Previously: Code words for lesbianism in classic films.
If you hear any of the following words or phrases used to describe a male character in a movie made before 1970, odds are good that they’re trying to tell you about a homosexual, a real boarding-school afternooner, someone who eats his dinner in a restaurant, a fellow who walks down the shady side of the street.
Curious
Extraordinary
Eccentric
Wears a hat of someone else’s choosing
Inconsistent
A sunset lover
Smooth elbows
A man with specific mannerisms
Sleeps diagonally
A perplexment
Rides the carousel
An evening botanist
Classically athletic
Fraternally-minded
Wears a light wristwatch
Gives a careful handshake
Gives too much change for a dollar
A fluent swimmer
A keen-eyed birdwatcher
Fond of his mother
Elegant
Built on an uncertain foundation
Fluttersome
A real jackdaw
Avowed bachelor
A gentleman of the piers
Born with the caul
Limber
An aesthete
In the way of uncles
He throws a party with an open guest list
Son of the moon
A boy from Eton
Always rings twice
Has a silk bathrobe
Not quite up-to-code
He hitchhikes instead of taking the bus
Stays ahead of the game
A skillful mountain climber
Salutes another flag
An upside-down chimney-sweep
Special comedy credit to left-handed whisperer Connor Goldsmith.
Tags: gay coding, gay men in film, movies, this is not 100% serious
Related Posts
Code Words For “Sexually Active” In Classic Films
What Do David Lynch’s Movies Say About Sex?
“The Lady in the Tutti-Frutti Hat”: The Story of Carmen Miranda
A League of Their Own-Inspired Thinkpieces
Movie Spoilers: A List
Let’s Be Real: Two Women in Their Latter Twenties Watch the 2005 Pride & Prejudice
Yes, in the Caribbean both duck (pato) and butterfly (mariposa) are well-known slang for gay.
Trouble with a capital T!!
"Always rings twice"… wait, so The Postman was GAY?
Yes, my Cuban friend who told me this expression said that in Cuba, anything with wings could mean gay.
She wears knitted ties :o)
'A skilful mountain climber' indeed. Fantastic that I came upon this post on the same day I read this: http://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2015/may/27/ca….
Two of my favourites:
"He's got a little sugar in his shoes"
"a cookie-pusher in striped pants"
Hey, wait…I drive a Subaru…
This is probably not what you're thinking of, but it reminds me of "Skunk Hour" — http://www.poets.org/poetsorg/poem/skunk-hour
"Dances backwards"
Always rings twice? So the postman is gay? This changes everything.
Hmmm back in the Subaru Loyale wagon days a gay guy told me Subaru was "a chick car"
"bats for the other side"
Does anyone know what the origin of son of the moon is??
In the film version of "Cat on a Hot Tin Roof," Brick and his friend Skipper were referred to as "weak."
And in 1970s real life, not film, when I visited a woman whose grown son had meticulously designed the interior of her entire home and wouldn't allow her to change a thing, she explained, "you know, he has champagne tastes."
It comes from Plato's Symposium and Aristophanes' speech on the "origin of love." This is also where we get the image of finding our "other half."
Here is the Aristophanes' speech experpted in English on a blog: http://philipandcolleen.blogspot.com/2005/01/aris…
Lover of musical theater. That's from Doctor Who
Collects China….A man with a lot of eyelashes…
I think it was alluding to him being effeminate because a man carries his own umbrella, carries it for a woman in that era.
Yes, this is what came to mind when I saw this list! Also in "My Favorite Wife" when he wears the leopard print robe.