Hi guys and galls. I have a question. In case you find it stupid, please just skip this topic and I'm sorry for waisting your time.
My friend and I recently've been discussing Freddie's quotes, and as we came across "Gay as daffodil", we faced a complication. The thing is that we both are not native English speakers, so we cannot judge right. And I decided to ask people on this board - how do you guys think, which meaning Freddie wanted to put in this phrase? As I understand, it is pretty vague even for a native speaker, but I would like to know your personal interpretation.
The daffodil is rare in the plant world in that it only mates with members of it's own sex - unless drunk, when they'll hump anything.
'Daffodil' is Latin for 'bumboy'.
Alternatively, he could be referring to 'gay' as in the 'jolly' sense of the word. The famous pirate ensign, the 'Jolly Roger', got it's name after 17th century buccaneer Roger Somerset, the gayest cove in Western England who, coincidently, used to leave a posy of daffodils as a calling card with all his conquests.
His portrait can be found hanging in the Taunton & District Municipal gallery, next to Bomber off 'Auf Wiedersehen, Pet'.
You learn something new every day here on Queenzone.
"The daffodil is rare in the plant world in that it only mates with members of it's own sex - unless drunk, when they'll hump anything.
'Daffodil' is Latin for 'bumboy'."
Wow if thats true then thats something new for me.
Even more interesting, in "I'm Going Slightly Mad," Fred said that 1,001 yellow daffodils began to dance in front of him. Could this be reference to his extraordinary number of male conquests throughout the years, now in his madness haunting him? Who knows.
Zoroaster wrote: Even more interesting, in "I'm Going Slightly Mad," Fred said that 1,001 yellow daffodils began to dance in front of him. Could this be reference to his extraordinary number of male conquests throughout the years, now in his madness haunting him? Who knows.
Heavens where do you people get all this shit!
Being gay in the early 70s was about as foreign to rock as possible beside Freddie loved to play the role of a rebel and loved to shock everyone.
But being a gay man myself we all love to shock and are incredibly mean-little gossips.
LOL!
BTW Freddie LOVED to gossip and he was never one to confide in especially if he was a bit jealous of you or your boyfriend.
Cheers,
David
I think that it could be inspired by the poem of Romantic English poet called William Wordswoth,and the poem is entilted 'Daffodils" ,you can read it here : link
please remember that the word gay also means (or meant) merry.
'gay' apart from its current usage to mean homosexual, has an archaic meaning of 'happy' or 'jolly'. This is still occasionally used by, for instance, my grandmother's generation and giggled at by schoolchildren when reading Enid Blyton books. Freddie was making a play on that ambiguity, while at the same time being ambiguous himself.
Wordsworth's line 'A poet could not but be gay/In such a jocund company' simply describes the feeling of joy the daffodils' cheerfulness give him, and I think Freddie had probably picked up on that.
Although I liked Flashy's explanation too :-)
dragonzflame wrote: 'gay' apart from its current usage to mean homosexual, has an archaic meaning of 'happy' or 'jolly'. This is still occasionally used by, for instance, my grandmother's generation and giggled at by schoolchildren when reading Enid Blyton books. Freddie was making a play on that ambiguity, while at the same time being ambiguous himself.
Wordsworth's line 'A poet could not but be gay/In such a jocund company' simply describes the feeling of joy the daffodils' cheerfulness give him, and I think Freddie had probably picked up on that.
Although I liked Flashy's explanation too :-)
I agree with both of you and Zoraster. But it's still whimsical and while pretty clear it's about being gay, it's sort of sweet, cheerful, yet intentionally humorous in a kind of self deferential, take the piss out of yourself kind of way to hear/read Freddie say that.
I've come across some articles about a sort of a daffodil, called Narcissus Gay Kybo. Look, for example, here: link As Freddie was fond of flowers, may be he was aware of that sort. And decided to joke about it.
So, he might as well say i'm as gay as a table etc.? Still, I think he put some sense into it. Probably, not very sophisticated, but...this version has the right to exist, hasn't it?
The laws of exaggerated comical expression have no bounds. He could've said anything as juxtaposing it with 'as gay as a..' makes that item 'gay' regardless of the item. For instance, 'as gay as a table' also works because you instantly think 'wow tables ARE pretty gay'. But generally, picking an item that could quite easily be considered 'gay' works better in a conversation. A flower is a good example of this. Saying as gay as a cactus for example is not so good as it requires the listener to work a bit more. Granted, in this context, cacti are pretty gay, but not as gay as a daffodil.
I'm not a native English, that's why I want to understand it thoroughly, but still hopelessly. What is more, in Russian articles this phrase is translated wrongly, meaning, literally - I'm as blue as a violet. (In Russia, gay men are called "blue").