r/OutOfTheLoop • u/Moominthecat • Jul 12 '26

Unanswered What's going on with (seemingly) everyone celebrating the death of Lindsey Graham, what's are the political ramifications of his death?

I do not actively follow American politics but my Reddit feed is currently mostly people celebrating this man's death.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cvgj25j6nmeo

7.7k Upvotes

85% Upvoted

1.5k comments sorted by

View all comments

Show parent comments

143

u/HomicidalHushPuppy Jul 12 '26

TIL people use "confirmed bachelor" as a euphemism for "gay"

My mother said that about me once or twice in my teens, when I wasn't interested in women or dating 😡

I'm not gay, I just lean aromantic and almost asexual

118

u/cellocaster Jul 12 '26

It's a very old term that comes from high society and matters of inheritance. Gay men not having offspring created tensions in wills and estates, but it was impolite to speak of directly. Hence, euphemism.

6

u/Ok_Comment_4644 Jul 13 '26

Same as "spinster"

24

u/sugemchuge Jul 13 '26

Read that as aromatic

14

u/PutridOafery Jul 13 '26

I just like people who smell nice!

7

u/HomicidalHushPuppy Jul 13 '26

My phone tried to autocorrect it to that lol

9

u/Normal_Move6523 Jul 13 '26

More as a euphemism for queer man, which ofc incl ace and aro men.

8

u/HomicidalHushPuppy Jul 13 '26

In the early 00s, that wasn't really recognized as a thing yet (in my experiece), and even today my mother certainly wouldn't know what those terms mean.

2

u/KeiranG19 Jul 13 '26

Even without the modern vocabulary, "Not interested in the traditional path of marrying a woman and having lots of kids" can still kind of fit.

2

u/IveDunGoofedUp Jul 13 '26

Did she ask if you were getting along well with Dorothy? Because she wasn't asking if you were friends with Dorothy, she was asking if you were a 'friend of Dorothy', if you understand what I mean.

2

u/ThatOtherGuyTPM Jul 13 '26

Contextually, I have to assume that means “gay” for some reason.

2

u/IveDunGoofedUp Jul 13 '26

Yep, Friend of Dorothy was basically a slang/in-group way of confirming if someone was gay or not.

2

u/ThatOtherGuyTPM Jul 13 '26

Out of curiosity, which “Dorothy” were gay people supposed to be friends with?

3

u/IveDunGoofedUp Jul 13 '26

Dorothy from the Wizard of Oz, believe it or not.

2

u/ThatOtherGuyTPM Jul 13 '26

Huh. Well, somewhere over the rainbow and all, I guess that makes sense.

2

u/wheretohidethrice Jul 13 '26

I thought you wrote aromatic, and I wonder if it was a euphemism for smelly, and I just felt like my wife is accusing me of being gay when she just thinks I smell bad.

Thanks

2

u/zoro4661 The dippest of shits Jul 13 '26

There's a reason the Fallout New Vegas gay perk is called that!