Thought Quotient

John Kerry - The Pimp.

Working with youth culture provides a person with a constant source of slang terminology. It becomes a game for me really, trying to determine what each new word means and then to start using that word around teenagers until they decide it’s no longer cool anymore because “the old guy” is using it. It’s terribly entertaining actually! But every now and again, it’s also very applicable to our culture at large.

In our youth culture, the word “pimp” no longer holds it’s original meaning - although much of the negative connotation is still there. For example, “Pimp My Ride” on MTV. Originally meaning a man who served as the middle-man for street prostitution, “pimp” has mutated (thanks to negative hip hop influence) into a variation on the concept of cool. So, if a young person comes up to you and says, “that shirt is so pimp“… you can go home satisfied that your wardrobe has survived evaluation by the youth fashion police.

However, when used as noun instead of an adjective, the word carries significantly different meaning. In younger children, a 10 year old might consider himself a pimp if he has several “girlfriends” and particularly so if those girlfriends are competing for his attention and giving him things. This moves to a less innocent meaning in later teens and much of hip-hop culture where the meaning is similar but the idea is that the more women a male has providing him with favors… from financial favors to sexual favors - the bigger “Pimp” he is. But in the broadest sense it means pretty much the same thing as the somewhat outdated (in teen circles) term - “Player”. A pimp is someone who manipulates other people to his own gain - a hustler. Someone who uses flashy appearances and enticing words to hook people into his/her influence then uses them as resources for his/her personal profit.

John Kerry is a pimp. This article is a good example of what I’m talking about. He’s got all the right words (regardless how hypocritical) to say and all the flashy physical appearance to make a good pimp. All he needs is a little more “bling”.