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Words & TermsWar, service and history

gay

Whisky in Gallipoli soldier slang.

In a sentence

In this Gallipoli glossary, gay means whisky and has no connection with the modern identity sense.

Where it came from

A historical soldiers’ slang sense recorded in W.H. Downing’s 1919 Digger Dialects; its motivation is uncertain. Australian War Memorial Gallipoli glossary confirms the recorded sense and Australian historical context.

Initial era
1900–1949
Where used
Australian Imperial Force usage
Use today
Historical Gallipoli sense only

Sources