purple drank, lean

[Benjamin Zimmer]

On 9/30/06, Wilson Gray <hwgray at gmail.com> wrote:
>
> What cracks me up is the large number of members of the print media
> who believe that "[w]ho[re]" is actally "hoe," judging by the fact
> that many columnists and op-ed journalists make serious references to
> "calling women gardening implements," et sim.

I can't say I've ever seen that sort of gloss used non-jocularly. But
if there's any confusion, perhaps it comes from an inability to
appreciate lyrics like these:

    Jenny teased my homeboy Granny
    In fact she teased so many
    She was known as a garden tool.
    --De La Soul, "Jenifa Taught Me" (1989)

Then again, a circuit court judge felt the need to distinguish "ho"
and "hoe" last year...

http://listserv.linguistlist.org/cgi-bin/wa?A2=ind0505A&L=ADS-L&P=R8802


--Ben Zimmer

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