hooker
photo credit: "Prostitute" by Charles LeBlanc (CC BY-SA 2.0) Definition: (noun) prostitute
Example: Rita thought her dress was conservative, but at the bar, a man mistook her for a hooker.
Quote:
“I wouldn’t say that she’s a full-on hooker with a heart, but she’s been known, I think, to weasel cash out of men for a good time.”
Back in high school, I heard a story about this word’s origins
dating from the early 1860s. During the US Civil war, General Hooker’s
troops were stationed in Washington and were apparently so fond of easy
women that the red light district became known as Hooker’s Division.
While this is true, the word hooker was used before the
Civil War, so the title was probably intended as a joke with a double
meaning at the time.
In competition for the claim of originating this expression is New York,
which once had a low-life area known as Corlear’s Hook. The Hook,
as it was also called, was both home to many prostitutes and a frequent
destination of sailors. However, earlier appearances of the word suggest
the real origins are more likely related to the verb to hook, since prostitutes
hook or catch their customers. Sadly, this is also far less interesting.
Garner’s “hooker with a heart” is short
for the “hooker with a heart of gold”, a
character popularized by late nineteenth century author Bret Harte, whose
stories sentimentally depicted the American West. The stereotype has since
been played in movies by Julia Roberts in Pretty Woman, Rebecca De Mornay
in Risky Business and Jamie Lee Curtis in Trading Places, among many others.
A. C. Kemp | July 24 , 2003
