17c起草社区

YOU may not know it, but gay men used to speak their own language. It was called Polari, and it was fantabulosa (wonderful).

Okay, it was less of a language and more of a cant 鈥� a coded set of words used exclusively to avoid detection by unwanted outsiders 鈥� including the police, disapproving conservative society or the group on the table next to you that you鈥檙e bitching about.

Polari, used in the early 20th century in larger cities in a very priggish Britain, forms part of a long tradition of gay lexicon: the words used by gay men and, to a slightly lesser extent, lesbians. The language we use about ourselves and each other is still coded even today 鈥� often to spare the blushes of outsiders or to shroud in secrecy our peccadillos, put-downs and peculiar fetishes.

But Polari is where it all began. You鈥檒l see from the Z鈥揂 table on the following page (done backwards in Polari鈥檚 subversive tradition) that many Polari words had common themes. It鈥檚 no accident that there were several coded names for the police 鈥� such as Sharpering Omees, Jennifer Justice, Orderly Daughters, Hilda Handcuffs, Betty Bracelets, Lily Law. The use of female names for what was, back then, a predominantly male force cheekily undermines their authority. Polari was spoken at a time when homosexuality was illegal in Britain, so avoiding detection was as important as expressing a contempt for the law and its enforcers.

Polari sits in the same bracket as other cryptolects. A cryptolect is a secretive language used to confuse and exclude others and affirm the character and solidarity of a marginalised subculture. In that sense, hip hop rap, cockney rhyming slang and Polari are all cousins.

Polari鈥檚 weapon was camp 鈥� imprinting a flamboyant flair and strange panache using a complete mish-mash of words 鈥� borrowed from cockney rhyming slang, backslang (when a word is pronounced backwards such as the Polari riah, esong and emag 鈥� hair, nose and game), Yiddish, Italian, theatre slang and naval slang. Even the Aussie 鈥渃ossy鈥� (costume) features in Polari. You might have dropped a Polari word into a sentence to surreptitiously show the attractive man you were talking to that you鈥檙e gay 鈥� or test if he was. Or to avoid disapproval 鈥� even arrest. Or simply to bitch and get away with it.

Polari shows its age with some casual racism (Schvartza for black man; Schinwhars for Chinese person) but it was also a cheeky way of speaking sexily in public without attracting attention 鈥� Kerterver cartzo so nanti arva (I can鈥檛 have sex because I鈥檝e got an STI) 鈥� was hardly something you鈥檇 broadcast. Similarly, Nada to vada in the larder (small penis) was a phrase you鈥檇 keep on the down low.

Professor Paul Baker, from Lancaster University鈥檚 Department of Linguistics, is a world expert on Polari. When asked why Polari didn鈥檛 exist in Australia (Editor’s note: Polari does indeed exist in Australia.) or why lesbians didn鈥檛 have their own Polari, he said it was because it was born out of a very oppressed group in a very particular time.

鈥淎lthough Australia has 鈥榯he beat鈥� as code for public restrooms, Polari flourished (in Britain) as a result of extreme oppression of gay men, plus the presence of other groups on the edges of society, all thrown together due to London鈥檚 large population,鈥� he said.

鈥淪o the conditions for Australia weren鈥檛 the same.鈥�

What about lesbians? Although evidence suggests they did use Polari, it was only in small numbers.

Professor John Hajek from Melbourne University鈥檚 School of Linguistics said: 鈥淟esbians were a less identifiable group than gay men 鈥� hence they鈥檙e less known for their own subculture and therefore slang. But some terms exist, often playful. For example: Hasbian 鈥� former lesbian, Saturday night lesbian 鈥� only gay at the weekends.鈥�

Unlike gay men, the law never specifically outlawed lesbian sex so, as with many forms of gay subculture, the women were invisible.

But is Polari an endangered language and should we preserve it? Professor Baker believes so.

鈥淭hat鈥檚 why I did my PhD in it and created an app for it,鈥� he said.

鈥淚 didn鈥檛 want the voices of the men and women who lived through that period to be forgotten. So often history is of the powerful, not the disempowered.

鈥淏ut preserving something isn鈥檛 the same as reviving it. I don鈥檛 want the conditions which brought it into being to be repeated. We never need to hide our sexuality from anyone. We have nothing to be ashamed of.鈥�

Polari was popularised by the 1960s BBC radio series Round the Horne, which featured two camp Polari speakers, Julian and Sandy. Once it gained popularity, the cat was out of the bag. 1967 saw the decriminalisation of homosexuality in Britain 鈥� hence making Polari redundant.

