Wordsmith.org: the magic of words

Wordsmith Talk

About Us | What's New | Search | Site Map | Contact Us  

Previous Thread
Next Thread
Print Thread
Page 2 of 4 1 2 3 4
Joined: Mar 2000
Posts: 11,613
Carpal Tunnel
Offline
Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Mar 2000
Posts: 11,613
Whoa, that Atlantic crossing is definitely showing!
Pimp has a very different meaning in the States!!
Not necessarily related to being pompous, though I suppose
any of them could be. A female pimp is called a madam.
One of them in California became notorious a few years ago,
when some famous young actors were caught soliciting the
illegal service she was providing.


Joined: Aug 2000
Posts: 2,204
R
Pooh-Bah
Offline
Pooh-Bah
R
Joined: Aug 2000
Posts: 2,204
> Pimp has a very different meaning in the States!!

Over here in th UK, a pimp is someone (usually a man) who solicits custom for a prostitute (usually a woman) and takes a portion of her (his!) earnings - usually a very large portion. He will also protect his investment by making sure, a) that no-one else steals his partner's custom and b) that she comes to no harm from kinky or psychopathic customers. He may also arrange robbery of customers.
A ponce is someone who lives on the immoral earnings of a woman without doing anything much for it. A parasite, in fact. I have never heard of this soubriquet being applied to a woman, whereas pimp, whilst usually associated with males, does not appear to be inherently gender specific.

I have a perfectly respectable reason for having all of this information !!!


Joined: Apr 2000
Posts: 10,542
Carpal Tunnel
Offline
Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Apr 2000
Posts: 10,542
my understanding was that 'poncey' also had the senses of 1) effeminate 2) snobby, ostentatious; I seem to remember the M. Python lads using it in this fashion.


Joined: Aug 2000
Posts: 2,204
R
Pooh-Bah
Offline
Pooh-Bah
R
Joined: Aug 2000
Posts: 2,204
>'poncey' also had the senses of 1) effeminate 2) snobby, ostentatious

I agree that the word does have the sense of "ostentatious", probably because of the stereotype of a ponce wearing flash apparel and adornments. (Like most stereotypes, it is not particularly true - all but one of the ponces I have known were fairly non-descript, ordinary sort of fellows - if a bit sad.) The undoubted connotation of effeminacy possible stems from this, as well. I am not aware of snobbishness being connected, though. I cannot see any reason why a ponce should be a snob _because_ he is a ponce. Any snobbism would surely be rooted in other aspects of his character and background?? However, some of the girls that they lived on were incredibly snobbish - I must write a treatise on the class-structure of harlotry, some day - and maybe it was catching? Plenty of other things to do with the trade were - - -


(Hey!! I've just inadvertantly used the spell-checker - isn't it a hoot?? snobbishness comes out as "Snodgrass" !)


Joined: Mar 2000
Posts: 460
P
addict
Offline
addict
P
Joined: Mar 2000
Posts: 460
Well, hello, RhubarbCommander, and what a fascinating life you must have led. Please tell us more ...
No sooner had I put "An exaltation of larks" away after posting in another thread, than I'm at it again! Here's a couple or three relevant collective nouns for this thread:

- a herd of harlots

- a mews of cathouses

- a concatenation of orgiasts.

Sorry, Jackie, I couldn't find one for 'gutters' but I'll keep trying.


#5514 08/24/00 12:10 PM
Joined: Jul 2000
Posts: 3,467
Carpal Tunnel
Offline
Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Jul 2000
Posts: 3,467
A herd of harlots has been expressed as:

A volume of trollops
An anthology of pros



TEd
#5515 08/24/00 02:22 PM
Joined: Aug 2000
Posts: 2,204
R
Pooh-Bah
Offline
Pooh-Bah
R
Joined: Aug 2000
Posts: 2,204
and a jam of tarts


Joined: Aug 2000
Posts: 2,204
R
Pooh-Bah
Offline
Pooh-Bah
R
Joined: Aug 2000
Posts: 2,204
>and what a fascinating life you must have led. Please tell us more ...

I reiterate - my knowledge has all come from respectable and legitimate research - all financed from public sources.


#5517 08/24/00 02:43 PM
Joined: Mar 2000
Posts: 6,511
Carpal Tunnel
Offline
Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Mar 2000
Posts: 6,511
>> A ponce is someone who lives on the immoral earnings of a woman without doing anything much for it. A parasite, in fact.

With a nod to this week's theme: Something akin to a gigolo, then (though in a gigolo's case, the woman's earnings need not be "immoral").


#5518 08/24/00 03:32 PM
Joined: Jul 2000
Posts: 3,467
Carpal Tunnel
Offline
Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Jul 2000
Posts: 3,467
A palette of drabs
A glut of sluts
A wind of wenches (this is reaching a little bit, I admit). Long i.
A portfolio of scarlet letters
A sweep of streetwalkers
A cart of baggage
A quorum of queans
A trill of trulls
and (my favorite)
A flourish of strumpets



TEd
Page 2 of 4 1 2 3 4

Moderated by  Jackie 

Link Copied to Clipboard
Forum Statistics
Forums16
Topics13,912
Posts229,283
Members9,179
Most Online3,341
Dec 9th, 2011
Newest Members
TRIALNERRA, befuddledmind, KILL_YOUR_SUV, Heather_Turey, Standy
9,179 Registered Users
Who's Online Now
0 members (), 444 guests, and 3 robots.
Key: Admin, Global Mod, Mod
Top Posters(30 Days)
Top Posters
wwh 13,858
Faldage 13,803
Jackie 11,613
tsuwm 10,542
wofahulicodoc 10,510
LukeJavan8 9,916
AnnaStrophic 6,511
Wordwind 6,296
of troy 5,400
Disclaimer: Wordsmith.org is not responsible for views expressed on this site. Use of this forum is at your own risk and liability - you agree to hold Wordsmith.org and its associates harmless as a condition of using it.

Home | Today's Word | Yesterday's Word | Subscribe | FAQ | Archives | Search | Feedback
Wordsmith Talk | Wordsmith Chat

© 1994-2024 Wordsmith

Powered by UBB.threads™ PHP Forum Software 7.7.5