"prostitude" = gigolo

[Wilson Gray]

According to an episode of one of the versions of Law and Order, the
term described by definition (2) is _walker_. In New York City, at
least.

-Wilson

On Sun, Mar 28, 2010 at 1:49 PM, Laurence Horn <laurence.horn at yale.edu> wrote:
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> Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
> Poster:       Laurence Horn <laurence.horn at YALE.EDU>
> Subject:      Re: "prostitude" = gigolo
> -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
> At 1:04 PM -0400 3/28/10, ronbutters wrote:
>>Not necessarily.
>>
>>(1) If the man is "financially supported" by the older woman, then
>>he is not a prostitute, which is one who directly offers sexual
>>services for pay, quid pro quo.
>>(2) If the man is paid to "be her escort" without sexual services,
>>then he is certainly not a prostitute.
>>(3) Male prostitutes service clients of both sexes; GIGOLOS (or so
>>the dictionary says; see NOAD below) service only female clients.
>
> It was observation (3) I had in mind in the parenthetical in my
> comment below--somehow the male-client-servicing variety of male
> prostitutes don't strike me as being aptly described as
> "prostidudes".  But it's true I didn't have observations (1) and (2)
> into account, since I was assimilating the escort variety of gigolos
> to the escort-with-happy-ending variety.  I certainly wasn't
> reckoning on professional male dancing partners counting as gigolos.
>
> LH
>
>>
>>All of these points agree with my intuitions as well as being
>>supported by the dictionary definition. I have never heard the term
>>GIGOLO applied to young men who are supported by sugar daddies,
>>though I suppose someone might do it as a mild sort of metaphor,
>>especially since no alternative comes to my mind: HUSTLER has more
>>of the sense of 'prostitute'; ESCORT is often a euphemism for
>>'prostitute'; YOUNGER LOVER seems somewhat dated (and does not
>>necessarily convey the sense of financial dependance).
>>
>>
>>gig*o*lo |ejig/flP|  n. (pl. -os) often derogatory a young
>>man paid or financially supported by an older woman
>>to be her escort or lover.
>>   a professional male dancing partner or escort.
>>-ORIGIN 1920s (in the sense 'dancing partner'): from
>>French, formed as the masculine of gigole 'dance hall
>>woman,' from colloquial gigue 'leg.'
>>gig*ot |ejig/t|  n. a leg of mutton or
>>
>>
>>On Mar 28, 2010, at 12:04:20 PM, "Laurence Horn"
>><laurence.horn at yale.edu> wrote:
>>
>>At 3:51 PM +0000 3/28/10, ronbutters at aol.com wrote:
>>>Yeah but a gig(g)olo is not quite a male prostitute?
>>>
>>
>>Hmmm...Not all male prostitutes are gigolos, but aren't all gigolos
>>male prostitutes? (And "prostidudes" might single out the relevant
>>ones, like our Mr. Markus.)
>>
>>LH
>>
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--
-Wilson
–––
All say, "How hard it is that we have to die!"––a strange complaint to
come from the mouths of people who have had to live.
–Mark Twain

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