What's the difference between
and
Enter two words to compare and contrast their definitions, origins, and synonyms to better understand how those words are related.

Brian vs Gay - What's the difference?

brian | gay |

As verbs the difference between brian and gay

is that brian is (dialectal|northern england) to keep fire at the mouth of (as of an oven), to give light or to preserve heat while gay is to crow.

As a noun gay is

nape.

brian

English

Alternative forms

* Bryan * Bryon

Proper noun

(en proper noun)
  • .
  • * 1865 Charlotte Eliza L. Riddell: Maxwell Drewitt . Tinsley Brothers, London 1865. page 255-256:
    • "What the deuce is their fancy for calling the young beggar Brian'?" he inquired."Is it ' Brian Boroimhe they have gone back to, or is it some of her people, or what?"
    "There was a good Drewitt once," answered Wilhelmina, "- - - and his name was Brian'. - - - And Nannie told her, too, how a child always strains after the person it is called after, and how luck follows names, and worked her up to such a pit finally, that nothing would do her but the young gentleman must be called '''Brian''' and accordingly '''Brian''' he is - ' Brian Archibald. It is not an easy name to make fun out of; so all I can do is to call him Brin Baldy.
  • * 2008 Phill Young: FarArc . Author House 2008. ISBN 1434378365 page 145:
    • Why oh why had his parents even considered Brian'? '''Brian''' is someone who works in a hardware shop or fixes the U bend. What chance did Sir Lovesdaslutalot have in life with a name like '''Brian'''? You can't even shorten ' Brian to Bri without it sounding like a kind of cheese!

    Usage notes

    After the Middle Ages, mostly used in Ireland; and again popular in all English-speaking countries in the 20th century.

    Related terms

    * Bri * Bryant * (feminine forms) Briana, Brianna

    External links

    * (Brian Boru)

    Anagrams

    * * * * ----

    gay

    English

    Proper noun

    (en proper noun)
  • , originally a nickname for a cheerful or lively person.
  • from the word gay, "joyful"; rare today.
  • . Also a shortened form of Gabriel, Gaylord and similar names, or transferred from the surname.
  • * 1992 , Unto the Sons , Ballantine Books 1993, ISBN 0804110336, page 15
    • - - - my father's father, Gaetano Talese ( whose name I inherited after my birth in 1932, in the anglicized from of "Gay "), was an atypically fearless traveler,
  • * 2004 , Bad Dirt , Fourth Estate, ISBN 0007196911, page 32
    • "Mr Gay Brawls. What a name."
    "It didn't use to mean what it means now. Plenty were named Gay'. Even in Nevada. Was old ' Gay Pitch had a gas station in Winnemucca. Nobody thought nothin about it and he raised a railroad car of kids.- - -

    Anagrams

    *