Joe Boyle

This is I suppose a very cultural issue and to do with our understanding of the meaning of the word "gay". For me, when I hear the word "gay" to describe something negative, it almost makes me wince. I immediately notice, and honestly I think that at least where I live, everyone equates the word "gay" with the sexual orientation, not only a word that means stupid or something. People might not necessarily mean to actively insult gay people with it, but the original meaning of "gay" is far from forgotten and in the back of their mind, when something is called "gay", the sexual orientation is probably at the forfront, at least here. The first definition people learn for gay is homosexual, at least it was for me, and I did not hear it used as an insult until I was somewhat older. This is why when someone uses "gay" to mean stupid, I immediately assume they are equating stupidity with homosexuality. I am however willing to accept that where Sandwich grew up "gay" was used quite commonly meaning stupid with no reference to the sexual orientation. Still, when I hear someone calling something gay with gay equating to "bad", my opinion of that person immediatly lowers. For me, it is strongly associated with homophobia, and as I oppose homophobia very strongly, I could not be friends with someone who used the word "gay" in such a way.

However, I do not think you should be offended if gay is used neutrally, since it is an adjective after all. People who are offended if gay is used neutrally are trying to be overtly politically correct, but that seems rather silly to me. I agree with the statement "reading into the word gay as an automatic negative is far more homophobic."

hey there well for the second question, it's absolutely fine! I know a lot of people doing their EE's in subjects they don't take. You'll be fine with it as long as you have an interest in the subject you want to do, an interest in the topic and a supervisor. If you have all these things then you're good to go. Because you have to do an EE on something you're interested in. After all, you have to write 4000 words on it. And i'm not so sure about this, but i think in biology you would have to do an experiment? Someone correct me if i'm wrong. Because at my school, they have to carry out an experiment etc etc. Best of luck with it