LONDON, May 22 (UPI)

A Top Gear presenter has been rapped by the British media guardian for using a slang word for homosexuals to describe a car he didn’t like. The Office of Communication said Top Gear host Jeremy Clarkson was not justified to say a bit of ginger beer, Cockney rhyming slang for queer, The Daily Mail said Tuesday. Discussing a Daihatsu Copen during an episode last year, Clarkson at first called the vehicle a bit gay before adding, It’s a bit ginger beer. The communications watchdog said using the word gay was not necessarily offensive, citing the dictionary’s definition of the word. But, the office said, Clarkson’s use of a Cockney rhyming phrase made clear he intended to give a particular meaning to use of the word ‘gay’ … i.e., not to restrict its meaning simply to foolish or stupid, but clearly linking the reference to homosexual people. The Office of Communication said the complaint was resolved because the BBC, which airs Top Gear, already warned the show’s production team and producers not to repeat the offense. An internal BBC investigation upheld complaints about Clarkson’s use of the word gay during the episode shown last July.

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