interesting discussion … well, for all of reddit’s flaws, at least I’ve never encountered people on there using “gay” as a diss, when saying “weird/dumb” would work just as well. Boo to homophobic language.
Discussion
When I first worked in schools 24 years ago, ALL the UK kids used it as a diss. They were too young to really understand what they were saying. Maybe Reddit has banned using 'gay' as a diss?
I remember in middle school, it was a small group of the “cool” “bad” boys who’d look for any small opportunity to use it to insult other boys … like “that’s gay” or “you’re gay”. They were also the group that really strictly imitated Kid Rock and Eminem.
I think Reddit has basically the same rule for each sub to keep things inclusive and respectful … so people are quick to downvote any comment that has an abusive language tone, or to report it to the moderators.
It was girls and boys at the school I worked at.
yeah there *was* also a small group of cool but ‘mean’ girls at my middle school… I think they used disses a lot less though. For them it was more like ignoring people and treating them like they’re invisible (social ostracism) vs. being really friendly and approving with others. And it would be coordinated with the previously mentioned cool boy group.