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The Queens' English

The LGBTQIA+ Dictionary of Lingo and Colloquial Phrases

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Hardcover (Paper-over-Board, no jacket)
$22.50 US
6.3"W x 8.3"H x 1.25"D   | 28 oz | 16 per carton
On sale Feb 02, 2021 | 336 Pages | 9780593135006
A landmark reference guide to the LGBTQIA+ community’s contributions to the English language—an intersectional, inclusive, playfully illustrated glossary featuring more than 800 terms and fabulous phrases created by and for queer culture.

Do you know where “yaaaas queen!” comes from? Do you know the difference between a bear and a wolf? Do you know what all the letters in LGBTQIA+ stand for?

The Queens’ English is a comprehensive guide to modern gay slang, queer theory terms, and playful colloquialisms that define and celebrate LGBTQIA+ culture. This modern dictionary provides an in-depth look at queer language, from terms influenced by celebrated lesbian poet Sappho and from New York’s underground queer ball culture in the 1980s to today's celebration of RuPaul’s Drag Race.

The glossary of terms is supported by full-color illustrations and photography throughout, as well as real-life usage examples for those who don't quite know how to use “kiki,” “polysexual,” or “transmasculine” in a sentence. A series of educational lessons highlight key people and events that shaped queer language; readers will learn the linguistic importance of pronouns, gender identity, Stonewall, the Harlem Renaissance, and more.

For every queen in your life—the men, women, gender non-conforming femmes, butches, daddies, and zaddies—The Queens’ English is at once an education and a celebration of queer history, identity, and the limitless imagination of the LGBTQIA+ community.
“Chloe Davis’s delightfully informative, succinct, helpful and playful dictionary of more than 800 LGBTQIA+ words and fabulous phrases is truly ‘sickening’ (defined within as ‘astonishingly impressive’). . . . The Queens’ English is as much a glossary as it is a dazzling art book, boasting colorful and engaging art and illustrations on every page.”—ShelfAwareness
© James M. Avance
Chloe O. Davis is a debut author who works in the entertainment industry in New York. A graduate of Hampton University and Temple University, she has centered her creative platform on amplifying the narratives of Black culture and heightening the awareness of the LGBTQIA+ community. Davis's work as a dancer, actor, and creative has allowed her to travel to all fifty states and internationally where she has spent fifteen years researching, writing and creating The Queens' English: The Dictionary For LGBTQIA+ Lingo and Colloquial Phrases. View titles by Chloe O. Davis
Introduction


The idea to write The Queens’ English was spawned when I landed my first job as a professional performing artist at a Philadelphia-based dance company in 2006. We traveled often for shows, and bus conversation—our ultimate entertainment pastime—was typically led by a few charismatic MVPs at the back of our tour bus. Jokes and witty remarks were always being tossed around, and the better the joke, the louder the laughs, the more fun everyone had. The back-of-the-bus group had the 411 on all the good gossip, and the rest of us were always glued to their conversations. But sometimes their jokes sounded like a code to me, filled with terms I could not decipher.

One day I called to the back of the tour bus and asked, “What does ‘snatched’ mean? You are always calling people ‘snatched’ like it’s a compliment. What is it?”

With a bit of shade, a company member said, “Something you need to be when you are in this company, snatched for the gawds!” Laughter erupted, but I was still confused.

Another company member, who was willing to break it down, said, “Let me give you the T. We are gay, honey, and we have our own language that only we get. Other people in the company eventually get it, too, because it’s fierce backboots. That’s why you are here looking through the window trying to come inside our world. So, here’s a little breakdown . . . five, six, seven, eight! ‘Snatched’ means that the body is together! You are lovely, small, lean, shapely, sexy, you are SNATCHED! And to be in this company, our boss wants us to be snatched for the gawds! So, that means you have to be extra lean, extra sexy, and extra lovely! You are eating air and drinking hope with a wheatgrass shot for dessert.” The whole bus exploded with laughter. And so it began.

I wanted to kiki all the time! I was fascinated with the language I was learning from gay culture. As an eager newbie (cough, cough, I mean eager gaybie), I started a running list of terms and expressions my friends taught me, and bus conversations soon revolved around the entertainment of me trying to pair “academic” definitions with words  like “beat,” “fierce,” “living, “ovah,” and “werk.” Jokingly, I told a friend that this was a fully developed language and there should be a dictionary for these words.

“When you write it,” he said, “call it The Queens’ English. It’s a language for all the queens.”

Over the years, I added more terms as I performed all over the country. Colleagues—actors, artists, dancers, and performers—who identified as LGBTQIA+ shared their favorite lingo with me and introduced me to friends so we could collect more. I even learned terms from friendly strangers in gayborhoods, at LGBT centers, and during Pride events. The list of terms eventually became a glossary that represented a diverse group of gay and queer people, lifestyles, and communities.

