An Honest Question For The Community Where Everyone Comes To Ask Questions

[queerart]

Now to be very clear on this... I am not trying to be a shit stirrer......


I'm honestly trying to understand.......








What do you think of this "quote"?


He sounds drunk and a little light in the loafers.


Does someone say such a thing because they are "socially stunted", and find themselves unable to say.....


This person is Gay, Queer, or whatever.......


Or is this the type of person whom "high five's" the elderly, that puts the suffix "ilster" on everyone's name.... meaning those type that are just one step off.... not disabled in a "medical sense", but in a sever "social sense"?


I honestly wonder..... I'll keep quiet, and listen to anyone kind enough to reply with their ideas on the topic......

[HarukaTheTrophyWife]

1. Sounds pretty homophobic to me, honestly

[Smarmie Doofus]

2. "Light in the loafers" I've heard.

At least *once*; and maybe no more than that. I assumed it to mean gay and I assumed it, from the context ( it's a long story), to be derogatory.

No connection to "drunk" that I can discern.

I suspect it's an anachronism.

>>>>>This person is Gay, Queer, or whatever.......>>>>>

Once upon a time that was unspeakable. Yeah, I'd take a wild guess that the user of "light in the loafers" is a bit out of the loop.

[LuvNewcastle]

3. I've heard a lot more gay people

use that expression than straight people. Assuming this person isn't gay, then he probably thinks he's being funny.

[HarukaTheTrophyWife]

8. I have never heard a gay person use that term ever

Honestly, the only people I've ever heard say it were ex-Marines trying to be PC.

[imdjh]

11. I haven't either. My friends and I tend to be crude. Really.

We rarely find it sufficient to decide if a guy is gay.

[LuvNewcastle]

12. Well of course they're using it in jest.

It's also pretty common -- at least where I live -- to hear gay people use the terms fag, dyke,queen, and many other words that would be offensive coming from a straight person.

[HarukaTheTrophyWife]

13. Sounds like you're an expert on gay people

:eyes:

[Vanje]

16. Must be different in my area

I've heard the term.
Its derogatory.
I've never heard it from anyone I've known to be, or even imagined in my wildest dreams, to be gay.

[imdjh]

4. Never attribute to malice that which can be adequately explained by stupidity

Etiquette demands that one begin with the presumption that no offense was intended.

How old is the person in question?

I find that too many younger people have an unfortunate condition called being uneducated. Many of them don't have any idea what common expressions mean and they use words incorrectly. It's quite possible that this person thought "light in his loafers" meant light headed.

[mitchtv]

5. I seriously doubt that

It is saying the person is gay. Unequivocally.(assuming the user is over 12)

[yardwork]

6. Uh, no.

Anybody using the phrase knows what it means.

[imdjh]

7. I'm telling you, they are out there

Googling the expression I found these sites demonstrating the problem:

http://www.danceinsider.com/f2004/f1123_1.html
http://www.netfunny.com/rhf/jokes/88q3/13889.html
http://forum.wordreference.com/showthread.php?t=297962

The other day I was at the repair shop and I used a common expression, like "In for a penny, in for a pound.", I can't recall the actual expression I used. The young man said, "I don't know what that means." He actually said that; at least he was honest. I asked, "You've never heard that expression before?", because I have come across this sort of thing a lot. He answered, "I"m only twenty-four." What?

Think about the essays you have seen online, supposedly written by college students. The spelling and grammar are shocking. I was watching a panel discussion on CSPAN when a grad student said, "I think we need to disseminate between what he said and what he meant." I was stunned. Just to make sure the world had not started spinning backward, I went to the internet and Googled "disseminate between" (in quotes). I just did it again and got 875 hits, one of which was on DU.

Think about the public officials you have heard giving statements to the press or answering questions and trying to use official sounding language. You know that these people have a degree in public admin or criminal justice and you have to wonder if English 101 is required for either.

[HarukaTheTrophyWife]

9. I'm 26, and I've never heard somebody within 15 years (lower or higher) of my age use that term

[imdjh]

10. Thanks, I'll just take my Geritol and go to bed

Kidding.

That wasn't the expression I used. The downside of getting older is that I can't remember what it was that I actually said, but like the example it was one a person ought to know or be able to figure out from the context.

[iris27]

30. Well, I'm 27 and I've heard it all my life.

(The penny/pound thing, I mean.) Region is everything, I guess?

[yardwork]

17. Why would somebody say "light in his loafers" if they don't know what it means?

[imdjh]

24. I don't know.

I watched the video, and the guy was loopy. I didn't think he was particularly gayish. Actually he was strange, behaving oddly but not what I would call drunk, more like he was on some strange medication or not taking the medication he was supposed to take.

[TEmperorHasNoClothes]

14. if you're trying to figure out an individual person-..

you're coming to the wrong place. It's best ask the individual why they used the expression rather than getting a bunch of lgbt folks with varying opinions and life experiences to guess or make assumptions.

[TEmperorHasNoClothes]

15. for all you know the person might have meant light in his loafers as can't hold alcohol....

[sui generis]

18. who cares.

Seriously - "lightfoot" also means a prostitute.

If we spend our time reading tea leaves, we're wasting our time.

[imdjh]

25. seconded nt

[La Lioness Priyanka]

19. i have never heard the term. ever.

[FreeState]

20. My grandma used that term

She died almost 15 years ago. She was in her 80's. Its an old term that is saying a man is gay and acts effeminate.

[IntravenousDemilo]

21. I get the same feeling from it as from "he's a little (*snicker sneer giggle*) faggy."

When a person feels he must euphemize someone else's sexual orientation, it's clear he thinks the orientation is distasteful and too embarrassing to even mention by name. It's not clear why he can't seem to keep his damned thoughts and embarrassment to himself, though.

[mitchtv]

23. That is how I get it

and I am probably the oldest person on this thread, and I have heard it many times , always in the tone you describe. Many times on tv. there are no other meanings, and those who use it know what they are saying

[sui generis]

22. Urbandictionary.com sez

1. Light in the loafers
To be homosexual

Jimmy is a little light in the loafers if you know what I mean.

2. Light in the Loafers
Implies homosexuality and gayness.

Why it means this:

1. If you are light in the loafers, you are said to be missing the vital male reproductive organs and therefore you are light in your loafers (shoes).

2. A myth says that homosexuals tend to where lighter colored loafers instead of darker colored loafers.
Winston, you're looking pretty light in the loafers today...I would even say that you're nearly levitating.
************************

Waugh! I'm wearing light tan loafers. Oh dear god I'm gay . . . . . :P

[imdjh]

26. White sneakers

2. A myth says that homosexuals tend to where lighter colored loafers instead of darker colored loafers.
Winston, you're looking pretty light in the loafers today...I would even say that you're nearly levitating.

It's been so long since I read it, I can't even remember where i read it or why. It had to have been many years ago, though I'm thinking I must have read it on the internet or AOL. In any event, it was something about wearing white sneakers, and the military. Perhaps the military guys won't wear white sneakers because it's sign of being gay?

[mitchtv]

27. Reminds me of "white Bucks" ala Pat Boone

In NYC better known as "fruit boots"

[imdjh]

28. I hope you are writing a book.

You said you were older than most people here but I wasn't thinking Pat Boone and white bucks era. I hope you are writing a book, or at least some essays. There is such a dearth of gay history that isn't wrapped in academia or obstructed by novelization. A simple telling would be refreshing. I'd buy that book.

[mitchtv]

29. visit my journal

some tidbita there