'And I have a feeling the loss of the word is making it hard to recognise and value the quality it stood for - "fair and wise and good and gay". '

can't say I've lost any sleep over it. words are there to serve us and mean what we want.

I honestly have never thought - oh I wish I could call that bloke gay, but I wouldn't want people to think I was calling him a woofter.

When my sister was in a choir she used to sing a song that went - Its grand to be gay on St Nicholas Day - but meaning wise , I thought it was a step in the right direction. I mean would anyone normal want to be caught dead singing that?