Green’s Dictionary of Slang

(US teen) stylishly dressed.

1970		A. Young Snakes (1971) 45: That old pimpish-lookin nigger.
2002		‘Touré’ Portable Promised Land (ms.) 58: Variations include […] pimpish.
2006		G. Malkani Londonstani (2007) 140: Could probably stretch to a stretch limo if you wanted to, but that’s a bit too pimpish.

a flashy, ostentatious car, potentially the choice of a pimp, but not restricted to such drivers, thus attrib.

1972		B. Rodgers Queens’ Vernacular.
1973		E. Droge Patrolman 196: The profits are enormous as evidenced by the many ‘pimpmobiles’ cruising around Manhattan.
1975		J. Wambaugh Choirboys (1976) 93: ‘Driver of the pimpmobile looks hinky,’ Francis said [...] passing a red and white Cadillac convertible driven by a lanky black man in an orange wide brimmed hat with matching ascot.
1981		H. Gould Fort Apache, The Bronx 97: Murphy walked over to the El Dorado. ‘This pimpillac belong to you?’.
1982		L. Block Eight Million Ways to Die 23: You’d think he’d have a mobile phone unit in his pimpmobile, along with the bar and the fur upholstery and the pink velvet sun visor.
1992		K. Lette Llama Parlour 40: It had red upholstery, Mag wheels, a pair of fluffy dice dangling from the rear vision mnirror and a dashboard carpeted in lime green shag. She called it her ‘pimpmobile’.
2004		(con. 1990s) N. ‘Razor’ Smith A Few Kind Words and a Loaded Gun 437: He was living on a rough council-estate and driving a pimp-mobile.
2021		J. Ellroy Widespread Panic 12: I drove a Packard pimpmobile.
2023		(con. 1962) J. Ellroy Enchanters 8: A pimpmobile Caddy dragged him against a guardrail and sheared off his feet.

(US black) fantastic; self-aggrandizing.

2000

Ebonics Primer at www.dolemite.com 🌐 pimptastic Definition: 1. fantastic 2. when a brother thinks he is better than everyone else. Example: Look at Jimmy walking around thinking he’s all pimptastic.

(US) having the characteristics or personality of a pimp.

1949		N. Algren Man with the Golden Arm 285: If you got a brother-in-law he’s pimpy too.
1977		P. Hamill Flesh and Blood (1978) 142: Nobody expects a fighter, an Irish fighter, to come in lookin’ like a nigger dude pimpo beauty, man.

1. contemptible.

1968		J. Hersey Algiers Motel Incident 66: Your pimp-ass son, we’re glad he’s dead.
1972		J. Maryland ‘Shoe-shine on 63rd’ in Kochman Rappin’ and Stylin’ Out 211: What do you think of a pimp ass nigger running around here with the devil herself, Miss Ann?
1983		R. Price Breaks 259: And for your pimp-ass information, I didn’t fuck April.

2. on bad = good model, excellent.

1997–2000

College Sl. Research Project (Cal. State Poly. Uni., Pomona) 🌐 Pimp ass (adj.) Tight; really cool.

(US gay) ankle boots, ‘Beatle boots’.

1972		B. Rodgers Queens’ Vernacular 148: pimp-boots (dated) ankle boots.
2005		P. Musgrove Methuselah’s Legacy 16: Getting off the elevator, she had caught sight of the tips of Lennie’s pointy-toed pimp boots.

(US black) a cane used orig. by pimps to discipline their prostitutes; latterly in general use to describe a cane used as a weapon, but also purely as a fashion accessory.

2000		Ebonics Primer at www.dolemite.com 🌐 pimp cane Definition: a cane used to pimp and smack hoes with. also used to beat disrespectful motherfuckers Example: You better shut yo mouth bitch; else I smack you wit my pimp cane!
2005		B.F. Wilson 44 Questions for Black America 5: Meanwhile, he gathers adoration as he rhythmically walks, leaning slightly on his exquisitely detailed pimp cane.

see pimp ride

(US) of a prostitute who goes from one sadistic, abusing pimp to another, apparently unable to break the habit.

1972

Milner & Milner Black Players 34: A woman who has been abused by several pimps in succession is said to be pimp-crazy.

(US black/drugs) cocaine.

1980		E. Folb Runnin’ Down Some Lines 118: There is [...] pimp fronts (expensive clothes), and pimp dust (cocaine, acknowledged to be a favorite among pimps).
1989		J. Morton Lowspeak.
2008		Post-Star (Glen Falls, NY) 3 Aug. 18/5: There are many slang terms for cocaine [...] big C, blanco, blast, [...] girl, heaven, Mama Coca, [...] pimp, she [...] toot, trains, stardust.

