[ANSTHRLD] That question about profession-surnames a while back

[Serpentine Pursuivant]

Add it to another thing in "Lies My Teacher Told Me."  Thanks for debunking
that myth Daniel.  So it would still mean that the way we use hooker has no
basis in period.

Brian



On 10/17/07, Tim McDaniel <tmcd at panix.com> wrote:
>
> On Wed, 17 Oct 2007, Serpentine Pursuivant <lochherald at gmail.com>
> wrote:
> > If this is true (I learned it it in history class, so it *should*
> > be)
>
> That's probably the funniest thing I'll read today.
>
> > The term "hooker" in today's terms, as far as I am aware, comes from
> > the Civil War General Joe Hooker who hired prostitutes to keep his
> > men "entertained."  They then were started to be called Hooker's
> > women and it was eventually shortened to hookers.
>
> <
> http://stason.org/TULARC/languages/english-usage/96-hooker-Word-origins-alt-usage-english.html
> >,
> from the alt.usage.english FAQ, says
>
>      Contrary to what you may have read in Xaviera Hollander's book
>      "The Happy Hooker", the "prostitute" sense of "hooker" does NOT
>      derive from Joseph "Fighting Joe" Hooker (1814-1879), a major
>      general on the Union side of the U.S. civil war, whose men were
>      alleged to frequent brothels. "Hooker" in this sense goes back to
>      1845 (see AHD3); the U.S. Civil War did not begin until 1861. It
>      may come from the earlier sense of "thief" (which goes back to
>      1567, "to hook" meaning to steal), or it may refer to prostitutes'
>      linking arms with their clients. A geographical Hook (Corlear's
>      Hook in New York City, or the Hook of Holland) is also possible.
>
> --
> Tim McDaniel, tmcd at panix.com
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