Date:  Fri, 1 Mar 1996 07:37:56 -0400

From:  "Bethany K. Dumas, U of Tennessee" <dumasb[AT SYMBOL GOES HERE]UTKVX.UTK.EDU>

Subject: Re: GAY (Changes to the English Language)



I watched part of an A&E program on the Whitechapel Murders lat night

(aka Jack the Ripper). The commentator explained at one point that in

Victorian England prostitutes were known as "gay" women and that "gay"

meant "nymphomaniac" at that time. I have absoutely no documentation for

this claim.



Bethany



Bethany K. Dumas, J.D., Ph.D.  | Applied Linguistics, Language & Law

Dep't of English, UT, Knoxville | EMAIL: dumasb[AT SYMBOL GOES HERE]utk.edu

415 McClung Tower        | (423) 974-6965 | FAX (423) 974-6926

Knoxville, TN 37996-0430    | See Webpage at http://hamlet.la.utk.edu