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 looked down upon. It was not part of the mainstream.

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

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.

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 picture of the sculpture depicts and dramatizes the shame of the women or girls that get mixed up in the prostitution trade and the hardness of the pimp or flesh-monger.

Is this what the United States has come to that a word that soon became descriptive of this degradation has gained popularity and the status of general usage in this country? Where does the shame really belong? That is something to think about.