defining "lap dance"

[Benjamin Zimmer]

>From the Minneapolis Star Tribune...

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http://www.startribune.com/510/story/323200.html
Lap dance definition snarls Vikings love boat hearing

Attorneys for former Minnesota Viking Daunte Culpepper and current
Viking Moe Williams argued in a court hearing today that the sexual
activity alleged against the players on a cruise boat last fall did
not reach the level or criminal conduct.
The attorneys focused on the specific actions of the players and spent
the first half-hour of the hearing in Hennepin County District Court
trying to determine a legal definition for a lap dance.
[...]
Judge Kevin Burke questioned the attorneys as he tried to define a
legal definition of a lap dance, saying he knows of no relevant case
law.
Both attorneys claimed that the details in the criminal complaint were
not specific enough to reach what is typically considered a lap dance.
Police interviews with the witnesses to the alleged sex actions by
Culpepper and Williams weren't specific enough to support the charges,
said the attorneys, who asked the judge to dismiss the cases.
Prosecutor Steve Tallen responded in court that he thinks it's clear
what the definition of a lap dance would be and that he didn't need to
be more specific in the criminal complaint.
He said that if Burke dismisses these charges, he would refile them
with more specifics about lap dances.
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Culpepper and Williams said they never made contact with the woman who
was dancing, so I guess the lawyers are arguing about whether contact
is part of the definition of "lap dance." If they consult MWCD11, the
answer is yes ("an activity in which a usually seminude performer sits
and gyrates on the lap of a customer"), but it they turn to OED3 the
defnition is more ambiguous ("an erotic dance or striptease performed
close to, or while sitting on the lap of, a paying customer in a strip
club, etc.").


--Ben Zimmer

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