A naive question

[Guest loverboy]

I notice that very often in screen names, email addresses, advertising and other places BOI is spelled with I instead of Y, and also often BOYZ, GUYZ and some other words are spelled with Z instead of S. Is there something behind that? Does it have some special meaning? What is the origin? Did I miss something that explains it all?

[Guest]

>I notice that very often in

>screen names, email addresses, advertising

>and other places BOI is

>spelled with I instead of

>Y, and also often BOYZ,

>GUYZ and some other words

>are spelled with Z instead

>of S. Is there

>something behind that? Does

>it have some special meaning?

> What is the origin?

> Did I miss something

>that explains it all?

 

No real special meaning. It just identifies guys (or should I say guyz?) who want to identify themselves in a more "twinkish" (youthful or immature, depending on your point of view) manner.

[johnnysneakers]

This is not a naive question. It is an excellent one, and in my opinion it simply illustrates the poor literacy levels in society. These are telegrahpic shortcuts for some, but for others it is how they speak, and believe how they read, in english, most likely ESL.

 

English is the international language, and these are simple transgressions on it. They can be viewed as smart, unpleasant, or a sign of stupidity (take your pick) but I am convinced in the longrun, they will pose no threat as all languages evolve to some extent, despite purists views. English has the most to evolve due to its worldliness and currency. These kind of transgressions are what keep the french up at night, esp on Le Weekend!!!! Prenez garde, le bureau de la langue francais est pret!

[BewareofNick]

>This is not a naive question.

> It is an excellent

>one, and in my opinion

>it simply illustrates the poor

>literacy levels in society.

> These are telegrahpic shortcuts

>for some, but for others

>it is how they speak,

>and believe how they read,

>in english, most likely ESL.

 

I work with gay youth, and for a lot of them, the word "boi" is used to signify a gay boy. It gives them a separate identity from the word boy and a feeling of empowerment.

[Guest luha]

>

>No real special meaning. It

>just identifies guys (or should

>I say guyz?) who want

>to identify themselves in a

>more "twinkish" (youthful or immature,

>depending on your point of

>view) manner.

 

 

 

I actually equate it more with more of a "street" manner ; i.e. BOYZ in the hood ?

[Losgatan]

Those weird spellings are not only used by gay youth. Many kids who want to be identified as different "freaky," "gothic," etc. have taken on this affectation. They also tend to indiscriminatly intermix caps and lower-case letters -- which, when combined the spellings, makes their writing almost unintelligible. You'll see some wonderful examples in the AOL profiles of these kids.

[Guest blankman]

la langue *francaise*, darling, *francaise*!! The Academie would be absolutely shocked!

 

Wrt the original topic, many womyn in Amerika have transgressed orthographically, too... But it's really not a very interesting form of rebellion, in my opinion.

 

Spelling conventions are just that: conventions. One could think of them as coercive forces by elements in our society which control the educational establishment and access to it.

 

You could go further and think: the Establishment is forcing us to all spell a certain way, and They want us to all be heterosexual, too, so I say F*** You to all of them! Or you could think of proper spelling as good manners. Or you could just try to forget about it. At various times, I have thought all these things.

 

The most enjoyable attitude is to think of words as toys.

[Boston Guy]

YeS, aNd It MaKeS tHeIr PrOfIlEs InCrEdIbLy DiFfIcUlT tO rEaD. I hAvE wOnDeReD wHeRe ThIs CoNvEnTiOn CaMe FrOm OrIgInAlLy, BuT i ViEw it As MoRe Or LeSs A mOdErN eXpReSsIoN oF tHe KiNd Of SeNtImEnT aNd OrIgInAlItY eXpReEsSeD bY e E cUmMiNgS (aNd I wOnDeR wHaT hE wOuLd ThInK oF sEeInG hIs NaMe TyPeD lIkE tHaT?).

[Damascene]

Sometimes people use a different spelling if the someone else

has used a name they really want to use:

 

Boi4hire because boy4hire already exists.

Muslstud because musclestud is already taken

 

Sometimes people use it for effect to demonstrate a regional or

class perception they want to use:

 

Thugboyz because it seems more down low than thugboys

Manofcolour because it seems more british or upperclass than

manofcolor

 

Still other mispell or abbreviate because they want a shorter handle:

 

Hungrybttmho because who wants to type Hungrybottomwhore.

BlondBttm24 because who wants to type Blondbottom24yearsoldwhenIcreatedthisprofilebutnowIam32.

 

Don't always assume its education.

[Guest Fin Fang Foom]

Then there are the guys on AOL who put "boy" in their screen names when they're in their 30's!!

 

Can you say: "arrested development"?

[Damascene]

LAST EDITED ON Apr-22-01 AT 01:13PM (EST)[p]Not always. In the leather community boy is often use to

connotate bottom or submissive.

 

It can also connotate someone looking for a sugardaddy or

someone to take care of them. I've met 40ish year old "boys"

with 30ish "men".

 

It can also deal with self-perception or description. Someone

who is 30 but boyish at heart.

 

Words are very powerful and have very many shades of meaning,

particularly when used in a subculture, gay or online for

instance.

 

Damascene - linguistics is a hobby.

[bluenix]

>In the leather community

>boy is often used to

>connotate bottom or submissive.

 

I point out that the word you mean is 'connote' only because impressionable young minds read these posts. Well, impressionable anyway. ;-)

[Bilbo]

Amen, Damascene, I think that we need to restate for emphasis the connection with the leather scene. Many safe and sane leather Masters and their bottoms use the words Daddy and Boy. Many of them are sensitive to criticism about rape related subjects, and child protection. So quite a few of them, IMHO, have been using boi as shorthand for "Yes, we call him a boy, but he is certainly past the legal minimum age. In fact, should I find you doing something similar with someone who is not, you will soon be begging me to just call the police and hand you over."

[Guest loverboy]

Thanks to all of you guys (guyz?) for the enlightening and witty replies. My alternative education has not been as systematic as it might have been, but you and the others on this site are helping to fix that.

[Guest made4fun]

>This is not a naive question.

> It is an excellent

>one, and in my opinion

>it simply illustrates the poor

>literacy levels in society.

> These are telegrahpic shortcuts

>for some, but for others

>it is how they speak,

>and believe how they read,

>in english, most likely ESL.

>

>

>English is the international language, and

>these are simple transgressions on

>it. They can be

>viewed as smart, unpleasant, or

>a sign of stupidity (take

>your pick) but I am

>convinced in the longrun, they

>will pose no threat as

>all languages evolve to some

>extent, despite purists views.

>English has the most to

>evolve due to its worldliness

>and currency. These kind

>of transgressions are what keep

>the french up at night,

>esp on Le Weekend!!!! Prenez

>garde, le bureau de la

>langue francais est pret!

 

huh?

and maybe you mean de la langue FRANCAISE?

[Guest made4fun]

and linguistics is your hobby too

[Bilbo]

Got bit by the word bug early. Mom was a librarian.

 

http://rainbowprod.com/bilbo