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LOVE EVOLUTION

Valentine's Day Candy Evolves: 'You Are Gay' is out, 'UR Hot' is in

Sweetheart candies reflect changing social mores

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by Dain Fitzgerald

Staff Writer t

Image: sdgln.com

Those little heart-shaped candies have seen some tinkering with over the years, though you wouldn't know it from a quick look-see. It's not their form, nor their ingredients (as far as we know), but rather their little printed messages which have been modified with each passing Valentine's Day to reflect the always a' changin' times.'

"Hep Cat," "Groovy," "You Rock," and the suggestive "Tell Me How" are among the phrases that have been consigned to the candy bin of history, informs The Atlantic's Derek Thompson:

"The Sweetheart is 147 years old," he writes. "But not all of its cute little sayings have enjoyed quite the same sesquicentennial longevity."

Among the more controversial sayings now gone is "You Are Gay," which, come to think of it, doesn't exactly read like flattery to people who aren't. And it's of course nothing more than a statement of fact to those who are.

So in line with with the zeitgeist of 2013, the candies this holiday will include "Text Me" - to replace the archaic "Fax Me" - and "LOML," as in "Love of My Life."

Via the Atlantic.
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Which retro romantic terms are you happy to see the last of, and which do you miss?

Comments (view in Forum)

  • PolitixMary K
    Mary Noble, Senior Editor
    !
    Happy Valentine's day, everyone! We celebrated at Politix by discussing the Chuck Hagel filibuster. Oh, romance!
  • u
    BelinKS
    !
    Glad to see "You are Gay" is out. Doesn't mean the same thing as when it first came out. Otherwise, pretty irreverent.
    HAPPY VALENTINE'S DAY!!!!!
  • Real4WheelDrv
    !
    My mind is still blown by the fact that kids today unless they look at a dictionary will never know that gay, fag, faggot etc. had other meanings. Don't remember what it was, but my gf and I were watching a movie/tv show one night several weeks ago, and one scene had When Johnny Comes Marching Home playing...and she asked me "why will they all be gay when he comes home?" Sigh...I shake my head...not as an anti-gay person...heck she herself is bi...but as a writer with a hard earned and impressive vocabulary, knowing that I can't use certain words in their original context without confusing the masses...
  • rkinsawjoe
    !
    "unless they look at a dictionary"! Now that's a good one. Most kids today don't know what a dictionary is,hell they don't know what diction is. They'd probably think that was some kind of sex position. My nephew,who graduated high school mind you, thought Abraham Lincoln helped Hitler free the slaves in WW II. After sorting it out for him he said he ought to get credit for at least having put Lincoln and the slaves together and for knowing that Hitler won WWII! If Johnny knew what he was marching home to today..he'd keep on marching. Hoorah! Hoorah!
  • u
    crusader
    !
    My cousin used to always get aggravated when my grandfather called her cigarettes "fags". That was funny, she knew the original context but it still sounded wrong. Common usage in derogatory terms has warped the definitions of many words. The term mental retardation is dropped from many schools for the severe mental handicapped because "it has negative connotation". As if any handicap was a positive thing.
  • Real4WheelDrv
    !
    @crusader Agreed, as a person with a disability and with a severely mentally impaired twin brother, the word retard for many of us is still a sticking point, much in the way the n word is for blacks, unless they use it amongst themselves...and yet retard like the n word is still used in everyday conversation. Retardation itself and retard, both with actual meanings, but popular use has it meaning ONLY a stupid person, etc.
  • Antony
    !
    It's nothing new. It has happened since humans learned to speak. Words evolve.'Awful' used to mean 'full of awe.''Nice' was a derogatory term that meant a stupid, ignorant person. It's nothing to get upset over. By the way,'upset' originally meant to rise/set up.

    Regardless, I think most kids still know the meaning of gay. It was always a joke. "Yeah I'm gay. I'm happy." But of course you cannot use the original context in a serious manner. Just like you can no longer say, "I hate happy people. They do nothing in life but are always rewarded," since in this context,'happy' means lucky, or having hap.
  • View all 6 replies >
  • u
    crusader
    !
    I still prefer those that were modified by Bart Simpson, they were actually no less romantic than "tweet me". Since everything is getting so P.C. I am surprised valentine's candy can still get passed out without sexual harassment charges. Also has this candy been approved by Michelle Obama's healthy eating czar.
  • DARSB
    !
    The whole "Be My Valentine" idea bothers me. St Valentine eventually was imprisoned, stoned (with rocks, wise guys) and beheaded. Seems like a thing you shouldn't wish on somebody you like.
  • JoinCCA
    !
    "Tweet me"...on a candy! Twitter is just a fad, like the Internet. I never knew sweethearts were created over 140+ years ago.
  • Post Removed by Moderators
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    BravoJuliet
    !
    I'm glad the "You are Gay" ones are gone...I gave them all to my dog and he had the neighbors whole yard tore up from burying them there last year.= D))))