(US black) a particular style of dress associated with pimps.

1980

E. Folb Runnin’ Down Some Lines 118: There is [...] pimp shades or pimp tints (lightly tinted glasses), pimp fronts (expensive clothes).

(US black) the skills that go to making a successful pimp.

2000		Ebonics Primer at www.dolemite.com 🌐 pimp hand Definition: your pimp hand is how you got your bitches in tha smack...in otha words you bringing in mad green and gettin no lip from the hos then you got a strong pimp hand. Example: Yo Maurice, my bitches are always payin me on time. I think I got a good pimp hand.
2001		D. Dorce-Coupet Embracing the Horror 12: What kind of a rap star are you anyway? Still dating the same chick. I had heard once that your pimp hand was very strong.
2005		E. Emery Off the Chain 4: A lot of people will have issues with me saying this: but there are times when it is valid and necessary for a brotha to tighten up his pimp hand.

to make a false show of affection.

2000

T. Udo Vatican Bloodbath 8: I told Judas to go to the Romans and tell them that he would pimp-kiss me in exchange for immunity and a small cash gratuity.

(US black) copious or strong-smelling aftershave or perfume.

2000

Ebonics Primer at www.dolemite.com 🌐 pimp oil Definition: a strong smelling perfume Example: Damn, you be stinkin’ G... How much pimp oil you be wearin’ today?

(US black) a man who adopts the trad. pimp style, but may not actually be selling women.

2000

Ebonics Primer at www.dolemite.com 🌐 pimp playa Definition: 1. a combination of a pimp and a playa 2. a playa who uses the old school pimpin game Example: I’m playin hoes for the money then I got a couple mo’ hoes on the side; therefore I’ma mutha fuckin pimp playa to the fullest.

(US black) the arm-rest between driver and passenger in a car.

1980

E. Folb Runnin’ Down Some Lines 3: How it [i.e. a car] be decked out with lifts and some ol’ pimp rest. [Ibid.] 249: pimp post [...] Car console or armrest between the driver and the passenger.

(US black) an expensive car, suitable for a pimp.

1975		E. Torres Carlito’s Way 70: Me with my pimp car running off with his sister.
1980		E. Folb Runnin’ Down Some Lines 112: Like you got your pimp ride. Da’s a blade, some kinda Cadillac – El D., D.V., whatever-long and sleeky lookin’, black blade wid a rag top.
1986		R. Campbell In La-La Land We Trust (1999) 123: After she pays off his pimp wagon she tries to quit peddling her ass.
1997		(con. 1970s) G. Pelecanos King Suckerman (1998) 112: A pimp-wagon Lincoln rolled up Connecticut.

1. (US Und.) a strutting style of walk affected by US black pimps; also as v.

1970		US Congressional Senate Select Committee on Equal Educational Opportunity 1: Others have taken on the ‘soul’ styles of black teenagers, wearing their hair in James Brown-style pompadours and walking with the so-called ‘pimp roll’.
1987		T. Wolfe Bonfire of the Vanities 37: They walked with a pumping gait known as the Pimp Roll.
1999		K. Sampson Powder 379: He’d pimp-rolled into that bathroom like a boxer.
2000		M. Amis Experience 113: The Tower of Pisa effect is the ‘junkie lean’, as distinctive as the pimp roll.
2005		B. Shapiro Porn Generation 69: Walk into any high school in the United States, and you can see teenagers—black, white, Hispanic, whatever—in baggy pants, doing the ‘pimp roll.’.

2. see under roll n.

a style of dark glasses affected by pimps.

1972		‘Soulful Spider’ ‘Pimp in a Clothing Store’ in Milner & Milner (1972) 286: Young man walked in, Jack, in black on black with a gray tie. Mack hat hanging down, pimp shades sockin’ it to you from the cue view.
1980		E. Folb Runnin’ Down Some Lines 118: There is [...] pimp shades or pimp tints (lightly tinted glasses).
2003		M. McGriff For Love’s Sake 56: He wore those little pimp shades that were popular ‘back in the eighties’.

whatever fashion in shoes is currently favoured by black pimps.

