Calling someone fruity doesn't sit right with me

[leanbackandrelax]

So I've seen people on social media leave comments saying someone looks fruity, I didn't what it meant and from looking it's supposed to be slang for gay I believe. AIBU that this doesn't sit right with me calling people gay in a jokey kind of manner. For context the one I saw recently was between someone I follow on social media who I went to school with whose gay and one of their mates left a comment calling him fruity and he responded in a banter kind of way.

Well he's not bothered and it was directed at him, you don't have to like it just ignore

It's a very 1950s term, not very nice and I'm glad I haven't seen it on any of my SM 😬

Presumably if it's between 2 mates and the person it is said to is happy with it thats the end of it. Lots of people call their mates or partners names they wouldn't call random people as long as they know the recipient is comfortable with it no harm done.

I didn’t know it meant that. We say it for places that are a bit rough. ‘That pub looks like it gets a bit fruity on a Friday night’

Like fights breaking out. Never heard it in a gay context.

I know it's nothing to do with me and I can just ignore it, I just didn't find it funny and don't like it to be honest

It isn’t always a homophobic thing, I used to live in Nottinghamshire if someone was a bit dodgy (as in criminal dodgy) we’d call them fruity.

@WheelieBinPrincess

I didn’t know it meant that. We say it for places that are a bit rough. ‘That pub looks like it gets a bit fruity on a Friday night’

Like fights breaking out. Never heard it in a gay context.

Same here, if someone was fruity they would be easily angered, liable to flip.

It means different things, I think. It means sexy where I am, I think in Nottingham or Northamptonshire it means dodgy…

Oh gosh, my DH and I sometimes say this to each other to mean horny, e.g. I’m feeling a bit fruity tonight
No idea who started it but been doing it for years now!

A “fruit” was a slang term for a gay man when I was growing up, SE London, 60s/70s.

Amazed it’s still being used.

@TakeYourFinalPosition

It means different things, I think. It means sexy where I am, I think in Nottingham or Northamptonshire it means dodgy…

Yes I think it's means sexy too...as in on I'm feeling a bit fruity tonight

Where I'm from calling someone fruity/ fruit loop or fruit and nut means they are a bit crazy 🤪

If I say I’m feeling a bit fruity DH wouldn’t come home- it would mean I was going to pick a fight and get lairy, not jump his bones.

Ha, it means sexy round these parts.

Feeling fruity used to mean sexy/horny. Has it changed?

@MrsSkylerWhite

A “fruit” was a slang term for a gay man when I was growing up, SE London, 60s/70s.

Amazed it’s still being used.

I didn't know that... It's clearly evolved though? Words do this. The word gay itself has evolved far from it's original meaning.

I also saw the term used another time when there were these two lads where one had their hand on the other person's leg and people were leaving comments saying things like "this looks very fruity".

This is a definition of what fruity can mean but obviously from posters here it can have different meanings too.

www.popbuzz.com/internet/viral/what-does-fruity-mean-on-tiktok/

I've not known anyone to use "fruity" for many years now but, back in the day, it meant being a bit sexy/saucy.
For instance;
-"How was your date last night?"
-"It was great until it came to saying goodnight and he/she started to get a bit fruity"

Or;
-"Have you seen the new film at the cinema?"
-"I'm not allowed to. My mum said although it's a PG, it's too fruity for me to watch"

I've only ever known 'fruity' to be a homophobic slur so I agree with you OP, I don't like the term and wouldn't like to see it either.

I've always known fruity to mean a bit sexy/ pervy be it hetero or gay. Or some people I've known have used it to mean a bit criminal, like cash in hand/ stuff off the back of a lorry. Not robbing banks or hurting people.

Fruit means gay in US gay parlance. But its quite gentle and old-fashioned - I have an elderly gay American friend - he uses some cute old-fashioned sayings like "light on his heels" and "got a bit of sugar in his tank". Or my favourite (when he's seen a nice man) "he damn well melted the ice in my Coke!"

I wouldnt say these things personally, I think its like the N word, its okay for members of the group to say it but people outside the group shouldn't.

In America it’s used to describe someone who is a bit forgetful or slightly odd, a fruitcake.

Fruity isn't a gay or homophones slur. It means sexy in a saucy type of way.

*homophobic not homophones

I think the term in relation to being gay in the current context started in the US on social media by the LGBTQ community but people outside of the community have started using it.

This is fascinating. I was born in the 70s and from Kent and in my youth fruity meant sexy or saucy/suggestive/flirty/frisky. It was quite a mild reference akin to Carry On style humour.

I remember watching Psycho for the first time and there's a bit in it where "Mrs Bates" is arguing with Norman about him shutting her in the cellar and "she" says "so you think I'm fruity now, huh?" with the inference that fruity meant a bit batty. I was a bit surprised that there was another meaning. Turns out there are several!