Nancy
A mainly British insult for an effeminate or gay man, also nancy boy: a man called by a girl's name, recorded in this sense since 1818.
Nancy, or nancy boy, is a mainly British insult for an effeminate or gay man: a man with a girl's name, in other words. It is a cousin of pansy, sissy and poof, and like them it says less about who you sleep with than about how you walk, talk and hold your teacup.
It also works for straight men who are judged too soft: a "big nancy" is anyone who complains about a cold shower or refuses the roller coaster.
Where it comes from
Nancy is simply the girl's name, used as a label for a man who does not act manly enough. Green's Dictionary of Slang also records nancy as slang for the buttocks from 1812, and notes that the two meanings probably helped each other along.
The gay sense is old. Green's earliest example comes from a London guide of 1818, which mentions a soldier in the foot guards "whose nick name, Nancy Cooper, designates his character". Nancy boy follows a century later: Green's first example is a bawdy song from around 1910, where "two nancy boys came on one day".
Giving men women's names is one of the oldest moves in gay slang, used both by our enemies and by ourselves. The camp habit of calling a friend Mary or Doris comes from the same place, only with love instead of contempt.
How it is used today
Through the 20th century nancy was a staple of British playgrounds, barracks and tabloids, along with poof and bent. Green's still has it in novels of the 2010s and 2020s, from "fancy nancies" to "you insolent little nancy". In the United States it was always less common, and Americans tend to reach for sissy or fairy instead.
Unlike queer, nancy was never taken back with any political energy. Gay men use it among themselves mostly for comedy, usually in a mock-outraged British accent, and often aimed at ourselves.
Variants and relatives
- Nancy boy: the full form, the one most often heard in insults.
- Nancified: made effeminate, prissy; Green's finds it from 1890.
- Big nancy: a wimp, any gender, any orientation.
From a straight man's mouth, nancy can still sting: it is the sound of being told you are not a proper man. Said by a friend with a raised eyebrow, it is about as dangerous as a feather boa.
Related terms
Sources 2
- Green, Jonathon. "nancy, n." Green's Dictionary of Slang, online edition. https://greensdictofslang.com/entry/maivkga
- Green, Jonathon. "nancy boy, n." Green's Dictionary of Slang, online edition. https://greensdictofslang.com/entry/gqtpvua