this post was submitted on 15 Jun 2026
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Today I Learned

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[–] victorz@lemmy.world 16 points 13 hours ago* (last edited 9 hours ago) (2 children)

I thought "trans" was short for transsexual? Could someone bring me up to speed here?

In what way is it outdated?

[–] TheMadCodger@piefed.social 23 points 13 hours ago (2 children)

It used to be transsexual, but now it's transgender owing to the differences between sex and gender.

[–] victorz@lemmy.world 2 points 9 hours ago (1 children)

What I'm reading when looking it up is that "trans" is an umbrella term for both.

Are there any good references for this?

Also seems to be that you could be transsexual without being transgender. What if you identify as internal male but feel like your body should be female? Is that not possible? Maybe I'm overthinking it.

[–] can@sh.itjust.works 2 points 7 hours ago

What if you identify as internal male but feel like your body should be female? Is that not possible? Maybe I'm overthinking it.

I think that's probably possible but I don't think transgender or transsexual would be the way to describe that? I don't know, I like language and think I'm up to date on terms but I'm probably not compared to those inside those spaces. But then again with threadiverse as my main social media I might as well be lol.

[–] can@sh.itjust.works 1 points 10 hours ago (1 children)

And before that wasn't it "transvestite"?

[–] TheMadCodger@piefed.social 7 points 9 hours ago (1 children)

Eh, sort of. Transvestite refers to someone who wears clothes of the opposite gender (trans = across, vestir = to clothe, to wear), and really that mainly applied to men wearing women's clothes, because a woman wearing pants is questionable, but a man wearing a dress? There's clearly something wrong with them!

As clothing "norms" became more old fashioned, that word fell into disuse.

[–] can@sh.itjust.works 1 points 7 hours ago* (last edited 6 hours ago)

Thank you. That made me remember this video by Matt Baume and after rewatchijg I should have known that.

[–] SnotFlickerman@lemmy.blahaj.zone 10 points 13 hours ago (1 children)

trans is short for "transgender."

[–] victorz@lemmy.world 2 points 9 hours ago (1 children)
[–] SnotFlickerman@lemmy.blahaj.zone 2 points 8 hours ago* (last edited 8 hours ago)

It is correct, but the former has become a slur over time, nor does "transexual" match because it's not about who you desire, it's about who you are. Heterosexual, homosexual, bisexual, pansexual, finsexual are all about what kind person(s) you desire sexually. It's a mismatch and it is now a slur.

So it means transgender. Unless you're an asshole.