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

[Jonathan Lighter]

Not so far as I know, though I suppose one might draw the appropriate
conclusion from the proper fictive context

"Chorine with a heart of gold" doesn't seem to be an established phrase,
though.

JL

On Tue, Apr 28, 2015 at 2:23 PM, Mullins, Bill CIV (US) <
william.d.mullins18.civ at mail.mil> wrote:

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> Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
> Poster:       "Mullins, Bill CIV (US)" <william.d.mullins18.civ at MAIL.MIL>
> Subject:      Re: "prostitute/whore with a heart of gold" (UNCLASSIFIED)
>
> -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
> Classification: UNCLASSIFIED
> Caveats: NONE
>
> Upon reflection, "euphemism" isn't quite the word I was looking for.  For
> e=
> xample, there was a polite fiction that Miss Kitty of Gunsmoke was a
> saloon=
>  keeper/hostess.  But the role she occupied was obviously that of a madam
> (=
> who had a heart of gold . . .).  Clearly, the developers and writers of
> the=
>  show needed that character for dramatic purposes, but couldn't explicitly
> =
> call her a "whore", so she was therefore a saloon keeper. =20
>
> That's what I'm trying to get at with respect to chorus girls/prostitutes.
> =
>  Were the dramatic roles they occupied in the 1920s/1930s really that of
> pr=
> ostitutes, but everyone turned a blind eye to the fact and called them
> chor=
> us girls, to avoid censorship issues?
>
> > -----Original Message-----
> > From: American Dialect Society [mailto:ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU] On
> > Behalf Of Jonathan Lighter
> > Sent: Tuesday, April 28, 2015 8:22 AM
> > To: ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU
> > Subject: Re: "prostitute/whore with a heart of gold"
> >=20
> > ---------------------- Information from the mail header ---------------
> > --------
> > Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
> > Poster:       Jonathan Lighter <wuxxmupp2000 at GMAIL.COM>
> > Subject:      Re: "prostitute/whore with a heart of gold"
> > -----------------------------------------------------------------------
> > --------
> >=20
> > 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.
> >=20
> > The streetwalker in Sherwood's "Waterloo Bridge" (1929) was an out-of
> > work chorus girl.
> >=20
> > JL
> >=20
> >=20
> >=20
> > On Tue, Apr 28, 2015 at 12:59 AM, Bill Mullins <amcombill at hotmail.com>
> > wrote:
> >=20
> > > ---------------------- 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=3D2C Hope unties her
> > > blindf=3D old and twangs her little lyre=3D2C for I understand her next
> > > picture will al=3D low her to play a =3D96 it must be said =3D96 vamp
> w=
> ith
> > a
> > > heart of gold."
> > > _Variety_ 1/12/1932 p 50 col 5"Mary Nolan is more restrained as a
> > > racketeer=3D ing lady with a heart of gold."
> > > _Modern Screen_ June 1933 p 87"Sizzling story of the good old days of
> > > New Y=3D 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=3D d ponderous manner with one of those "ladies of the evening"
> > > with a heart o=3D f gold=3D2C who allows herself to be talked into
> > posting
> > > for a famous artist=3D =3D2C and under his guidance learns to loathe
> th=
> e
> > > life she has been living."
> > > =3D
> > >  [quoted from NY World Telegram]
> > >
> > > "Chorus girl with a heart of gold" shows up regularly starting in the
> > > late =3D 1920s.  Was "chorus girl" understood to be a euphemism for
> > > prostitute?
> > >               =3D
> > >                   =3D
> > >
> > > ------------------------------------------------------------
> > > The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org
> > >
> >=20
> >=20
> >=20
> > --
> > "If the truth is half as bad as I think it is, you can't handle the
> > truth."
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> Classification: UNCLASSIFIED
> Caveats: NONE
>
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> The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org
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"If the truth is half as bad as I think it is, you can't handle the truth."

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