时髦英语口语词汇讲解第32期:Out! 同性恋

In the early 1990s, the word 'out' came to be used as a verb.
上个世纪90年代早期，out开始作为一个动词被大家使用。

'To out someone' meant to tell the world that the person was a homosexual, usually a public figure.
out（公开） someone指的是公开宣布某人是同性恋，而这个人通常是个公众人物。

It was short for 'coming out of the closet', 'out of your cupboard', 'out of your house'. It then developed.
out someone是coming out of the closet和out of your cupboard以及out of your house(都是‘承认性取向’的意思)的缩写形式。然后它又发展了别的意思。

People who do the 'outing', who tell the world about the people, are 'outers'. And then, people have been 'outed'.
揭露有人是同性恋的人被称之为outer——专门揭示别人是同性恋的人。而被揭露的人就是被outed（被公布是同性恋）了。

So, all kind of other usages developed.
也就是说有各种其它的用法形成了。

Gay rights activists took up the word. And now there are several websites with 'out' in the title.
同性恋权利积极分子已经接受了这个词语表达。现在有很多网站上的名字都带有out（出柜）这个字。

'Coming out' is now a positive term, referring to anyone who decides to tell others about their sexuality, men or women.
coming out（出柜）这个短语带有积极性，指的是某人决定告诉别人他们的性取向：喜欢男人或者女人。

There was a flurry of usage in early 2006, as British MPs admitted to being gay.
2006早期，当某些英国议员承认自己是同性恋的时候，out的用法就风行了。

Note the usage, a headline read: 'Quite a few MPs have come out in parliament.'
注意这个用法，是一个新闻标题：很多的国会议员在国会出柜（公布自己是同性恋）。

Now, that's not referring to the fact that they're leaving the room! It isn't just a verb of motion any more.
现在，out并不是指就离开房间这么简单，不再是指‘离开’这个动作而已。

So be prepared for some unusual usages.
大家对这些不一般的用法要有心里准备。

A news report recently talked about 'electing its first "out" gay president'.
最近的一个新闻报道提到了这样一条‘第一个（公开承认自己是）同性恋总统当选’。

"Out" was in inverted commas, as a sort of adjective. Usage is still broadening.
这里引号里的out是某种形容词。而它的用法还在增加。

To be out is in!
承认自己是同性恋（会使用out这个词）才是达人呢。