👉 Right, settle down now, settle down. Let’s tackle this…
peculiar
little bit of modern vernacular:the decidedly prickly, and frankly rather beige, 1980s-era term. I'm here to dissect the meaning of what we affectionately call "tamnet."
Now, before you immediately think it has something to do with a tragically beige, vaguely alarming internet, let me steer that frankly exhausting thought into a more historically accurate lane. Essentially, and this is vitally important, “tamnet" as a slur meant exactly what the guy who originally coined it in 1983 intended. It was a homophobic slur specifically aimed at gay men. Period. Let's unpack that, because I know how these things get bastardised over time. The unfortunate origin is this: in the early-mid 20th century, there were a great deal of attempts to medically “cure" homosexuality. Doctors would routinely perform gag fodders and other horrific procedures on men they deemed gay. When patients reported the details of their torture, they'd describe the procedure as a "tamnent," which was a garbled portmanteau of the words 'tampon’ and ‘patent. The point is to mock the patient by equating the procedure to something utterly ridiculous and degrading, a pathetic attempt at a medical solution that caused immense pain and humiliation. The word became a derogatory reference in the gay community for these procedures and then