My research eventually led me to explore the complexities of my own sexual identity. Learning new words like “demi,” “bi,” and “flexible” gave me labels that identified the fluidity of my attraction to others. Throughout my life, I’ve identified as heteroflexible, bi-curious, and at a time, struggled with being a semi-closeted bisexual; I’ve explored polyamory, and now I’m a proud and openly biromantic, demisexual bisexual. These words helped articulate my developing sexual expression as I grew to understand myself. It was the support of my community—family, friends, dating partners, the theater, dance—and the writing of The Queens’ English that gave me the courage to express my truth and become an advocate for understanding the spectrum of identity and sexuality.

WHAT IS THE QUEENS’ ENGLISH?

The Queens’ English is a dictionary that celebrates the etymological diversity of over eight hundred terms used to describe our collective gay and queer experience. It is an epic journey of understanding identity, sexuality, gender, equality, humor, community, and pride.

A vibrant and rich history has been captured by the unique language created by and for the lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, two-spirit, queer, questioning, intersex, asexual, gender nonconforming, nonbinary, and nonheteronormative community—commonly abbreviated as LGBTQIA+. This dictionary is a resource with modern definitions, real-life examples, synonyms, important usage notes, and supporting background information to further enhance the understanding of each term. Interstitial how-tos and history lessons about trailblazing people, places, and events that have impacted the language within the LGBTQIA+ community are included throughout.

Much of my research came from the cultural heartbeat of our queer community, consisting of personal interviews and group discussions with people who identify as LGBTQIA+. I filled in the gaps using digital and print references and content from queer and mainstream media outlets, taking sensitive measures to define every term appropriately and inclusively, while respecting (and encouraging!) the flexibility of other interpretations. I also committed to highlighting the diversity of language that lives within our community—from the New York City ballroom scene to the San Francisco leather community and everything else in between.

However, my research only captures a sliver of the subcommunities that make up LGBTQIA+ culture. The Queens’ English is merely a starting point for the important conversations around inclusivity, sexuality, gender expression and identity, gay slang that’s been co-opted by mainstream culture, and queer American terminology that’s been around for decades.

Discussion Guide for The Queens' English

Provides questions, discussion topics, suggested reading lists, introductions and/or author Q&As, which are intended to enhance reading groups’ experiences.

(Please note: the guide displayed here is the most recently uploaded version; while unlikely, any page citation discrepancies between the guide and book is likely due to pagination differences between a book’s different formats.)

About

A landmark reference guide to the LGBTQIA+ community’s contributions to the English language—an intersectional, inclusive, playfully illustrated glossary featuring more than 800 terms and fabulous phrases created by and for queer culture.

Do you know where “yaaaas queen!” comes from? Do you know the difference between a bear and a wolf? Do you know what all the letters in LGBTQIA+ stand for?

The Queens’ English is a comprehensive guide to modern gay slang, queer theory terms, and playful colloquialisms that define and celebrate LGBTQIA+ culture. This modern dictionary provides an in-depth look at queer language, from terms influenced by celebrated lesbian poet Sappho and from New York’s underground queer ball culture in the 1980s to today's celebration of RuPaul’s Drag Race.

The glossary of terms is supported by full-color illustrations and photography throughout, as well as real-life usage examples for those who don't quite know how to use “kiki,” “polysexual,” or “transmasculine” in a sentence. A series of educational lessons highlight key people and events that shaped queer language; readers will learn the linguistic importance of pronouns, gender identity, Stonewall, the Harlem Renaissance, and more.

For every queen in your life—the men, women, gender non-conforming femmes, butches, daddies, and zaddies—The Queens’ English is at once an education and a celebration of queer history, identity, and the limitless imagination of the LGBTQIA+ community.

Praise

“Chloe Davis’s delightfully informative, succinct, helpful and playful dictionary of more than 800 LGBTQIA+ words and fabulous phrases is truly ‘sickening’ (defined within as ‘astonishingly impressive’). . . . The Queens’ English is as much a glossary as it is a dazzling art book, boasting colorful and engaging art and illustrations on every page.”—ShelfAwareness

Author

© James M. Avance
Chloe O. Davis is a debut author who works in the entertainment industry in New York. A graduate of Hampton University and Temple University, she has centered her creative platform on amplifying the narratives of Black culture and heightening the awareness of the LGBTQIA+ community. Davis's work as a dancer, actor, and creative has allowed her to travel to all fifty states and internationally where she has spent fifteen years researching, writing and creating The Queens' English: The Dictionary For LGBTQIA+ Lingo and Colloquial Phrases. View titles by Chloe O. Davis

Excerpt

Introduction


The idea to write The Queens’ English was spawned when I landed my first job as a professional performing artist at a Philadelphia-based dance company in 2006. We traveled often for shows, and bus conversation—our ultimate entertainment pastime—was typically led by a few charismatic MVPs at the back of our tour bus. Jokes and witty remarks were always being tossed around, and the better the joke, the louder the laughs, the more fun everyone had. The back-of-the-bus group had the 411 on all the good gossip, and the rest of us were always glued to their conversations. But sometimes their jokes sounded like a code to me, filled with terms I could not decipher.

