tuscl

"Boys and girls, our new word today is 'pimp.'"

Tuesday, May 2, 2006 2:11 PM
I need some linguistic help. I was at a club when the manager came over and began talking. I inquired of the whereabouts of a new dancer to whom I was very attracted (a Susannah Hoffs look-alike, including the little body). The manager told me that she had quit dancing, and had a "pimp." Now, to someone of my vintage, a "pimp" is a business agent for a prostitute. However, taken in context, he seemed to be using the word "pimp" to mean a man who would keep a woman, what we used to call a "sugar daddy." I certainly didn't get the impression that this woman was hooking and available for tricks. What do you think the club manager meant when he said that the dancer was no longer dancing, and that she now has a "pimp."

18 comments

  • FONDL
    •
    18 years ago
    Which is why new editions of dictionaries are constantly being issued. Meanings are changing all the time, but then so is everything else. I guess it's easier to revise the dictionary than to teach correct English.
  • AbbieNormal
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    18 years ago
    It used to be that finding a gay bar would be something to brag about. Having a "gay old time" used to mean something very different after all. Same with queer. The new meaning has totally replaced the old. It is also happening with "irony", whose actual definition is very close to sarchasm, but is used to mean improbable (with some bit of kharma or poiniancy added in for good measure) nowdays.
  • FONDL
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    18 years ago
    Yoda, many words today have totally different meanings among younger people. You accuse me of writing my own dictionery, teens have me beat by a mile. But to get back to Chitown's situation, I think that really sucks.
  • davids
    •
    18 years ago
    Yoda: "The MTV generation seems to be de-sensitized to a lot of realities." And the old generation here seems to be desnisitized to the fact that when they women for conversation in strip clubs they are just getting PHONY affection back, and that they are PATHETIC LOSERS.
  • Yoda
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    18 years ago
    I used to sit and watch "pimp my ride" with a dancer friend of mine and her then 13 year old daughter. The show was actually kinda funny but my friend's daughter had no idea what the word "pimp" actually meant. The MTV generation seems to be de-sensitized to a lot of realities. It was my first exposure to the word being applied to something other than a guy who forces women to fuck men and then give him all the money.
  • RomanticLover
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    18 years ago
    Maybe someday "pimp" will mean someone who is EMOTIONALLY INVOLVED with a stripper who SELLS SEXUAL FAVORS.
  • FONDL
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    18 years ago
    No comment.
  • chitownlawyer
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    18 years ago
    "And I can remember when no one would ever say "it sucks" in polite company." Yes, this is one of my pet peeves. Mrs. Chitown uses it around the children, and lets them use it without comment. I wouldn't mind her saying it if she did it.
  • FONDL
    •
    18 years ago
    For those of you who don't know, "Pimp My Ride" was a show on MTV (I think) that was essentially an extreme makeover for an old beat-up car. Only they didn't just restore it, they "pimped it up," hence the title of the show. I'm not sure if it's still on but it was quite popular with kids, you can buy it on DVD. And as AN said, it was pretty funny because of the bizarre characters involved and the things they did with cars. I remember one episode involved an old Cadillac with the big tailfins. You can imagine what it looked like when they were finished. Anyway I'm guessing that a lot of teenage couples refer to each other as ho and pimp these days, they seem to be common terms.
  • chandler
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    18 years ago
    For an even broader stretch of the terms meaning, visit [view link]
  • AbbieNormal
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    18 years ago
    Here's the funny part, I've seen that show FONDL. I found it both hilarious (what they'd do to a 1976 Pinto for instance), and surprising. The host was a rapper, can't remember his name, but his personality was the furthest thing from what the rappers I've seen project. He was friendly, charming, polite, had a great sense of humor, constantly joking, had a quick wit. Not exactly the brooding gangsta you usually see these guys portrayed as in the media. Now, here's a scary thought. In 50 years grandparents will be nostalgic about rap. "Grandpa? How did you and grandma meet?" "Well Billy, I wuz up in da club one night, and your grandma, well she was quite the ho..."
  • FONDL
    •
    18 years ago
    Every kid knows the word, ever see the TV show titled "Pimp My Ride?" It's actually pretty funny. And I can remember when no one would ever say "it sucks" in polite company. Words lose their meaning when they become part of the youth culture (which is another oxymoron if there ever was one.)
  • AbbieNormal
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    18 years ago
    I don't worry about these kids and their crazy language anymore. I just hike my pants up to my bellybutton and yell at them to stay off my lawn. "Spinner" was the last "hip slang" I thought reasonable to adopt.
  • Yoda
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    18 years ago
    A pimp is a guy who leaches off of women and controls them through abuse. The term "business agent" hardly applies. I realize that in the modern vernacular the word has taken on different meanings but I prefer to assume the traditional definitions and implications and proceed accordingly. Forget about her.
  • hugevladfan
    •
    18 years ago
    I was blown away a few days ago when someone I highly respect who is on the periphery of the industry mentioned how many men are able to worm their way into a strippers' life and take control of them for a short amount of time. Perhaps you could've asked the club manager to elaborate but this may be eventually what it leads to.
  • chandler
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    18 years ago
    It sounds to me like he meant pimp. To say it in that context when he meant anything else wouldn't be very bright. Or perhaps the manager thought he'd impress you by being as "street" as possible.
  • chitownlawyer
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    18 years ago
    I don't understand why that explanation would tell why she was no longer dancing, unless part of this particular man's status as a "player" involved replacing the income that the woman was making as a stripper.
  • davids
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    18 years ago
    Nowadays, "pimp" is just slang for "player": A guy who can get hot chicks after him and to do what he wants. So a player who dates strippers.
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