Polari, Pajubá, and Other Lavender Languages [Something Interesting #80] [Pride Month 2026 #3]

I've been a little lax on providing more Pride Month posts this year due to several other things going on in my life, but I definitely don't want my only posts this year to be about dead people. So let's get geeky about linguistics and cover queer languages!

If you know anything about this subject, the most famous one for English speakers is Polari. I only found out about it through one of David Bowie's last songs, "Girl Loves Me", where he mixes it in the lyrics with Nadsat from A Clockwork Orange. More recently, I discovered there's a whole family of these, though, often referred to as either queer argots or lavender languages (depending on who you ask). Like many of the subjects I put in these Something Interesting posts, I can't really do just with the bare minimum knowledge I have, but I can definitely direct you to those who know. If you want to find out more, check out the articles and videos below - it's fascinating stuff, and since a lot of them are technically endangered, it's important to keep remembering them as they were a vital part of queer history.

https://youtu.be/UjqKcvu3Ycs?si=fQY1r5367caNsik-

“A brief history of Polari: the curious after‑life of the dead language for gay men” by Paul Baker (The Conversation)

“Polari and the Hidden History of Gay Seafarers” by Paul Baker (National Museums Liverpool)

Fabulosa! The Story of Polari, Britain’s Secret Gay Language (Website)

https://youtu.be/Y8yEH8TZUsk?si=wUy7VxGpaILoGL3A

https://youtu.be/Ol8MIXWouiY?si=4ysXw37zngStEKfg

https://youtu.be/w447WOQZNNQ?si=6l2fWquCPMXE3TAn