lavender adj.
(orig. US) a euph. for homosexual and anything referring to homosexuality; also as n., homosexuality.
| [ | ![[UK]](/static/img/flags/uk.png "United Kingdom") | ‘The Ninety-Ninth Hussars’ in Songs for the Army 46: Sir Lavender Silk was a pretty young man, [...] / His men, though respectful, had thoughts of their own / Which might have spoke out if they chose, / That Sir Lavender Silk had the aspect alone / Of a Lady dressed up in men’s clothes!]. |
![[US]](/static/img/flags/us.png "United States") | Pleasure Man (1997) Act I: stanley: And don’t you annoy the boys, Violet. paradise: Lavender, maybe, but violet never. | |
| On Broadway 21 Apr. [synd. col.] In the Waldorf Sert Room: ‘He eats raw hamburger once a week – sort of tempers off the lavender in him.’ [Ibid.] 18 Aug. When he goes across the street the traffic light turns lavender. | |
| in Limerick (1953) 107: There was a young colonel from Trent / Who lived in a lavender tent. | |
| Diamonds Are Forever (1958) 128: Coupla lavender boys. You know, pansies. | |
| Guild Dict. Homosexual Terms 27: lavender (adj.): A widespread term implying homosexuality. ‘To perfume with lavender ...’ Thus the ‘perfume set’ of a century ago applied lavender to mean homosexual, since the first males of the era past who used ‘perfume’ were considered feminine. | |
| Tales of the City (1984) 153: Chairman Jesus loves you! He loves all of us! The black and the brown and the yellow and the white . . . and the lavender! The last color was directed at the man in the prom gown. | |
| Gay (S)language. | |
| (con. 1940s) Boots of Leather (2014) 198: ‘“What the hell are you?” [...] “A lavender butch.” This meant she was butch, but femmy’. | |
| Guardian Weekend 21 Aug. 5: There were several comments about beards and lavender friends. | |
| ‘I’ve Got the Goods’ in Destination: Morgue! (2004) 170: We want Rock Hudson in Giant and Rock at the Lavender Lounge. | |
| Widespread Panic 4: Confidential labeled him ‘the Lavender Lilliputian’ and ‘Princess Tiny Meat’. | |
 | https://www.colorized.com 23 Sept. 🌐 [headline] Rock Hudson Was Hollywood's Most Famous ‘Lavender’ Groom [...] Gates always insisted that it was a legitimate marriage, not a ‘lavender marriage,’ as unions arranged for gay stars were known. | |
| Empty Wigs (t/s) 133: [T]he whole caboodle in The Green and Pleasant was [...] a prod to Attic companionship, the lavender life. |
In compounds
a male homosexual; thus lavender-lipped adj.
| Criminal Sl. (rev. edn). | |
| Homosexual in America 112: Most of the words [in Amer. Dict. of Slang] were of infrequent usage: agfay, lavender boy, mason, nola, queervert. | |
| Cindy & I 24: Came the sudden realization that he was attracting the attention of the Limp Wrist Set . Some of the gay boys even waved. When one lavender lad made eyes at him , he decided it was time to return home. | |
| 5000 Adult Sex Words and Phrases. | |
| Cannibals 105: How is it possible to escape Lavender Lips? | |
| Queens’ Vernacular. | |
| Maledicta VI:1+2 (Summer/Winter) 132: Twilight men was common in the days of lavender lads and pansies. | |
![[SA]](/static/img/flags/sa.png "South Africa") | in On the Run (2007) 32: Some lavender-lipped, bunny-hugging mooncalf went snivelling to the Constitutional Court. |
an effeminate man; thus a male homosexual.
| ‘Lavender Cowboy’ 🎵 He was only a lavender cowboy, / The hairs on his chest were two, / But he wished to follow the heroes / And fight like the he-men do. | |
| Dayton Dly News (OH) 17 Mar. 16/3: Then there is the ‘Lavender Cowboy’ [...] banned solely because of its title. | |
| (ref. to 1935) Horse Opera: The [...] 1930s Singing Cowboy 119: In Tumbling Tumbleweeds the heavies call Autry a ‘lavender cowboy,’ an obvious insinuation of effeminacy and homosexuality. | |
| ‘Fashion Police’ Durango Tel. 22–28 Aug. 🌐 This is an excellent specimen of what we like to refer to as the ‘Lavender Cowboy.’ These individuals have embraced western ideals and a pioneer way of life, but usually lack the requisite callouses and fencing skills that are common to most actual cowboys. Large chunks of turquoise, brilliantly bright bolos, and lizard or ostrich skin Tony Lamas are all tell-tale signs of the ‘Lavender Cowboy’. |
(US gay, west.) a sexually eager gay cowboy.
| (con. late 19C) ‘Western frontier gay slang’ on Twitter 2 Mar. 🌐 ‘lavender desperado’ = horny gay cowboy; presumably after ‘alfalfa desperado’ (a farmer). |
legal issues, practice and study pertaining to the gay and lesbian community.
| Queer Sl. in the Gay 90s 🌐 Lavender Law – Legal issues, practice and study pertaining to the gay and lesbian community. |
an ostensibly heterosexual marriage in which one or both partners is/are in fact homosexual or bisexual; typically entered into by celebrities.
| Mad 6: This drab and lavender marriage carried her out of John’s reach, and relieved him of an agonising consciousness of responsibility towards her. | |
| (ref. to 1920s) (eds) Gay & Lesbian Theatrical Legacy 106: Kit [Katherine Cornell] and Guth [Guthrie McClintic] had a lavender marriage, a marriage of convenience and companionship, while each maintained homosexual relationships. | |
| (ref. to 1930s) Lavender Los Angeles 31: [Ramon Navarro] reportedly refused to enter a lavender marriage when coerced by MGM executive Louis B. Mayer , and his studio contract was not renewed . |
(US) the world of homosexuality.
| in Beemyn Creating a Place For Ourselves (2013) 18: Vanity Fair’s 1931 guide to New York informed its readers that the Paramount Childs [restaurant] was particularly interesting because it ‘features a dash of lavender’. | |
| It Happened Last Night 15 July [synd col.] L.I. cops have started a campaign to rid Fire Island of its lavender set. | |
| Newsday (Suffolk edn) 26 July 7/1: Robbins, 39-year-old member of Cherry Grove’s lavender set. | |
| L.A. Mirror 28 Mar. 8/1: A sect of limp-wristed lads exists and flourishes [i.e. in LA] [...] police officers have carefully controlled the primping and prancing of the lavender set. |
In phrases
to be marginally homosexual.
| ‘I’m a Gigolo’ 🎵 I should like you all to know, / I’m a famous gigolo. / And of lavender, my nature's got just a dash in it. / As I’m slightly undersexed, / You will always find me next / to some dowager who's wealthy rather than passionate. | |
| ‘Lang. of Homosexuality’ Appendix VII in Henry Sex Variants. | |
| Queens’ Vernacular. | |
| Old Patagonian Express [ebook] My brothers were calm, one ironical, the other squinting at a trim young man on the platform and saying, ‘A dash of lavender, Paul – watch out, he's getting on!’. | |
| in Perverts by Official Order (1989) 54: ‘As they say in sets I have known,’ he confessed, ‘it is a dash of lavender.’. | |
| Pre-Code Hollywood 121: The Hays office would not stand for ‘more than a dash of lavender’. |
an effeminate man.
| Und. Speaks n.p.: Streak of lavender, an effeminate man; a sissy. |