gay裡gay氣

Etymology

Applying English gay in the general pejorative construction ……裡……氣／……里……气 (...lǐ...qì), which was originally the ……裡……/……里…… (...lǐ...)-augmented reduplication of disyllabic adjectives ending in 氣／气 (qì, “manner; air”); cf. the following examples:

怪 (guài, “strange”)	→	怪氣／怪气 (“weird”)	→	怪裡怪氣／怪里怪气 (guàiliguàiqì, “weird”)
傻 (shǎ, “foolish”)		傻氣／傻气 (shǎqì, “silly”)		傻裡傻氣／傻里傻气 (shǎlishǎqì, “looking stupid”)
土 (tǔ, “rustic”)		土氣／土气 (tǔqì, “rustic”)		土裡土氣／土里土气 (tǔlitǔqì, “looking unsophisticated”)
流 (liú, “idling”)		流氣／流气 (liúqì, “rascally”)		流裡流氣／流里流气 (“hooligan-like”)

Pronunciation

Idiom

gay裡gay氣

1. (neologism, slang, humorous or pejorative) gay-acting; gay-looking