Appendix:English sexual slurs
The following is a list of sexual slurs that are, or have been, commonly or notably used to refer to members of a given sexual minority, gender, sex, or sexual orientation in a derogatory or pejorative manner. This list is comprised of slurs that have named references.
It is not uncommon for minority groups to adopt an originally disparaging term and use it of themselves, as an act of self-assertion.
A
edit- aborto - (Spain,Italy) literally, "abortion"--a very ugly person.[1]
- AC/DC - (North America) bisexual; not named after the rock band but used in the "goes both ways" sense, much like the French "marcher à voile et à vapeur", to go by sail and by steam.[2]
- agfay - A gay man. Pig Latin for fag. Originated in the early 1900s.[3]
- ambidextrous / ambisexterous - A bisexual man (i.e., a man who likes to copulate with both women and men).[3](p. 7.)
- angel - (1) a gay male who practices anal sex especially with a boy as the passive partner--a pederast; (2) a passive male receiver in anal sex.[3] (p. 8.)
- arse bandit / arse king - {U.K.} a gay male who has anal sex especially with a boy as the passive partner--a pederast).[3] (p. 11.)
- as camp as a row of tents - (Australian) very gay. Used from the mid-1900s to the present.).[3] (p. 12.)
B
edit- ballbreaker / ballbuster - (North America) domineering female [4][5][6]
- batty boy / batty bwoy / battyman - (Caribbean) a homosexual man [7]
- beef curtains - the labia; specifically the folds of tissue of the female external genitalia.[8] (op. cit. p.154.)
- bitch - a. spiteful woman, b. lewd woman (OED) c. sometimes applied to men in sense a. (eg: w:The Bitch Is Back)
- bollera - (Spain) dyke [1] (p. 74.)
- breeder - (U.S.) a heterosexual, a term used by non heterosexuals.[9] [10]
- brownie - a. a homosexual [1910s on], b. a person penetrated in anal sex [1960s on] [8](p.154.)
- bugger - (U.K.) see: buggery
C
edit- carpet-cleaner - (North America) A man that performs cunnilingus on a woman after another man has ejaculated into the woman, thus "cleaning the carpet". first used in Dallas, Texas 1950s to modern times.
- calientapollas - (Spain) a cock-teaser [from calentar to warm + polla penis][11]
- carpet-muncher - (North America & British) a lesbian. First used in the late 1900s [3] (p. 67.)
- cazo - (Spain) criminal slang: a pimp.[1] (p. 128.)
- changa - (Latin America) a prostitute. [1](p. 134.)
- chapero - (Spain) a. a male prostitute, b. a queer [11] (p. 206.)
- Cleveland Steamer- Cleveland steamer (plural Cleveland steamers) (slang) A sexual act involving defecating on someone's chest, then sitting in it and rolling back and forth like a steamroller.
- cock-chafer - a female permitting and assuming most intimacies but not the greatest [first used in the 1600s] [12]
- cock pimp - an assumed--but rarely an actual--husband to a whore [12]
- cocksucker - person who (qv) engages in fellatio. By extension, a low or worthless person.
- cola - (Spanish) adjective: gay; someone's bitch. [7]
- crow - a girl or woman, esp. one who is old or ugly; frequently in phrase "old crow" [7]
- cumdumpster. A person, male or female, who intakes excessive amounts of semen during sexual intercourse.
- cunt. Female Genitalia. [13]
D
edit- dog - an unattractive woman or girl. Also occasionally: an unattractive man[7] (op. cit.)
- dutch boy - [late 1900s on] (U.S.) a man--gay or straight--who likes to be around lesbians [7] (p. 116.)
- Dyke. Lesbian. [14]
- Diesel Dyke - (North America) Butch lesbians. The term has been discussed by Daniel Buring in the context of the American South: Diesel dyke was the woman who dressed in men's clothing, boots, even to black leather a lot of times- rompin', stompin' dyke. A diesel duke was typically one who didn't care who knew she was gay and had a very, very feminine woman. [15]
F
edit- fagbasket. A promiscuous homosexual man.
- Faggot, fag. Homosexual male.
- faggot master / faggoteer - obsolete: a whore monger [first used ca. 1825][12] (p. 374.)
- faggy - a gay man, especially one who is usually penetrated in anal sex [first used ca. 1965][12] (loc. cit.)
