[Ads-l] sporting man was Re: "shot" = 'hypodermic injection' (1889)

[MULLINS, WILLIAM D (Bill) CIV USARMY DEVCOM AVMC (USA)]

In what I've seen, a 19th-century "sporting man" invariably is a gambler.  But I look at gambling literature far in excess of literature in which pimps would show up, so that may be biased.


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Without context, a  "sporting woman" predominantly meant prostitute. A
"sporting man," without context, covered various options, often unsavory,
from sportsman to gambler to pimp.

Both were euphemisms, "sporting" implying "playing" in some sense.

JL


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