Nineteenth-century children might snicker thinking gay referred to libertines or prostitutes, but they were still allowed to sing about “gay apparel.

Hegemonic masculinity is a whole subject in itself, entertainingly and learnedly discussed in Shaun Cole"s perfectly titled Don We Now Our Gay Apparel , which shows in fascinating detail how "clothing has been a primary method of identification for and of gay men. They first appeared in 1862, in volume 2 of Welsh Melodies, a set of four volumes authored by John Thomas, including Welsh words by John Jones (Talhaiarn) and English words by Oliphant. However, it is easy to forget that, with few exceptions, gay men earlier in the century took great pains to conceal their sexual identity. The joke that the company tried to explain away its attempt to take the “gay” out of Christmas by referring to a Gaelic original? By accepting all cookies, you agree to our use of cookies to deliver and maintain our services and site, improve the quality of Reddit, personalize Reddit content and advertising, and measure the effectiveness of advertising.

It shouldn’t be surprising when speakers abandon a word that’s become ambiguous, especially if one of its senses is or has been taboo. The trend of wearing festively decorated Christmas sweaters to parties is all about fun, and this ornament is intended to play into that, so the planning team decided to say what we meant: 'fun. We don’t share your credit card details with third-party sellers, and we don’t sell your information to others. By using the Web site, you confirm that you have read, understood, and agreed to be bound by the Terms and Conditions.

Breen breaks his promise to Sipowicz by checking up on his son and decides to go back to him, which turns out to be fatal when Breen's son kills him and Sipowicz has to arrest him. Now that marriage equality is gaining momentum across the USA, there are more and more fashionable snowmen out there celebrating their very first Christmas together as a married couple.

Two centuries on, Hallmark decided that it couldn’t risk smirks around the tree, so it cleaned up the language on its ornament. Reddit and its partners use cookies and similar technologies to provide you with a better experience. The most popular of the merry melodies is a cover by Love To Sing, a choir best known for their Christmas-themed music.

In any case, the episode is an enlightening illustration of the complex give-and-take of language marketing and language politics, not to mention the impact of internet pressure on everyone from Middle schoolers to Middle Eastern despots to greeting-card manufacturers. Shaun Cole is Course Leader for MA History and Culture of Fashion and MA Fashion Curation at London College of Fashion, University of the Arts London, UK.After controversy over the sanitized carol swirled in the media and on the internet, Hallmark amended its response: “We never intend to offend or make political statements with our products and in hindsight, we realize we shouldn't have changed the lyrics on the ornament. From the New Edwardians and muscle boys to Radical Drag and Genderfuck, Don We Now Our Gay Apparel has it all. The original “Deck the Hall,” a Welsh air with words by Thomas Oliphant, was published in 1862 as a song for New Year’s Eve.

Particularly in Western cultures, people view holiday season as a time to be jolly (which means fun or cheerful) as you can see from the lyrics of the carol. In all the hubbub over the sweater ornament, I’ve seen no comments questioning the grammatical appropriateness of Hallmark’s substitute wording, “Don we now our fun apparel. Hegemonic masculinity is a whole subject in itself, entertainingly and learnedly discussed in Shaun Cole"s perfectly titled Don We Now Our Gay Apparel, which shows in fascinating detail how "clothing has been a primary method of identification for and of gay men. Although some early sources state that Oliphant's words were a translation of Talhaiarn's Welsh original, [9] this is not the case in any strict or literal sense. You can change your choices at any time by visiting Cookie preferences, as described in the Cookie notice.This version, from The Song Bookby John Hullah (London: 1884), has a different third line: Fill the mead-cup, drain the barrel. If you're going to change everything kids giggle at, you might want to start renaming Lake Titicaca and baseball player Albert Pujols while you're at it.