Chrysti the Wordsmith > Radio Scripts

The Oxford English Dictionary's first citation of the word queer is from 1508, when it meant simply "odd" or "peculiar." Its antecedent is most likely the German word quer, "oblique, aslant, off-center."

As centuries passed, the word took on more meanings. In the 18th century, for example, a queer bird was a rogue released from prison. Men who used to fake drowning in order to be compensated by the Humane Society for their trauma and hardship were called queer plungers.

This word has often been associated with the production of counterfeit currency. A British publication from 1848 explained that queer screen were fake bills, and queer wedge was bogus silver coin. Even as recently as 1942, Americans living on the queer were those involved in forging currency.

As a verb, the word has come to mean "spoil or ruin." Historical citations from the Oxford English Dictionary speak of queering a deal -- spoiling carefully made plans.

But all of these meanings of queer have been eclipsed by its most common contemporary usage as a reference to homosexuality. This sense of the word emerged in America in the 1920s, with the first citation appearing in a U.S. Department of Labor publication referring to young men with "queer" tendencies. In current usage, a pejorative sense of the word has gained prominence over all its other meanings.

Radio Script > Queer