One day I called to the back of the tour bus and asked, “What does ‘snatched’ mean? You are always calling people ‘snatched’ like it’s a compliment. What is it?”

With a bit of shade, a company member said, “Something you need to be when you are in this company, snatched for the gawds!” Laughter erupted, but I was still confused.

Another company member, who was willing to break it down, said, “Let me give you the T. We are gay, honey, and we have our own language that only we get. Other people in the company eventually get it, too, because it’s fierce backboots. That’s why you are here looking through the window trying to come inside our world. So, here’s a little breakdown . . . five, six, seven, eight! ‘Snatched’ means that the body is together! You are lovely, small, lean, shapely, sexy, you are SNATCHED! And to be in this company, our boss wants us to be snatched for the gawds! So, that means you have to be extra lean, extra sexy, and extra lovely! You are eating air and drinking hope with a wheatgrass shot for dessert.” The whole bus exploded with laughter. And so it began.

I wanted to kiki all the time! I was fascinated with the language I was learning from gay culture. As an eager newbie (cough, cough, I mean eager gaybie), I started a running list of terms and expressions my friends taught me, and bus conversations soon revolved around the entertainment of me trying to pair “academic” definitions with words  like “beat,” “fierce,” “living, “ovah,” and “werk.” Jokingly, I told a friend that this was a fully developed language and there should be a dictionary for these words.

“When you write it,” he said, “call it The Queens’ English. It’s a language for all the queens.”

Over the years, I added more terms as I performed all over the country. Colleagues—actors, artists, dancers, and performers—who identified as LGBTQIA+ shared their favorite lingo with me and introduced me to friends so we could collect more. I even learned terms from friendly strangers in gayborhoods, at LGBT centers, and during Pride events. The list of terms eventually became a glossary that represented a diverse group of gay and queer people, lifestyles, and communities.

My research eventually led me to explore the complexities of my own sexual identity. Learning new words like “demi,” “bi,” and “flexible” gave me labels that identified the fluidity of my attraction to others. Throughout my life, I’ve identified as heteroflexible, bi-curious, and at a time, struggled with being a semi-closeted bisexual; I’ve explored polyamory, and now I’m a proud and openly biromantic, demisexual bisexual. These words helped articulate my developing sexual expression as I grew to understand myself. It was the support of my community—family, friends, dating partners, the theater, dance—and the writing of The Queens’ English that gave me the courage to express my truth and become an advocate for understanding the spectrum of identity and sexuality.

WHAT IS THE QUEENS’ ENGLISH?

The Queens’ English is a dictionary that celebrates the etymological diversity of over eight hundred terms used to describe our collective gay and queer experience. It is an epic journey of understanding identity, sexuality, gender, equality, humor, community, and pride.

A vibrant and rich history has been captured by the unique language created by and for the lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, two-spirit, queer, questioning, intersex, asexual, gender nonconforming, nonbinary, and nonheteronormative community—commonly abbreviated as LGBTQIA+. This dictionary is a resource with modern definitions, real-life examples, synonyms, important usage notes, and supporting background information to further enhance the understanding of each term. Interstitial how-tos and history lessons about trailblazing people, places, and events that have impacted the language within the LGBTQIA+ community are included throughout.

Much of my research came from the cultural heartbeat of our queer community, consisting of personal interviews and group discussions with people who identify as LGBTQIA+. I filled in the gaps using digital and print references and content from queer and mainstream media outlets, taking sensitive measures to define every term appropriately and inclusively, while respecting (and encouraging!) the flexibility of other interpretations. I also committed to highlighting the diversity of language that lives within our community—from the New York City ballroom scene to the San Francisco leather community and everything else in between.

However, my research only captures a sliver of the subcommunities that make up LGBTQIA+ culture. The Queens’ English is merely a starting point for the important conversations around inclusivity, sexuality, gender expression and identity, gay slang that’s been co-opted by mainstream culture, and queer American terminology that’s been around for decades.

Additional Materials

Discussion Guide for The Queens' English

Provides questions, discussion topics, suggested reading lists, introductions and/or author Q&As, which are intended to enhance reading groups’ experiences.

(Please note: the guide displayed here is the most recently uploaded version; while unlikely, any page citation discrepancies between the guide and book is likely due to pagination differences between a book’s different formats.)