Sex: Lawrence Taylor

I was watching the disturbing news about Lawrence Taylor this week when something other than the actual atrocities of the situation struck me as odd. In the English language, we have myriad ways to describe any one particular thing.

But after all these years, there’s still amazingly only one word for pimp.

As the story broke, I listened to reporter after reporter reveal the sordid details of that evening. Every time they mentioned the word pimp, it amazed me that we have yet to invent a more acceptable word to describe this profession. Despite the entrepreneurial spirit of those who have chosen that line of work, pimp just seems like an inappropriate word to say on television. If you’ve never had to explain to your kids what pimp meant, you did after watching Thursday’s news.

This article appears in May 5-11, 2010.