The idea of adapting the sense and part of speech of an existing lexical item, the adjective bright, was inspired by the establishment of the word gay to mean ‘homosexual’. Gay was intrinsically a positive word in its former sense, meaning light-hearted and happy. This formed a stark contrast to terms such as homosexual, queer, etc which are essentially rather negative and often insulting. Similarly, bright was chosen for its very positive overtones. There is something rather formal and stuffy about saying ‘She’s an atheist’, but saying ‘She’s a Bright’ sounds much more informal and uplifting. Geisert and Futrell insist that the term must be used as a noun and not an adjective. The implication is not that anyone described in this way is clever or special: ‘I’m bright’ sounds arrogant, whereas ‘I am a Bright’ sounds unfamiliar and is therefore more likely to invite questioning.

The idea of adapting the sense and part of speech of an existing lexical item, the adjective bright, was inspired by the establishment of the word gay to mean ‘homosexual’. Gay was intrinsically a positive word in its former sense, meaning light-hearted and happy. This formed a stark contrast to terms such as homosexual, queer, etc which are essentially rather negative and often insulting. Similarly, bright was chosen for its very positive overtones. There is something rather formal and stuffy about saying ‘She’s an atheist’, but saying ‘She’s a Bright’ sounds much more informal and uplifting. Geisert and Futrell insist that the term must be used as a noun and not an adjective. The implication is not that anyone described in this way is clever or special: ‘I’m bright’ sounds arrogant, whereas ‘I am a Bright’ sounds unfamiliar and is therefore more likely to invite questioning.

The idea of adapting the sense and part of speech of an existing lexical item, the adjective bright, was inspired by the establishment of the word gay to mean ‘homosexual’. Gay was intrinsically a positive word in its former sense, meaning light-hearted and happy. This formed a stark contrast to terms such as homosexual, queer, etc which are essentially rather negative and often insulting. Similarly, bright was chosen for its very positive overtones. There is something rather formal and stuffy about saying ‘She’s an atheist’, but saying ‘She’s a Bright’ sounds much more informal and uplifting. Geisert and Futrell insist that the term must be used as a noun and not an adjective. The implication is not that anyone described in this way is clever or special: ‘I’m bright’ sounds arrogant, whereas ‘I am a Bright’ sounds unfamiliar and is therefore more likely to invite questioning.

The idea of adapting the sense and part of speech of an existing lexical item, the adjective bright, was inspired by the establishment of the word gay to mean ‘homosexual’. Gay was intrinsically a positive word in its former sense, meaning light-hearted and happy. This formed a stark contrast to terms such as homosexual, queer, etc which are essentially rather negative and often insulting. Similarly, bright was chosen for its very positive overtones. There is something rather formal and stuffy about saying ‘She’s an atheist’, but saying ‘She’s a Bright’ sounds much more informal and uplifting. Geisert and Futrell insist that the term must be used as a noun and not an adjective. The implication is not that anyone described in this way is clever or special: ‘I’m bright’ sounds arrogant, whereas ‘I am a Bright’ sounds unfamiliar and is therefore more likely to invite questioning.