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The Forum > General Discussion > Gender Discussion:

Gender Discussion:

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One of the things I never 'got' was, for example, homosexual. If I follow on from the discussion, I imagine it to mean a male sex addict.
I wonder how some words came to be. They don't actually describe the intended target at all. We know it 'means' someone who leans towards males sexually, I think.
Posted by ALTRAV, Friday, 10 August 2018 3:47:00 PM
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//One of the things I never 'got' was, for example, homosexual. If I follow on from the discussion, I imagine it to mean a male sex addict.//

Homosexual confuses a lot of people because they mistakenly assume that the 'homo' part comes from the Latin for 'human', as in homo sapiens. But in this case it comes from the Greek prefix homo meaning 'the same' - the same sense in which it is applied words like homogenisation and homologous
Posted by Toni Lavis, Friday, 10 August 2018 5:02:25 PM
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Right got it!
Why then, if it is the origin of 'the same', don't we use the same word to describe females as 'homosexual' and not as 'lesbians'?
I thought 'homo' had its origins from, for example, in Italian, Uomo. Meaning 'man'.
A common explanation for homo sapiens is 'wise man'.
I can only reference through the Italian meanings which are the closest language to Latin.
So the homo sapiens, or wise man, comes from, (in Italian) the words HOMO, UOMO and SAPIENS, SAPERE; To know or knowledge and hence 'WISE MAN'.
The relationship and transition from Latin to Greek to Italian to English is a fascinating one which becomes ever so obvious when one looks closer into their evolution and journey into todays languages.
Posted by ALTRAV, Friday, 10 August 2018 5:26:10 PM
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//Why then, if it is the origin of 'the same', don't we use the same word to describe females as 'homosexual' and not as 'lesbians'?//

We do. Homosexual is a unisex term that covers male homosexuals ('gays') and female homosexuals ('lesbians').

//I thought 'homo' had its origins from, for example, in Italian, Uomo. Meaning 'man'.
A common explanation for homo sapiens is 'wise man'.//

Yep, that's the Latin meaning of homo. It's different in the Greek.
Posted by Toni Lavis, Friday, 10 August 2018 6:14:02 PM
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//I have no interest in 'man-hole covers'. Oops, now I'll be in trouble with the homosexual lobby :)//

I don't think they're all that interested in covering their man-holes, Joe ;)
Posted by Toni Lavis, Saturday, 11 August 2018 6:09:52 AM
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HaHa, good one Toni.
Posted by ALTRAV, Saturday, 11 August 2018 11:20:36 AM
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