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Pedants' corner

'Pimp' my ride...

7 replies

JapaneseMargaret · 09/08/2014 05:02

Where does this saying come from? I know there's a TV show by the name, and basically the phrase means to do up, make better, improve, adorn, etc.

So how/why does the word 'pimp' come into it...? Confused

Surely, given what the phrase means, the word people are after is 'primp', as in 'primp and preen'.

Just something that has been bothering me recently.

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ZenGardener · 09/08/2014 06:50

I think it means Pimp as in prostitutes. I guess a Pimp has a certain amount of bling about him.

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CuttedUpPear · 09/08/2014 07:34

It's a prostitute's pimp reference.

Horrible. I hate it when I hear children using the term.

I feel the same way about the common use of the word 'porn' - as in 'property porn' Hmm

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JapaneseMargaret · 09/08/2014 08:07

But why, though? 'Pimp' doesn't make any sense.

It's as if somebody who was a bit 'street' misheard, or misunderstood the word somewhere along the way, and it should actually be 'primp'. Primp makes complete sense. Pimp does not.

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MuttonCadet · 09/08/2014 08:13

Zen gardener has already explained it. Pimps are renowned for being ostentatious, so "pimp my xxxxxxx" means to "bling it up".

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ZenGardener · 09/08/2014 11:35

Primp my car isn't very gangsta sounding though is it?

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JapaneseMargaret · 09/08/2014 19:44

No it isn't, but that's kinda my point.

It just seems incredibly coincidental to me that the chosen ('cool', gangsta) word is practically identical to a different, but far more appropriate word.

Yes, some (caricature, 'amusing' stereotype) pimps bling up, but by far the majority (real life) do not.

I was just interested in the origins, but am still left wondering if there was some confusion or misunderstanding by someone, when the phrase was first coined.

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badtime · 10/08/2014 20:07

The word 'pimp' has a different use in American hiphop culture. As well as an actual pimp, it has long been used to refer to someone, and by extension something, cool. 'Pimping' something is making it like a pimp i.e. cool (although that simple statement misses out several generations in the development of this slang usage).

(BTW, I do not actually think pimps are cool.)

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