- fag hag - a woman who likes the company of gay and bisexual men. Often used disparagingly in the gay community to refer to unattractive women who seek the company of gay men because of their inability to attract heterosexual partners, or women who want to date or have sex with gay men. [16]
- fag hole - a mouth or anus if the male is gay [originated ca. 1945][12]
- fairy - male homosexual (OED)
- fish - used in a very derogatory sense by gay males to refer to women [17]
- fudgepacker - a term used for the man who penetrates in anal sex. [18]
G
edit- gay - homosexual. Often (c. 2000) used as a synonym for lame or ineffectual. A reclaimed slur.
M
editO
editP
edit- pansy - male homosexual (Gore Vidal, The City and the Pillar)
- pillow-biter a homosexual; one who is anally penetrated.[21]
- poofter / pooftah / poufter / pufter a homosexual; an effeminate man.[22]
- pillow princess a lesbian who exclusively recieves sex or prefers receiving sex.
Q
edit- Queen - male homosexual (OED). Gore Vidal, in his 1948 novel The City and The Pillar writes, "The words "fairy" and "pansy" were considered to be in bad taste. It was fashionable to say that a person was "gay". A person who was quite effeminate, like Rolloson, was called a "queen". [23]
- Queer - slang for a homosexual.
R
edit- rug muncher - A lesbian. [24]
S
edit- sheepshagger / sheep shagger - (Welsh / N.Z.) a man who engages in or is said to engage in sexual intercourse with sheep [military slang first used in the 1950s] Originally what Welsh/New Zealander people "allegedly" spend their spare time doing(UK)[7] (op. cit.)
- shirtlifter - active homosexual.[25]
- skank - a person (esp. a woman) regarded as unattractive, sleazy, sexually promiscuous, or immoral [originally U.S.][7] (op. cit.)
- slut. slovenly or sexually promiscuous woman (OED)
- sperm burper - a gay man, usually one who sucks on penises [first used in the 1990s][8] (p. 1119.) Also, anyone who performs fellatio.
- streetwalker - a prostitute [26]
- switch hitter - A bisexual [adapted from baseball terminology for a player who bats both right- or left-handed; late 20th century]. At most this is mildly pejorative. [27]
- sword swallower - someone--male or female--who deepthroats penises [originally Australian, 1800s][8] (1168.)
T
edit- tabby - an old woman. first used in the late 1700s [8] (p. 1170.)
- tearoom queen - a gay male who specializes in having sex in public restrooms[3] (p. 345.)
- teaser - a sexually loose female[3] (p. 345.)
- teeny weeny - (U.S.) a male with a small penis. first used in the mid-1950s[3] (p. 346.)
- tender parnel - a DeSouza prostitute who works in a brothel. used from the late 1600s to the 1800s[8] (p. 1188.)
- ten o'clock girl - a London prostitute [1930s-1950s. from the time convicts had to surrender their bail to a magistrate][8]
- terry toon - (Australia) a pimp who lives off of a prostitute. first used in the 1970s[8] (p. 1189.)
- thais - a prostitute. used in the 1800s[8]
- that way - homosexual[3] (p.346.)
- thespian - (U.K.) a lesbian[3] (p. 347.)
- third-legger - (African Americans) a promiscuous woman. [first used in the 1980s][8] (p. 1194.)
- three-dollar bill - (U.S.) a homosexual. [From "queer as a three-dollar bill". Queer used to mean "fake" from the 1600s to the 1800s][3] (p.347.)
- three-legged beaver - (U.S.) A gay male. In citizens band radio slang, a woman is a beaver. The third leg is the penis. [3] (p.347.)
- three-letter man - (U.S.) A gay male. From FAG. [3] (p. 131.) Not to be confused with a five-letter woman, a bitch. [3] (p. 131.)
- thot - (U.S) Slang for a promiscuous woman.
- three-way girl - (U.S.) a woman who practices w:sexual intercourse, anal sex, and oral sex. used from the early 1900s to the present[3] (p. 348.)
- tickle-tail - (British) a lewd woman[3] (p. 349.)
- tickle-your-fancy - (British) a gay male[3] (p. 349.)
- tosser - (British) primarily an insult suggesting the person on the receiving end masturbates. Synonyms include wanker and jerk (US). [28]
- trap - A transgender woman.
W
editReferences
edit- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 Michael Mahler Dictionary of Spanish Slang and Colloquial Expressions (2000)
- ^ Philip H. Herbst, Wimmin, Wimps & Wallflowers: An Encyclopaedic Dictionary of Gender and Sexual Orientation Bias in the United States, Intercultural Press: 2001, pg. 1.
