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"Gay" is the word in most common usage to identify a homosexual male. But since the 1700s, and even earlier, there have been many other words and phrases in use -- the majority of them derogatory. Gay's the Word is a carefully researched, informative and entertaining history of the "gay" language. It explains why a homosexual male is gay, why an effeminate gay male is a queen, and how gay men became gay rather than queer. A once-lost and early gay language is here brought back from obscurity.