Lowlife Popularity: Pimped and Pimped Out

The words pimp and pimped out have become mainstream terms in American. What is wrong with this picture? There was a time when lowlife terms and the life and actions of people in this lifestyle was frowned upon. It was not part of the mainstream.

As films began to involve pimps and prostitutes and then rappers began to use these words in their material, the gutter words gained prominence in the consciousness of the country. Now little children are exposed to these words. This is indeed a bad picture.

According to the Online Etymology Dictionary, the word pimper (infinitive) is a 16^th century French word, and it means dressing elegantly. The French word pimpant (present participle) means dressing in a seductive manner. In the English language, the word became pimp and it was introduced in a book by Thomas Middleton entitled Your Five Gallants. It was published in 1607. Pimp was first written as a verb in the book The Bashful Lover by Massinger published in 1636.

During the feudal times in England a pimp was a tenure that allowed a tenant to utilize property owned by a lord. The renter paid the lord with a service, which was usually supplying young women for sex, according to the Law Encyclopedia.

Pimped Out
The phrase pimped out has arrived and its definition from Dictionary.com is “very gaudily decorated or customized; flashy. Gaudy is a long way from elegant, isn't it? The etymology of pimped out dates it from 1988.

The Online Slang Dictionary pimp meaning is: very good, excellent; cool, awesome,  also pimping.

Pimp It Up

Pimp it up is a popular phrase meaning having a good time, sort of taking charge of how wonderful that experience is going to be. ..according to The Online Slang Dictionary.

Language in a culture is indicative of attitudes, the direction the culture is headed, what people think about, and the moral state of that society. When phrases or words become popular it shows what many people in that society will accept as normal and it becomes normative.

Watch out when lowlife words are elevated and pimp costumes and pimp my ride games and pimp street games are in vogue.

Is this what the United States has come to that these words words descriptive of this degradation are popular and have gained the status of general usage in this country? Where does the shame really belong?

Are people going to continued to be steeped in this lowlife verbal boil like the proverbial frog that got boiled in the pot because someone turned the heat up slowly? He didn't get out because of the slowness of the attack. The attack on moral concepts isn't slow in America anymore because it doesn't have to be slow. The attack can be fast because so much of the moral fiber has been boiled away. That is something to think about.