A word with more than one meaning is described as polysemous.
An example is ‘bank’, which can be the bank of a river or the financial institution you keep your money.
What about ‘gay’?
The celebrity to really answer this might be American rapper, Kanye West, who has declared he is ‘gay’ in an ambiguous circumstance.
Someone with a romantic instinct or relationship with another man is gay; yet, ‘gay’ is another word for the adjective, ‘happy’.
West’s use of the word since Thursday has, however, created more anxiety than reality.
He sparked controversy after a bizarre two-minute rant where he appeared to come out as gay while venting about his ex-wife, Kim Kardashian, and their children.
As widely reported, he said:
“I ain’t got no motherf****** legacy n****, why the f*** you think I am s****ing out.”
He then added: “I’m gay. [inaudible] in charge of my legacy and I’m gay. I’m in charge of my legacy.”
The moment has triggered debate online, with many questioning whether he said “I’m gay” or “I’m Ye.”
This comes days after Kanye shared a disturbing post on X where he wrote:
while teasing a song titled COUSINS. He later posted a rainbow emoji with the caption:
“This is my new logo.”
He, however, later backtracked, saying he’s not actually gay.
