This is the gayest column you will read this week. It’s gay. Really gay. Oh, it’s so gay.

When you hear the word “gay,” what’s the first thing that comes to mind? For those who use words in the correct manner, you probably think gay rights, Ellen DeGeneres or the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender and Ally Alliance.

But for the rest of campus, this is just another stupid column to read during Econ. 101.

The word “gay” is overused and abused. The meaning of gay, according to Webster’s New World Dictionary, has three specific meanings: 1. joyous and lively, 2. bright, 3. homosexual.

To our grandparents’ generation, gay was the word describing a fun or merry event. To my parents’ generation it was a term to describe a sector of society defined by their sexual activities. But to our generation, it is becoming a slang term to describe anything that is unpleasant, stupid or dumb.

But some are working to put a stop to all this “gay” misuse.

Des Moines area school administrators are struggling with how to handle the widespread use of “so gay” as a slur and negative label. What are they struggling about? This language problem has needed to be addressed for years.

At my high school, like many Iowa high schools the words “gay” and “fag” were commonly heard in hallways, in the locker rooms or on the school bus.

Almost everything we did at Garnavillo High School was considered “gay.” Gym class was gay. Reading mythology in English class was very gay. Riding the school bus as a senior was so gay.

At the time I never thought we were being mean or offensive toward homosexuals. We didn’t hate gays; we had nothing against them. It was only a word. That’s what I would tell myself. And that when I got to college, I would stop using this word. But instead the habit followed me to Ames, like saying supper to describe an evening meal.

People need to realize using the word “gay” is inappropriate when it’s in the wrong context. And people need to stop using it casually, expand their vocabulary and find a new word to describe things they don’t like.

So, if “gay” is such an offensive word to so many people, why is it still widely misused?

Because people don’t think when they talk. For example, in my community there were some elderly people who used derogatory terms to describe minorities without a second thought. They don’t think they are racist. They don’t have anything against minorities.

But the use of that one word, which is nothing more than a combination of various letters, has more meaning than the phrase that follows it.

The examples are endless.

When I came to college, I thought the verb “jewed” was an actual legitimate word. Everyone I knew used it. Once I was explaining my grandmother’s ability to bargain for items in Mexico when I was confronted with the truth.

“What did you just say?” my wide-eyed listener asked.

“Well she jewed down the guy for the watch,” I proudly explained.

At the time, I didn’t think I was being insensitive toward Jews. I was just talking about the power of bargaining, nothing degrading to Jewish people. Hell, at the time I didn’t even know any Jews. “It’s just a word,” I kept telling my listener.

We all learned while growing up what was the appropriate and inappropriate slang to use. These two examples are deemed offensive by society’s standards. And yet using the word “gay” is accepted among friends and co-workers.

Using the word “jewed” is just as bad as using “gay” in a negative sense. The use of the word may simply be a bad habit like biting your fingernails or cracking your knuckles.

But this habit needs to broken. We need to think before we speak. We need to think about the meanings. We need to expand our vocabularies in order to effectively express ourselves.

Hate crime begins with hate speech. It’s time to start watching what we say.

Michelle Kann is a senior in journalism and mass communication from Garnavillo. She is newsroom managing editor of the Daily.