Gunsel
noun, slang ·Common ·High school level
Definitions
- 1 Synonym of catamite: a young man kept by an elder as a (usually passive) homosexual partner. dated, slang
"The boy’s eyes […] ran over Spade’s body from shoulders to knees […] “Another thing,” Spade repeated, glaring at the boy: “Keep that gunsel away from me while you’re making up your mind. I’ll kill him […] ”"
- 2 A gun-carrying hoodlum or other criminal.
"There's somebody comin. I think it's that gunsel."
- 3 Synonym of bottom: a passive partner in a male homosexual relationship. dated, slang
- 4 Synonym of bitch: a man forced or coerced into a homosexual relationship. dated, slang
Example
More examples"The boy’s eyes […] ran over Spade’s body from shoulders to knees […] “Another thing,” Spade repeated, glaring at the boy: “Keep that gunsel away from me while you’re making up your mind. I’ll kill him […] ”"
Etymology
From Yiddish גענדזל (gendzl, “gosling”), from Middle High German gensel, diminutive of gans (“goose”).
By misunderstanding of the 1929 Maltese Falcon quotation above (1.1) (which survived in a popular 1941 film adaptation). The novel was originally serialized in a magazine, Black Mask, whose editor refused to allow vulgarities. Hammett used the word gunsel knowing that the editor would likely misunderstand it as relating to gun, and therefore allow it.