[Ads-l] "prostitute/whore with a heart of gold"

[Jonathan Lighter]

Probably not, though in reality there was some overlap, which was widely
understood or suspected. Chorus girls showed their legs for the interest of
males, danced in skimpy costumes ditto, wore lots of makeup, etc. Hmm.....
Stereotypically they had "sugar daddies," which was just one step away from
prostitution - if that much.

The streetwalker in Sherwood's "Waterloo Bridge" (1929) was an out-of work
chorus girl.

JL



On Tue, Apr 28, 2015 at 12:59 AM, Bill Mullins <amcombill at hotmail.com>
wrote:

> ---------------------- Information from the mail header
> -----------------------
> Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
> Poster:       Bill Mullins <amcombill at HOTMAIL.COM>
> Subject:      "prostitute/whore with a heart of gold"
>
> -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
> _Picture-Play Magazine_  July 1925 p. 105"However=2C Hope unties her
> blindf=
> old and twangs her little lyre=2C for I understand her next picture will
> al=
> low her to play a =96 it must be said =96 vamp with a heart of gold."
> _Variety_ 1/12/1932 p 50 col 5"Mary Nolan is more restrained as a
> racketeer=
> ing lady with a heart of gold."
> _Modern Screen_ June 1933 p 87"Sizzling story of the good old days of New
> Y=
> ork with Mae West as the wicked woman a heart of gold."
> _Independent Exhibitors Film Bulletin_ 3/13/1937 p 10"It deals in a dull
> an=
> d ponderous manner with one of those "ladies of the evening" with a heart
> o=
> f gold=2C who allows herself to be talked into posting for a famous artist=
> =2C and under his guidance learns to loathe the life she has been living."
> =
>  [quoted from NY World Telegram]
>
> "Chorus girl with a heart of gold" shows up regularly starting in the late
> =
> 1920s.  Was "chorus girl" understood to be a euphemism for prostitute?
>               =
>                   =
>
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