Words of abuse

BBC:

The word "gay" is now the most frequently used term of abuse in schools, says a report. How did it get to be so prevalent and why do children use homophobic insults to get at each other?

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"The word has what we call multiple coinage and that's the problem," says Mr Thorne. "While teenagers are generally using it to mean 'lame' it can separately be used as a homophobic term of abuse."

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"It's tricky because it's often a casually throwaway remark and said without any obvious malice," says Deborah, a teaching assistant from Essex. "Terms such as 'batty boy' are clear homophobic insults and much more straightforward to deal with."

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"Batty boy"? I admit to having seen examples of "gay" being used as similar to "lame." But batty boy I have never heard or seen before this BBC article.

BTW, the article does not note that the use of lame might also be considered an insult to the disabled. In the UK the speech police might want to add that to offensive words.