Pimp and Pimped Out: Lowlife Popularity
66A Sad Picture
Origins
The words pimp and pimped out have become mainstream terms in American. What is wrong with this picture? There was a time when lowlife terms and the life and actions of people in this lifestyle was looked down upon. It was not part of the mainstream.
As films began to involve pimps and prostitutes and then some rappers began to use these words in their material, the gutter words gained prominence in the consciousness of the country. Now many little children are exposed to these words in rap and in real life. This is indeed a bad picture.
The word pimper (infinitive) is a 16th century French word and it means dressing elegantly. The French word pimpant (present participle) means dressing in a seductive manner. In the English language, the word became pimp and it was introduced in a book by Thomas Middleton entitled Your Five Gallants. It was published in 1607. Pimp was first written as a verb in the book The Bashful Lover by Massinger published in 1636.
During the feudal times in England a pimp was a tenure that allowed a tenant to utilize property owned by a lord. The renter paid the lord with a service, which was usually supplying young women for sex, according to the Law Encyclopedia.
The phrase pimped out has arrived and its definition from Dictionary.com is “very gaudily decorated or customized; flashy. Gaudy is a long way from elegant, isn't it? The etymology of pimped out dates it from 1988.
The picture of the sculpture depicts and dramatizes the shame of the women or girls that get mixed up in the prostitution trade and the hardness of the pimp or flesh-monger.
Is this what the United States has come to that a word that soon became descriptive of this degradation has gained popularity and the status of general usage in this country? Where does the shame really belong? That is something to think about.
Yes James that would make sense. The Scarlet Pimpernel, first published in 1905 is set in the French Revolution. it was written by Baroness Emmuska Orczy.
Thanks for your comment.
Deltachord,
Great hub and very informative!
I think pimp and pimped out both should have stayed out of the mainstream and in the gutter.
Many have become desensitized to the immoral implications of these words. All too often they are used in rap music jokingly that only further degrades those who think it is "hot or cool" to do so.
I agree this give a "bad picture" to the children. I also think it still is a shame!
Thank you for sharing
Blessings
its bad terminolgyto use yet I was living in the streeta for many years many many mothers support they're childreen because no education was made avaiable to them not all these people are trash. its learing to understand the causes from parents who throw away tens of thousands of children every day. many come from parental rape abuse of the father or mother many are from one gneneration after another. There are many reasons to understand this life comes with great pain heart ache they certainly not trash. Judging without knowing only adds to bashing ofd more human life mike
Thanks for commenting DeBorrah and sharing your view. Yes, it is a matter of being desensitized. The minds of the children are being corrupted. Thanks again.
I appreciate you opinion thevoice. This article wasn't written to bash mothers or people in the street. It is an article showing how language filters through cultures and societies and as it does how meanings change.
If anyone is under critical scrutiny here, it is the pimps and TV shows and songs that glorify the low life style, which is being pushed into children lives.
The point is this subculture shouldn't be a part of the mainstream, which gives its insidious influence more power.
Thank you very much thevoice for sharing your thoughts.
sorry life in the streets is none to real its hard to think about the human damage pimps have done to so many young girls. mike
Yes, I agree the damage done through the ages by pimps is horrendous. Mike, you have a good heart.
James A Watkins Level 8 Commenter 2 years ago
That must be where the term "Scarlet Pimpernel" came from. Interesting Hub but a sad commentary on our current society. Thanks.