Comments on: On Pimps and Faggots

By: Etymology, Serendipity, and Good Luck : OUPblog

Etymology, Serendipity, and Good Luck : OUPblog — Wed, 04 Jun 2008 15:27:44 +0000

[...] would hardly have thought of the connection. Two of my previous posts in this blog were devoted to pimp and faggot, so here I will only say what gave me the best clue to their [...]

By: Tom Dewey

Tom Dewey — Tue, 01 Jan 2008 18:44:01 +0000

I heard your MPR program this morning whilst on the road, and enjoyed it greatly.
Comment/question…I’m sure you’ve noticed the deterioration in the quality of commercial radio/TV conversations over the past decade or so. Professionalism is going by the board as personalities indulge in “teen speak”, with constant use of expressions such as “I’m like,” “totally awesome,” and “tons” of this and that. The worst offenders seem to be weather people, who string together irritating cliches and try to personalize the weather with chatty blather.
I remember when broadcasters took pride in their syntax, spoke in complete sentences, and comported themselves with a non-stuffy dignity whether the topic was humorous or serious.
What’s your take on this degradation? Is it an anti-intellectual trend? A silly attempt to be socially relevant? A failure of education?
Thanks for listening.

By: Etymological Naughtiness « Massagewallah

Etymological Naughtiness « Massagewallah — Tue, 31 Jul 2007 00:40:03 +0000

[...] On Pimps and Faggots: Anatoly looks at where pimps and faggots come together. The second part, Being The Continuation of the Essay “Pimps and Faggots”. [...]

By: Chris Leo

Chris Leo — Wed, 13 Jun 2007 21:18:26 +0000

I think it keeps going.

If gay comes from Ganymedes, the beloved cup-holder of Jupiter, which was anglicized to catamite, we may have a word that equals the sum of the Germanic “boy who does menial jobs” pimpf and the modern faggot!

By: On Faggots & Pimps, Being The Continuation of the Essay "Pimps and Faggots" : OUPblog

Wed, 13 Jun 2007 15:44:09 +0000

[...] On Faggots & Pimps, Being The Continuation of the Essay “Pimps and Faggots“ [...]

By: Saul Clipperberg

Saul Clipperberg — Thu, 07 Jun 2007 15:22:50 +0000

When I was a young lad, growing up in the Catskills, we didn’t use words like “pimps” or “faggots”. There was a man who sold ladies’ services, but we didn’t call him a “pimp”. We would call him Gary. Gary and I went way back to summer camp. Sometimes I would pay Gary in pelts and cave drawings, which is my way of saying that I’m old. Ha!

But seriously, back then, you didn’t have to pay a man to have sex with a woman. You would just club her and bring her back to the cave with you. But seriously.

And there were no prostitutes either. There was only one woman. Her name was Eve and she looked good in a leaf. Oh, I’m old!

And back then, we didn’t say “faggots”. There was no “gay” or “straight”. In fact, I was married to a man for 12 years! But seriously, I’m old.

By: Anonymous

Anonymous — Thu, 07 Jun 2007 12:41:38 +0000

American slang has the verb “to pimp” which I have heard only in connection with automobiles. One pimps them to make them look pretty. Then compare “pimpmobile,” an ostentatious auto which an affluent manager of prostitutes would drive.