TALKS # 11 - QUEER

the word queer... interesting little thing... this is what wikipedia spits out:

"Traditional usage

Since its emergence in the English language in the 16th century (related to the German quer, meaning 'across, at right angle, diagonally or transverse'), queer has generally meant 'strange', 'unusual', or 'out of alignment'. It might refer to something suspicious or 'not quite right', or to a person with mild insanity or who exhibits socially inappropriate behavior. The expression 'in Queer Street' was used in the UK as of the 1811 edition of Francis Grose's A Classical Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue for someone in financial trouble. It gained its implication of sexual deviance (especially that of homosexual and/or effeminate males) in the late 19th century; an early recorded usage of the word in this sense was in a letter by John Sholto Douglas, 9th Marquess of Queensberry to his son Lord Alfred Douglas.
Subsequently, for most of the 20th century, 'queer' was used primarily as a derogatory term for effeminate and/or gay males, and others exhibiting non-traditional gender behavior, with the more general meaning gradually falling into disuse. During this transition, someone might use the term literally in the older sense, but implying the newer sense. For example, 'He's a queer fellow,' would ostensibly be a statement that the man is a bit odd, but the subtext was that the speaker believed him to be gay (however this is not to say that, in transitional or even in contemporary usage, there always exists such a subtext whenever the word is used).
The term was also used disparagingly by people within the lesbian and gay communities during much of the 20th century. It might be self-applied as a form of self-deprecation, or it might be aimed at another—perhaps more stereotypically 'gay' or less conventional—gay man or lesbian woman, as an epithet, suggesting that the target is even 'lower' than the speaker. It might also be used to denigrate a peer by reminding him of his status in society: just a 'queer'.

Contemporary usage

In contemporary usage, some use queer as an inclusive, unifying sociopolitical umbrella term for people who are gay, lesbian, bisexual, and also for those who are transgender, transsexual, intersexual and/or genderqueer. It can also include asexual and autosexual people, as well as heterosexuals whose sexual preferences or activities place them outside the mainstream (e.g. BDSM practitioners, or polyamorists). Queer in this sense (depending on how broadly it is defined) is commonly used as a synonym for such terms as LGBT or lesbigay.

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the only thing that has to be added to this more or less scientific excurse is what are - according to the ministress - ka_weeeer sounds .

tracklist in order of appearance

queer - garbage

queen of denial - ruby

stripped - depeche mode

think that thought - planningtorock

violently happy - björk

cannonball - the breeders

love punch - the chalets

strict machine - goldfrapp

terrible angels - cocorosie (thanx 2 magnolia)

add it up - violent femmes

nothing else matters - apocalyptica


be nice to your brain and don't try to find any sense here ... i've told you i am kryptic