However, in many ways today we speak our own coded language. Take for example the zoological labels gay men apply to each other, denoting weight, age and hirsuteness. 鈥淏ear鈥� for hairy, older and larger; 鈥渃ub鈥� for hairy, younger and larger; 鈥渙tter鈥� for hairy, younger and slimmer; 鈥渟ilver fox/wolf鈥� for older and attractive; 鈥減ink panther鈥� for a straight man who frequents gay bars to seduce women; 鈥淲oof!鈥� to express physical approval of someone; and 鈥渢wink/chicken鈥� for younger, smoother and prettier. 鈥淐hicken鈥� itself was a Polari word, though twink is more common nowadays.

Is this animalistic vernacular vulgar, primal and dehumanising or playfully affectionate? Or 鈥� simply another code for us to fetishise and bitch about each other?

Soto Aivalis is categorised as a cub and he said he finds it 鈥渃ute and funny, even though I didn鈥檛 even know what one was 5/6 years ago鈥�.

He said it happened more often online: 鈥淓veryone鈥檚 trying to be a bit funnier, plus it鈥檚 easier to call someone a cub in that space than face-to-face. In the real world it might come across as awkward.鈥�

John Kuna, a member of the Harbour City Bears, agreed.

鈥淚鈥檝e found the majority of the bear community, since coming out, as friendly and supportive so for me the term 鈥榖ear鈥� has many positive connotations. Plus, hey, I鈥檓 big and hairy so it pretty much fits,鈥� he said.

鈥淭here鈥檚 no point trying to reject labels. People need labels to make sense of things, to identify with their 鈥榯ribe鈥� so to speak. Most people want to identify with something, even those who say they don鈥檛 like being labelled will stick to certain brands or wear a certain type of clothing. Without even realising we all inadvertently try to fit in.

鈥淭o date I鈥檝e never heard my social group use these terms as a put down. And c鈥檓on what鈥檚 not to like about a big, stocky bear?鈥�

However, call Craig Mack a bear (or an otter or a cub) and he鈥檚 likely to growl at you.

鈥淚鈥檝e always felt uncomfortable with people being judged and categorised by their looks. Labels can help you find your place in a community, but I don鈥檛 think they should wholly define your place in the world,鈥� he said.

鈥淭hey also make it difficult for us to 鈥榗ross borders鈥� into other communities. More recently though, I鈥檝e become indifferent because labels are, ultimately, meaningless.

鈥淚鈥檝e crossed so many communities and been the twink, the cub, the drag queen, the leather pup, the gym bunny and the party animal. I relate to all of them but none of those terms wholly define me. They all form part of who I am today, rather than a singular stereotypical characteristic.鈥�

Outside the gay community, these animal terms are bemusing. Interestingly, today gay code is global 鈥� for example, 鈥渂ear鈥� would be understood by gay communities internationally. Due to the internet and phone apps that allow you to explore in different countries, the gay language is no longer isolated to one place and time. It has become a universally understood and adopted code within a large community. More similarly coded, quirky terms are likely to spring up and spread quickly so gay people can speak to (or about) each other in further exclusive and interesting ways.

Lesbians use similar classifications and witticisms to categorise one another. Femme, butch, bull-dyke are all common terms. Consistent lesbians tease the fluidity some women experience in their sexual orientation and use GUG (gay until graduation) for women who experiment at university, or a term popularised by Orange is the New Black 鈥� 鈥済ay for the stay鈥� (only a lesbian while in prison).

Today鈥檚 coded gay language lacks the imagination and flair of Polari, but it does serve a similarly functional purpose. Many gay app profiles 鈥� especially in the US 鈥� will use 鈥�420 friendly鈥� as a way of saying 鈥淚 like to get stoned鈥� without being too ostentatious (the origins of 420 are widely disputed, but the most likely etymology comes from a group of US students who used to meet at 4.20pm to smoke weed and this became adopted as code for consuming marijuana). It sits within a long tradition of using drug slang to avoid attracting the wrong attention or judgement.

To many straight people, the alphabet soup of the initialism LGBTI makes our community seem quite peculiar. However, really it shows a vibrant diversity and warm inclusiveness that endearingly, wants to see nobody feeling like an outsider. The semantics of equality may not be as sexy, catchy or witty, yet they reflect a community that has moved from marginalised and ostracised to mainstream 鈥� and even celebrated.

Now you鈥檙e speaking my language.

**This article first appeared in the .听The November听issue will hit the streets on听Thursday, October 16.听听in Melbourne, Sydney, Brisbane, Adelaide, Canberra and select regional areas.听