whale
鯨 centers on the whale, a large marine mammal. The meaning is straightforward and specific to this animal.
鯨 combines 魚 (fish) with 京, which likely contributes the sound. The character classifies the whale as a type of fish, reflecting traditional categorization.
The left side is 魚 (fish), and the right side 京 looks like a tall, grand creature. Picture a whale as the grandest fish in the ocean, towering over all others.
For ゲイ, imagine a whale giving a loud, resonant call that sounds like 'gay' echoing through the water: gay -> ゲイ, and the whale's song fills the sea.
whale (Cetacea spp.)
whaling; whale hunting; whale fishing
fin whale; finback (whale); razorback whale (Balaenoptera physalus)
minke whale; piked whale (Balaenoptera acutorostrata)
sperm whale
whale oil
Antarctic minke whale (Balaenoptera bonaerensis); southern minke whale
Shepherd's beaked whale (Tasmacetus shepherdi)
Bryde's whale (Balaenoptera brydei)
Hubb's beaked whale (Mesoplodon carlshubbi)
spade-toothed whale (Mesoplodon traversii); Bahamonde's beaked whale
pygmy beaked whale (Mesoplodon peruvianus); Peruvian beaked whale; lesser beaked whale
Perrin's beaked whale (Mesoplodon perrini)
Sowerby's beaked whale (Mesoplodon bidens); North Atlantic beaked whale; North Sea beaked whale
larger whales of family Delphinidae (esp. the pilot whale or blackfish)
bowhead whale (Balaena mysticetus); Greenland right whale
Gray's beaked whale (Mesoplodon grayi)
Arnoux's beaked whale (Berardius arnuxii)
southern right whale (Eubalaena australis)
opposition to whaling; anti-whaling