Brings out the pedant in me.
It's used so glibly, and yet it doesn't mean what people think it means.
Broken down, "homo-phobic" just means "fear of that which is the same". Which is surely the opposite of what's being implied here - being nasty to gay people because they are different.
In fact, "heterophobic" would cover it!
While I'm here - "chocoholic". Why? Someone addicted to alcohol is an alcoholic, so surely someone "addicted" to chocolate is a "chocolateic", and someone who works a lot is a "workic."
And don't get me started on "-gate" as a suffix...
Please or to access all these features
Please
or
to access all these features
Pedants' corner
The word "homophobic"
29 replies
UnquietDad · 04/06/2008 16:34
OP posts:
Please create an account
To comment on this thread you need to create a Mumsnet account.