist |
derived from cur, meaning "[...]" |
derogatory |
Romanian |
găozar |
derived from găoază/găoz, meaning "[...] hole" |
derogatory |
Russian |
бугор (bugor) |
hillock; but the word came from French bougre, like Hungarian buzi (see Bogomilism) |
derogatory(?), archaic |
Russian |
бардаш (bardash) |
?; probably of French origin |
derogatory(?), archaic |
Russian |
голубой (goluboy) |
light blue |
neutral |
Slovene |
toplovodar |
anachronistic, literally "warm-water person" |
derogatory |
Spanish |
marica, mariquita, maricón |
alteration of "Mary" |
derogatory |
Spanish |
sarasa |
bad-life-woman |
derogatory |
Spanish |
bujarrón |
sodomite |
derogatory |
Spanish |
loca, locaza |
feminine form of crazy |
derogatory |
Spanish |
mariposón |
big butterfly |
Mexico-derogatory |
Spanish |
muerdealmohadas |
'pillow-biter' |
derogatory |
Spanish |
jamaicón |
from Jamaica |
derogatory |
Spanish |
puñal |
dagger |
Mexico-highly derogatory |
Spanish |
puto |
male prostitute |
Mexico-highly derogatory |
Spanish |
joto |
unknown origin |
Mexico-highly derogatory |
Spanish |
de ambiente |
from the scene |
neutral |
Spanish |
entendido |
we're in the know |
neutral |
Spanish |
pato |
duck |
puertorican and venezuelan derogatory |
Spanish |
plumifero |
'with feathers' |
puertorican derogatory |
Swedish |
bög |
crooked |
formerly derogatory, now neutral |
Swedish |
bajspackare |
fudge packer |
derogatory |
Swedish |
fikus |
ficus |
derogatory |
Swedish |
stjärtlymmel |
[...] rascal |
derogatory |
Swedish |
stjärtdykare |
[...] diver |
derogatory |
Tagalog (Filipino) |
bakla |
unknown; can also be used to describe things used by a male judged to be too effeminate (e.g. cosmetics, toiletries, clothing) |
neutral or slightly derogatory depending on context |
Tagalog (Filipino) |
bading |
unknown |
neutral or slightly derogatory depending on context |
Turkish |
top |
ball |
derogatory |
Turkish |
nonoş |
old meaning: "cute, dear", now slang for effeminate gays |
derogatory |
Turkish |
yumuşak |
soft |
derogatory |
Turkish |
ibne |
? |
derogatory |
Turkish |
kulampara |
originally word from Persian, used for top gay men, particularly those who like younger persons |
old, derogatory |
Yiddish |
פֿײגעלע (feygele) |
"little bird" - a diminutive of bird (פֿויגל) |
slighty derogatory |
See also
- Singapore gay terminology
External links
Beware that some of the translations given in the following pages are for "gay" in the traditional sense of "joyful".