The word “freak”, like the word “queer”, has many different meanings. To someone who came of age in the late 60’, early 70’s, it was a badge of honor. Hippies were what others called the tribe. Members called themselves freaks. Right around the same time, there were Jesus freaks and we’ll talk about them on this episode of All of the F Words too. And then there are freak shows, prominent from the Victorian era in Europe and North America and still today, because, apparently, physical difference is morbidly fascinating to humans.

Freak Took on New Meaning in the 1960’s
https://www.bozemandailychronicle.com/local-events/chrysti/chrysti-the-wordsmith-freak-took-on-new-meaning-in-the-1960s/article_69ca8c65-c3d7-5e43-8db9-3940c2dcee6d.html
https://hippiedictionary.com/excerpts.php
Who were the Jesus Freaks?
https://www.compellingtruth.org/Jesus-freak.html

History of Freak Shows https://www.sheffield.ac.uk/nfca/researchandarticles/freakshows
Geek Love – novel about a carny family https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00PIOMK5G/ref=dp-kindle-redirect?_encoding=UTF8&btkr=1
Finnish comic Ismo on the oddities of the English languagehttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=igh9iO5BxBo
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