- ↑ 3.00 3.01 3.02 3.03 3.04 3.05 3.06 3.07 3.08 3.09 3.10 3.11 3.12 3.13 3.14 3.15 3.16 3.17 Richard A. Spears, Slang and Euphemism, (2001)
- ^ "you were a strident ball-buster if you were a woman who was sexually self-defined, who said what she wanted and sought her own partners, who perhaps was not heterosexual." Amber L Hollibaugh, My Dangerous Desires: a Queer Girl Dreaming her Way Home, Duke University Press: 2000, p. 121.
- ^ John Bassett McCleary, The Hippie Dictionary: A Cultural Encyclopedia of the 1960s and 1970s, Ten Speed Press: 2004, p. 37.
- ^ Jacinta Pollard and Laura Sorbello", Whore To Madonna And Back: The Challenge Of Being A Female Therapist In A Male Prison", Paper presented at the Women in Corrections: Staff and Clients Conference, Australian Institute of Criminology in conjunction with the Department for Correctional Services, Adelaide, 31 October – 1 November 2000, pg 6. Online version - PDF file.
- ↑ 7.0 7.1 7.2 7.3 7.4 7.5 7.6 John A. Simpson and Edmund S.C. Weiner, eds. "batty", The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed. (1989)
- ↑ 8.00 8.01 8.02 8.03 8.04 8.05 8.06 8.07 8.08 8.09 8.10 8.11 8.12 "Green": This reference is missing
- ^ Catherine Bennett (2005 June 23) “Hey presto, it's a fertility timebomb”, in (Please provide the book title or journal name)[1], The Guardian
- ^ Adrienne P. Samuels (2006 July 14) “A new intolerance visits Provincetown: Police say gays accused of slurs”, in (Please provide the book title or journal name)[2], Boston Globe
- ↑ 11.0 11.1 Collins Spanish Dictionary, (Harper Collins: 2003) p.162.
- ↑ 12.0 12.1 12.2 12.3 12.4 Eric Partridge, A Dictionary of Slang and Unconventional English, (2002) p. 233.
- ^ Online Etymmology Dictionary (2006 August 2 (last accessed)) “Cunt”, in (Please provide the book title or journal name)
- ^ Online Etymmology Dictionary (2006 July 4 (last accessed)) “Dyke”, in (Please provide the book title or journal name)
- ^ Daniel Buring, "Softball and Alcohol: The Limits of Lesbian Community in Memphis from the 1940s through the 1960s" in John Howard editor, Carryin' on in the Lesbian and Gay South, NYU Press: 1997, pg. 208.
- ^ Dawne Moon. "Insult and Inclusion: The term fag hag and gay male 'community'." Social Forces 74 (2), 1995:487-510.
- ^ Mark Gevisser & Edwin Cameron, Editors, Defiant Desire: Gay and Lesbian Lives in South Africa, Routledge: 1995, pg. 315.
- ^ Hywel Williams (2001 January 27) “It's a gay thing”, in (Please provide the book title or journal name)[3], The Guardian
- ^ “minger”, in Oxford English Dictionary, Draft Entry, Oxford University Press, 2006 June, retrieved 2006-07-05
- ^ “Clown Show; and Pigs”, in (Please provide the book title or journal name)[4], The Guardian, 2006 July 14 (last accessed)
- ^ Andrew Rawnsley (2006 January 29) “It's not the drink or the sex, it's the fibs that'll do for the Libs”, in (Please provide the book title or journal name)[5], The Observer
- ^ Sidney J. Baker A popular dictionary of Australian slang (1941)
- ^ Gore Vidal, The City and The Pillar, 1948
- ^ Zoe Williams (2001 September 17) “The lady and the vamp”, in (Please provide the book title or journal name)[6], The Guardian
- ^ Stephen Bayley (2005 July 31) “Me... gay? No, but I'm in the pink”, in (Please provide the book title or journal name)[7], The Guardian
- ^ “streetwalker”, in The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language: Fourth Edition[8], Houghton Mifflin Company, 2000, retrieved 2006-07-05
- ^ “switch hitter”, in The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language: Fourth Edition[9], Houghton Mifflin Company, 2000, retrieved 2006-07-05
- ^ Karen Stollznow, 2004, Whinger! Wowser! Wanker! Aussie English: Deprecatory language and the Australian ethos. In Christo Moskovsky (ed), Proceedings of the 2003 Conference of the Australian Linguistic Society. pg. 8 - Online pdf version.