1972		Milner & Milner Black Players 34: As an adjective, pimpin’ may be applied to various items of dress favored by pimps [...] or to certain styles, such as pimpin’ socks, pimpin’ shoes, etc. A few years ago, pimpin’ shoes meant expensive alligator shoes with a long and narrow cut. More recently the term has been applied to pastel-colored loafers in many hues and to multicolored boots.
1989		M. Amis London Fields 208: His pimpsuits, pimphats and pimpshoes are made out of bison and turtles, zebras and reindeer.
2004		J. Sublett Never the Same Again 127: I still had on my polka-dot glitter stage socks, which went so well with my pointy-toed pimp shoes.

(US black) an open-handed slap across the face.

1988		Too $hort ‘Cusswords’ 🎵 Pimp slaps, makin snaps.
1996		P. Beatty White Boy Shuffle 53: The angry rejoinder ‘Nigger, what the fuck you looking at?’ ands a pimp slap that echoed in my ears for a week.
2003		N.Y. Post 12 Sept 72/2: When you watch ESPN’S SportsCenter, you shouldn’t have to explain to your kids what ‘pimp slap’ means. But this past Sunday night, Stuart Scott, who has two daughters, used the term to describe how the Raiders beat the Titans in last year’s playoffs.
2005		P.L. Arnold Earth Is the Mother of All Drama Queens 246: Before my head could bounce back from that pimp slap, he popped me again.

(US black) to hit in the face, either with the fist or a weapon.

1999		J. Ridley Love Is a Racket 167: One was crying like he’d just got pimp-slapped.
2000		P. Beatty Tuff 40: Pulling a slim volume entitled Pimp-Slapped to Oblivion off the shelf.
2004		D.L. Smith Down Low, Double Life 137: I was just about ready to pimp slap his ass when Loretta spoke.

(US black) ultra-thin nylon socks, usu. with a pattern of vertical stripes.

1970		B. Seale Seize the Time 306: Pimp socks are men’s socks you can almost see through. They are usually nylon.
1972		Milner & Milner Black Players 33: A ghetto clothing store displayed a hand-lettered sign in the window: pimp socks $1.50.

(US black) a frankfurter.

1941		‘Digg Mee’ ‘Observation Post’ in N.Y. Age 7 June 9/3: knock me a steak, jake — a ‘pimp-steak’ [...] The definition is simple, if you ain’t in a fog, a pimp-steak is a common hot-dog.
1944		D. Burley Orig. Hbk of Harlem Jive 76: Frankfurter—Pimp steak.
1958		Hughes & Bontemps Book of Negro Folklore 486: pimp steak : A frankfurter, a hot dog. All Jack eats is pimp steaks.
1975		E. Torres Carlito’s Way 146: So like what, a cat with heart is gonna gig in some shoulder-pad factory? Scoffin’ pimp steaks off a pushcart?
2000		Ebonics Primer at www.dolemite.com 🌐 pimp steak Definition: a frankfurter Example: Beeeitch! Don’t be disturbin’ me while I’m eatin my pimp steak.
2002		‘Touré’ Portable Promised Land (ms.) 58: Variations include [...] pimp steak (a hot dog).

1. in the context of smoking [stick n. (6d)].

2. (US black) in senses of a weapon.

(orig. US black) a strutting style of walking, intended to emphasize one’s pride, independence and masculinity; also as v.

