gunsel

== English == === Pronunciation === IPA(key): /ˈɡʌnsəl/ === Etymology 1 === From Yiddish גענדזל (gendzl, “gosling”), from Middle High German gensel, diminutive of gans (“goose”). ==== Noun ==== gunsel (plural gunsels) (slang, dated) Synonym of catamite: a young man kept by an elder as a (usually passive) homosexual partner. 1929, Dashiell Hammett, The Maltese Falcon, [p. http://books.google.com/books?id=1uVajyyVaVkC&pg=RA1-PA13 13]: The boy’s eyes […] ran over Spade’s body from shoulders to knees […] “Another thing,” Spade repeated, glaring at the boy: “Keep that gunsel away from me while you’re making up your mind. I’ll kill him […] ” (slang, dated) Synonym of bottom: a passive partner in a male homosexual relationship. (prison slang, dated) Synonym of bitch: a man forced or coerced into a homosexual relationship. ===== Synonyms ===== See Thesaurus:male homosexual === Etymology 2 === By misunderstanding of the 1929 Maltese Falcon quotation above (1.1) (which survived in a popular 1941 film adaptation). The novel was originally serialized in a magazine, Black Mask, whose editor refused to allow vulgarities. Hammett used the word gunsel knowing that the editor would likely misunderstand it as relating to gun, and therefore allow it. ==== Noun ==== gunsel (plural gunsels) A gun-carrying hoodlum or other criminal. === References === === See also === gunzel === Anagrams === Leungs, lunges