Gayle Pride

I was gonna hit you with tons of facts about gayle, it's origins and how much it has done for the Gay Rights Movement in South Africa and I thank my very good friend Jerome Cornelius for arming me with research strong enough to start a college course with, but instead I'm gonna keep things light and brief.

I remember back in my salad days my mother had a hairdresser named Andrew aka Julie Andrews. I never understood when Julie spoke because he spoke with a speed to rival Beyonce in her Destiny's Child days and there were always a lot of ladies involved in his tales. This was where I first experienced the power of gayle and to be honest, it didn't exactly leave me with a positive impression.

While attending high school I always imagined myself being the only boy attracted to other boys, as much as I denied it. In hindsight I remember there were other boys in the same situation but they were clever enough to surrounded themselves with friends (majority female) and they taught these friends to spead the code language later revealed to me as Gayle. This one guy who's name I will withhold was as flamboyant as could be; he had an advantage over the entire school because his gayle was fierce enough to be his mother tongue. Knowing this secret code language made him untouchable! He saw a sista in me but I ran away like the a leggy version of Oscar.
If I had to know gayle back then I'm sure I would've won many more verbal battles thus making my high school career an altogether more pleasant experience. After high school I met a variety of people who gayle their gayle with pride and these people have shown me the power it holds.

Fast forward a few years and I find myself being one of a dying breed; I am proudly one of the last gays who are doing what they can to keep the dialect going and hopefully with this blog entry I'll be able to teach a few people a few words to keep the culture of gayle going.

It's quite simple actually, just substitute a word for a gayle word which usually tends to be female names; the sentence obviously needs to flow... Gayle's concept is based on Polari which is a topic for a whole other blog entry. Back in the apartheid era Cape Town's gay community, mainly of the coloured/mixed race creed, used this dialect when needing to communicate with one another without "the law" knowing what they were saying. It has gone through many phases and I've actually come to discover that it is used as far as London!

Here's a little starter "dictionary" for beginners and advanced users alike. We have something special going on here and I implore you to keep it going.

GAYLE PRIDE!
1. Absarrah – Upset
2. Bag/Boentjie – Guy/Boyfriend
3. Barbara – Scared
4. Barbie – Hungover
5. Beaulah – Beautiful
6. Belinda – Blind
7. Bella – Phone
8. Bester – Buy
9. Boris – Boring
10. Betty – Beer
11. Bernadette – Burn
12. Cameron – Camera
13. Carla – Look
14. Carol – Cry
15. Chanel – Cocaine
16. Chlora – Coloured/Mixed Race Person
17. Chrizelda – Seriously Unattractive
18. Cilla – Cigarette
19. Cindy – Child
20. Clarence/Fienah - Finished
21. Daphne – Deaf
22. Danjee – Dance
23. Deborah – Dead
24. Delores/Rhona – Drive
25. Dina/Bash – Fight
26. Dominique – Stupid/Retarded
27. Dora – Drink
28. Dot – Alcohol
29. Drag – Outfit
30. Drew – Dry
31. Erica – Erection
32. Fatiema/Faatah – Fat
33. Fietna – Gossip
34. Florence – Floor
35. Gala/Gugu – Sleep
36. Gedora – Drunk
37. Gerty – Girl
38. Glamours – Drinking Glass/Eye Glasses
39. Greta – Greedy
40. Hannah – Food/Eat
41. Harriets/Lollies (Loll) – Hair
42. Hazel – Buttocks
43. Heidi – High Heeled Shoes
44. Hester – Listen
45. Hilda – Hideous/Horrible
46. Irene – Eye
47. Jacky – Jacket
48. Jessica – Horny/Promiscuous
49. Lana – Penis
50. Leticia/Lettie – Lesbian
51. Lilly – Lighter
52. Linda – Lie
53. Lizzy – Lazy
54. Lodge – House
55. Lulu – Laugh
56. Mabel/Mavis – Gay Male
57. Mavis Gerty – Fag Hag
58. Mercia – Untidy/Gross
59. Mia – Missing In Action
60. Miena – Walk
61. Millie – Mentally Unstable
62. Minarge/Miena – Leave
63. Mince – Walk With Attitude
64. Miranda – Thin
65. Mitzy – Mini/Small
66. Moegieda – Tired
67. Molly – Muslim
68. Monica/Moena/Moentjie – Money
69. Mula/Moira – Music
70. Nancy/Nandi – No
71. Naomi – Name
72. Natalie/Nothabu – Black South African Person
73. Nelly – Nerve
74. Nora – Morbid/Miserable
75. Ola – Old
76. Old & Ugly – Olga
77. Olive – Cute
78. Patsy – Party
79. Paula – Posh/Professional
80. Pearl – Urinate/Ejaculate
81. Poonzies – Shoes
82. Portia - Prostitute
83. Pram – Car
84. Priscilla/Popo – Police
85. Rachel – Rape
86. Rachmat – Rain
87. Raygana – Sunglasses
88. Reeva – Revolting Behaviour
89. Rhonda – Run
90. Sally – Blow Job
91. Setta – Sit
92. Sheila – Shit/Defecate
93. Skandi – Smoke Dagga
94. Skaya – Scold
95. Sonya – Sun
96. Stella – Steal
97. Stiena – Stink
98. Tanya/Thandeka – Teeth
99. Tiemah – Breast
100. Tilla – Toilet
101. Tina – Toe
102. Tracy – Train
103. Trudy – Tired
104. Ursula – Understanding Supportive Friend
105. Urshi - Understand
106. Vast – Yes/Very
107. Velma – Warm/Hot
108. Vera – Vomit
109. Washiela – Wash
110. Wendy – White/Caucasian Person