How Did Slang Terms Originate? It Wasn't Flattery

Dear Crimebusters:

I am curious about the slang terms related to prostitution, i.e., ``john,'' ``hooker'' and ``pimp.'' Where did these terms originate, and how did they get into the popular vernacular?

- Signed, Just Asking

Dear Just:

Let's start with hookers. There are two popular theories, one referring to the manner in which prostitutes ``hooked'' their customers by linking arms with them.

The more interesting explanation is that U.S. Civil War Gen. Joseph Hooker didn't believe his troops should dissipate their energies foolishly, so he put Washington, D.C.'s red light district off-limits to his men. The soldiers retaliated by dubbing prostitutes hookers.

As for pimps, it's believed that Samuel Pepys, a famous 17th century English diarist (that's someone who keeps diaries) first coined the phrase. He referred to a procurer, that is someone who went and got customers for prostitutes, as a pimp. Theory has it he borrowed from the French pimpant, which means seductive, or the old French pimpreneau, which means scoundrel.

Now for the johns. The best theory can be found in ``Facts on File Encyclopedia of Word and Phrase Origins,'' which can be found at your local library. However, the theory is not one that lends itself well to a family newspaper. Suffice to say that legend traces john to John Thomas, an Englishman who lived in the 1400s and was tried, hanged, drawn and quartered for what is now referred to as indecent exposure. Over time, the expression John Thomas was shortened to John and came to be both a common name for a toilet as well as a prostitute's customer.

The name has remained popular to this day, believes Sgt. Frank Kinney of the King County police vice unit, because many men who solicit prostitutes sign motel registers as John Smith. And, if they get arrested, some men are embarrassed and give a fake name or no name at all. They are referred to in jail as John Doe, a name which indicates to authorities they should not be released on their personal recognizance.

The terms hooker and pimp became popular in polite society in reference to persons outside the profession, because the terms are so derogatory. For example, let's say there's a a guy who lives off someone else's work. If you simply don't like him, you call him a leech. But if you find him utterly detestable, call him a pimp. It's a lot stronger.

Interestingly, even real pimps don't like the term. They prefer to think of themselves as entrepreneurs. Accordingly, a hooker would never, ever refer to her employer as a pimp.

At least not to his face. That is, not if she values her own.

Proper street etiquette dictates that hookers refer to their pimp as a ``boyfriend'' or ``my old man,'' that is, someone who supposedly takes care of them.

CRIMEBUSTERS, by Times South bureau police reporter Christy Scattarella, appears Wednesday in South Times Today.

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