The Queens' English de Chloe O. Davis

Date de parution : 02.2021
Format : Relié
Nombre de pages : 336
Résumé : A landmark reference guide to the LGBTQIA+ community's contributions to the English language--an intersectional, inclusive, playfully illustrated glossary featuring more than 800 terms and fabulous phrases created by and for queer culture. Do you know where "yaaaas queen!" comes from? Do you know the difference between a bear and a wolf? Do you know what all the letters in LGBTQIA+ stand for? The Queens' English is a comprehensive guide to modern gay slang, queer theory terms, and playful colloquialisms that define and celebrate LGBTQIA+ culture. This modern dictionary provides an in-depth look at queer language, from terms influenced by celebrated lesbian poet Sappho and from New York's underground queer ball culture in the 1980s to today's celebration of RuPaul's Drag Race. The glossary of terms is supported by full-color illustrations and photography throughout, as well as real-life usage examples for those who don't quite know how to use "kiki," "polysexual," or "transmasculine" in a sentence. A series of educational lessons highlight key people and events that shaped queer language; readers will learn the linguistic importance of pronouns, gender identity, Stonewall, the Harlem Renaissance, and more. For every queen in your life--the men, women, gender non-conforming femmes, butches, daddies, and zaddies--The Queens' English is at once an education and a celebration of queer history, identity, and the limitless imagination of the LGBTQIA+ community. Leseprobe Introduction The idea to write The Queens’ English  was spawned when I landed my first job as a professional performing artist at a Philadelphia-based dance company in 2006. We traveled often for shows, and bus conversation—our ultimate entertainment pastime—was typically led by a few charismatic MVPs at the back of our tour bus. Jokes and witty remarks were always being tossed around, and the better the joke, the louder the laughs, the more fun everyone had. The back-of-the-bus group had the 411 on all the good gossip, and the rest of us were always glued to their conversations. But sometimes their jokes sounded like a code to me, filled with terms I could not decipher. One day I called to the back of the tour bus and asked, “What does ‘snatched’ mean? You are always calling people ‘snatched’ like it’s a compliment. What is it?” With a bit of shade, a company member said, “Something you need to be when you are in this company, snatched for the gawds!” Laughter erupted, but I was still confused. Another company member, who was willing to break it down, said, “Let me give you the T. We are gay, honey, and we have our own language that only we  get. Other people in the company eventually get it, too, because it’s fierce backboots. That’s why you are here looking through the window trying to come inside our world. So, here’s a little breakdown . . . five, six, seven, eight! ‘Snatched’ m...