Is nelly a British word?

I think it's 99% British but old-fashioned. Could mean both effeminate or silly. Never heard it from an ordinary American.

I think a British guy would call a feminine gay guy "camp". Someone used the word to describe Emmet in Queer as Folk UK.

They call them poofs.

I mean, I was called a poof at school, in the UK, but never nelly. I originally heard it on the American QAF but have since heard it elswhere.

Nelly queen

Poofter

In the US it's just plain old faggot.

What is the worst slur for a gay man in Britain, the equivalent of "fag" in North America? Is it "poof"?

R6 I don't think faggot means effeminate, though?

Nancy Boy 👦

That's my point, there are no shades of gay. Just faggot.

In Britain, "fag" means "cigarette". "Faggot" is a type of meatball made from minced off-cuts and offal, especially pork (traditionally pig's heart, liver, and fatty belly meat or bacon) together with herbs for flavouring and sometimes added bread crumbs. It is a traditional dish in the United Kingdom, especially South and Mid Wales and the English Midlands.

No, he's from St Louis.

R9 my parents' generation might have used Nancy Boy. We never used sissy either in the UK.

It’s barely currently used in the US. It’s an archaic term

R7 In the UK we had a big thing for reclaiming most of the words that gay men might find offensive back in the 1980s/90s.

I'm not sure most British gay men would regard anything as a slur?

Actually, in Britain camp is also used as a synonym for poof I think, even though camp is only an adjective.

I wonder how long it's been since "camp" was a verb?

Thanks, R15, even though I think reclaiming words is magical thinking.

Brits say "queen" in honor of Liz II.

(I just made that up.)

It is difficult for the British (the English, more correctly) to recognize and name a state that applies to such a large proportion of men in the nation.

Nowadays it takes pink hair to even register a "pouf."

R20 what do you mean? That a lot of men are poofs?

pansy

R13- What about the word HOMO?

Cunt is an affetionate term in Blighty. They just don't care.

Don't say fanny though!

* affectionate

There is another way that Nelly is used, as in the phrase/idiom "Not on Your Nelly" which just means not on your life/no way/no chance.

It apparently dates from Cockney rhyming slang from the 1930s. It was still in common use about 50 years ago, not so much now.

Justin Castro is nelly.

R24 where do you get the idea that “cunt” is an affectionate term in the UK?? I’m British, and that’s utter rubbish. No way we go about saying things like “here’s my grandmother, she’s such an adorable cunt.” Cunt is still seen as one of the worst of all swear words.

R26 Addendum

There is an Art Gallery in London called Nelly Duff because of that phrase.

R28 It depends where you live, Twat is really offensive in the North-West of England and means Idiot in the South-East.

My 82 year old Mother says fuck all the time (as does almost everyone I know), it's just a form of punctuation around Manchester.

The only time I've ever heard the term "Nelly" used to describe a gay man is in Tales Of The City.

Cunt is NOT an affectionate term in the UK. No one calling Piers Morgan a cunt is doing it in an affectionate way.

No one really says faggot here either. It's not a nice term and we have the annual Fairytale of New York debate, but it's an American term that never really caught on here.

And yes, a fag is something you pop out for when needing some nicotine.

The correct term is "cocksucker". I'd like to see British or American gay men try to reclaim that word and pretend it's a neutral term. 😆

Cocksucker is another Americanism. Of course it can also be used descriptively -- aren't we all cocksuckers?

[quote] ....aren't we all cocksuckers?

I can't respect a gay man who doesn't like sucking cock.

R35 some men don't like it though

Take your pick. "Auntie", "friend of Dorothy" and "light in the loafers" are probably all dated. I've never heard of the term "Bathsheba". I do like to "flit" about, though.

R36, the only acceptable reasons for not liking to suck cock is if the guy receiving has poor hygiene, is exceptionally big or has a very prominent mushroom head so it's hard not to scrape your teeth on it and piss off the suckee. Otherwise, sucking cock is one of the most fun things you can do.

R38 I think I just prefer getting fucked.

To each his own, R39. I would fuck more but I don't like wearing condoms and I'm worried about picking up STIs. At least when you suck a guy, you can see if his dick "looks" clean, which of course doesn't prove he doesn't have any STIs but it does count for something.

R40 yes that's true. I guess I am talking about being in a monogamous relationship so the rules of the game change I guess.

"Nelly" is the way we spell it in the US. It's an adjective. "Effeminate" is the closest synonym.

There's an English guy on DL who used to use the word "nellie" in his posts a lot. I always found the spelling curious, but when he said he was British, I figured "nellie" was just the British spelling.

As for cocksucking, yeah, if it's not there, neither are you. I've been with hundreds of men over the years, and only two refused to suck my cock. They were promptly shown the door. I don't remember anyone not wanting me to suck them off.

"Nelly" is a US slang term meaning effeminate--it's really a pre-Stonewall term (it was still used in the 70s and after, but it was already pretty dated by then).

The corresponding British term is/was "nancy."

R43 is nancy the same as poof, do you think?