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tranny

From Wiktionary, the free dictionary

English

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Alternative forms

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Etymology

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All are shortened forms of the indicated terms (most of which start with the prefix trans-) +‎ -y.

Pronunciation

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Noun

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tranny (countable and uncountable, plural trannies)

  1. (slang, vulgar, chiefly derogatory, offensive, anti-LGBTQ slur) A transgender person, especially a trans woman, or (especially historically) anyone who cross-dresses, especially MTF: a transvestite, drag queen, transgender person, etc.
    • 1978 September 13, Alan Daniels, “Keeping tabs on the graduates of 52 Water: Teenage runaways”, in The Vancouver Sun‎[1], page D2:
      "This is the boys' corner – this block and the next," he says. "Everybody has their territory: males, females, queens, trannies (transvestites) [...]
    • 2018, Roddie Lee Kingsfield, M.Ed., Purple Passionflower: The Path to Becoming a Powerful Trans Peace Warrior, page 56:
      When I spoke with lesbians, most would tell me, “I don't date trannies. […]
    • For more quotations using this term, see Citations:tranny.
  2. (colloquial, Commonwealth) A transistor radio.
    • 1995, Paul Vautin, Turn It Up!, Sydney: Pan Macmillan Australia, page 135:
      He spent most of his time in his darkened storeroom with a tranny and an earplug while his kid ran riot in the classroom.
    • 2012, Dave Thompson, To Major Tom:
      We talk, and I listen to Radio Luxembourg on my tranny – I have a little earplug, so if any teachers come in they won't hear it.
  3. (colloquial, automotive) A vehicle's transmission.
    • 2012, Phil Edmonston, Lemon-Aid Used Cars and Trucks 2012–2013:
      Other incidents where the tranny suddenly locks up in high gear and requires that the car be restarted to return to normal.
  4. (colloquial) An electrical transformer.
  5. (slang, skateboarding, skiing, countable) A transition between moves.
  6. (slang, skateboarding, uncountable) A style of skateboarding based on transitioning from one move to the next.
  7. (Northern England, slang) A Ford Transit (type of van).
    • 2014, Sally Wainwright, 1:49 from the start, in Happy Valley, season 1, episode 3, spoken by Kirsten McAskill (Sophie Rundle):
      Oooh! Gotta go. Jenson Button's just streaked past in a white tranny. I think he's trying to smash the land speed record, bless him. And he's got a tail-light out. I think I might give him a tug.

Usage notes

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With regard to the LGBTQ sense:

  • Some early (1970s and 1980s) uses gloss tranny as transvestite. Some scholars from that era (like Kate Bornstein) say the term broadly encompassed transvestites and/or drag queens and trans people (and that people moved between these categories).[1] Some users of the term (by the 1990s) distinguished trannies (who "are born biologically male and either dress up as women on occasion or live as women [and] may or may not have taken hormones to alter the appearance of their bodies") from transsexuals (who have sex reassignment surgery),[2] much the same way some people distinguish(ed) transgender people from transsexuals.
  • In Australia, the term (sometimes spelled trannie) was used by transsexuals as well as transvestites/drag queens[1] and transgender people, and was in use in academic discussions of such people by the 1990s, having a more neutral tone in Australia then than it has (for example) in the US today.
  • By at least the 1990s, some trans people who had lived through the 1970s and 80s were stating that the term had been, and continued to be, sometimes used "to abuse not only actual trans people, but a list of 'weird' people seen as non-gender-conforming".[3] From early on (at least the 1970s), and still to the present day, many uses of the term have been in the context of sex work and/or pornography.[4] Over time, there has been increasing agreement that the term is offensive, though it also continues to be used in self-referential / reclaimed ways by some trans people.

Derived terms

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trans person

Translations

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References

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  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 2009 July 12, Kate Bornstein, "Who You Calling A Tranny?"
  2. ^ 1995, Australian Review of Applied Linguistics, volume 18, page 84: "[Some people distinguish] 'trannies' - who have not had a sex change, and transsexuals - who have - because this is exactly the nature of the category distinction work which takes place between the two performers in this example. 'Trannies' are born biologically male and either dress up as women on occasion or live as women. Such people may or may not have taken hormones to alter the appearance of their bodies. Trannies may go to lengths to convincingly appear [female...]"
  3. ^ Roz Kaveney, "Why trans is in but tranny is out" (archived), in The Guardian (2010 June 30)
  4. ^ (See Citations:tranny and:) 2014 April 28, Cristan Williams, "Tranny: An Evidence-Based Review", The TransAdvocate

Anagrams

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