Tramp Stamp

[Benjamin Zimmer]

On Wed, Jul 23, 2008 at 11:38 AM, Baker, John <JMB at stradley.com> wrote:
>
>        How old is "tramp stamp," the current term for those popular
> tattoos at the base of a woman's back?  The earliest I see is 8/19/2004
> from the San Francisco Chronicle (Westlaw):  In the Central Valley,
> writes Lisa Hayes of Modesto, they call that tattoo at the base of a
> woman's spine a "tramp stamp."
>
>        That seems rather late, though.

Earliest Urban Dictionary definition is from 3/22/2003:

http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=Tramp+Stamp&defid=67941


--Ben Zimmer

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