Is Evel Knievel a Pimp?

[Jonathan Lighter]

Have recently completed editing of "pimp" for HDAS III.  Its current popularity as a term of praise among the nation's youth seems to have begun no later than 1996.

JL

"Mullins, Bill" <Bill.Mullins at US.ARMY.MIL> wrote:
---------------------- Information from the mail header -----------------------
Sender: American Dialect Society
Poster: "Mullins, Bill"
Subject: Re: Is Evel Knievel a Pimp?
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Sports radio host Jim Rome bills himself as the=20
"pimp-in-the-box". MTV verbs "pimp" in the show
titled "Pimp my Ride" (in other words, "trick out=20
my car").



-----Original Message-----
From: American Dialect Society on behalf of Wilson Gray
Sent: Wed 2/2/2005 10:01 PM
To: ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU
Subject: Re: Is Evel Knievel a Pimp?
=20

FWIW, as I found out while chatting with my 15yo niece, for a lot of
today's younger people, "pimp" has only slang meanings and no literal
meaning. My niece was shocked! shocked! when I explained that literal
meaning to her.=20


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