1967		Werthman & Pillavin ‘Gang Members & the Police’ in Bordua Police 80: Don’t try to walk pimp. [...] (Could you tell me how you walk pimp?) You know. You just walk cool like. Like you got a boss high. Like you got a fix or something. Last night a cop picked me up for that.
1969		T. Kochman ‘“Rapping” in the Black Ghetto’Trans-action Feb. 27/1: For most street men and many teenagers [the pimp] is the model whom they try to emulate. Thus [...] you have a pimp walk, pimp style boots and clothes, and perhaps most of all ‘pimp talk’ .
1971		K.R. Johnson ‘Black kinesics’ in Florida F/L Reporter 19: ‘When talking in a group, the participants [...] will often adopt a kind of stationary 'pimp strut' ... while [they] are talking, they stand with their hands halfway in their pockets, and they move in the rhythmic, fluid dance-type way (without actually walking) to punctuate their remarks.
1972		D. Claerbaut Black Jargon in White America 75: pimp walk n. a type of slow strut associated with pimps.
1977		J.L. Dillard Lex. Black Eng. 90: The most spectacular performance insofar as walking is concerned is the pimp strut. Kenneth Johnson describes it thus: First of all, it’s much slower [than the aggressive young white male’s nearest equivalent walk] – it’s more of a stroll. The head is sometimes slightly elevated and casually tipped to the side. Only one arm swings at the side with the hand slightly cupped. The other arm hangs limply to the side or it is tucked in the pocket. The gait is slow, casual and rhythmic. The gait is almost like a walking dance, with all parts of the body moving in rhythmic harmony.
1980		E. Folb Runnin’ Down Some Lines 118: There is a pimp walk or pimp stride (in which the walker bobs up and down and side to side as he walks).
1992		Majors & Billson Cool Pose 74: Another symbolic stance is the ‘stationary pimp strut,’ in which the male puts his hands in his pockets and moves in a fluid dance to accentuate talk.
1997		N. Barlay Curvy Lovebox 83: Adoptin’ this pimp walk like he was wearin’ a white suit an’ cuban boots.
1998		Source Nov. 178: Gone was the pimp stroll, the smug confidence [...] and the detachment of its predecessor.
2000		Ebonics Primer at www.dolemite.com 🌐 pimp walk Definition: the slow, strutting style walk associated with a successful pimp. Example: Willie Greene, it takes mo than a pimp walk to make real pimp.
2001		J. Stahl Plainclothes Naked (2002) 114: He pimp-walked towards her, swigging his forty.
2002		‘Touré’ Portable Promised Land (ms.) 187: She [...] pimp-strides out to the Range. [Ibid.] 232: He’d be [...] having sex with his wife when Falcon would pimp-strut into his mind.
2002		S. O’Nan Everyday People 152: Nene threw him to the ground and walked off, not bothering to do his pimp strut.
2003		D. Alexander Ghetto Celebrity 50: He rolled with that pimp stroll that I’d dug even as a child.
2003		M. Goodwin Junk 148: Omar then exited the Hummer and pimp-strolled to apartment ninety-eight.
2005		S. Johnson Rockin’ Robin 38: Robin just turned around and started walking back to the hotel with a slight pimp stride.
2015		P. Beatty Sellout (2016) 103: He simply spun on his Converse heels and pimp-walked into the blurry night.

(US) a derby hat.

1930

‘Dean Stiff’ Milk and Honey Route 138: Neither does the hobo wear a hard hat or ‘duffy,’ known by many an uncomplimentary name, the least of which is ‘pimp’s turban’.

1. the ‘line’ used by a pimp when attempting to persuade a new young woman to join his group of prostitutes.

1969		T. Kochman ‘“Rapping” in the Black Ghetto’Trans-action Feb. 27/1: [W]ithin the community you have a pimp walk, pimp style boots and clothes, and perhaps most of all ‘pimp talk,’ is a colorful literary example of a telephone rap.
1972		D. Claerbaut Black Jargon in White America 75: pimptalk n. a conversation used by pimps to get women into their employ.

2. the bantering, self-aggrandizing conversations between a group of pimps.

1968		Society (St. Louis, MO) 27/2: Thus, within the community you have a pimp walk, pimp style boots and clothes, and perhaps most of all ‘pimp talk’.
1972		Milner & Milner Black Players 23: There are few public places in which they can relax: ‘let it all hang out’ and talk ‘pimp talk’ loudly and without fear of censure.
2006		J. Humphreys Names You Never Remember 32: He [i.e. Iceberg Slim] could also write pimp talk and all that down in the low-level kind of ‘street talk,’ he called it.

3. the jargon of pimps.

2000

Ebonics Primer at www.dolemite.com 🌐 pimp talk Definition: the speech used by pimps and procurers Example: Hip me to yo pimp talk so I can dig what you’re sayin.

(US black) to talk in a bantering, self-aggrandizing manner.

1972

Milner & Milner Black Players 176: The only man badder than this bad, bad nigger turns out to be — the trickster, and a pimp-talkin’, mackin’ motherfucker at that!

see pimp shades

see pimp ride

see pimp stride

1. a first-rate pimp [although whisk usu. means the derog. whipper-snapper].

c.1637		R. Brome Damoiselle III i: Here she comes, and the Pimp whiskin with her.
1638		Ford Fancies I ii: Yes crimpe, ’tis a gallant life to be an old Lord’s pimpewhiskin, but beware of the porter’s lodge for carrying tales out of the schoole.
1697		J. Dunton Night-Walker Mar. 6: A Pimp-Whiskin that usually attended my motions.
c.1698		B.E. Dict. Canting Crew n.p.: Pimp-whisking a Top Trader that way.
1707		Stevens Quevedo 405: Sayings ... as for Instance ... a meer Tom dingle; my whither d’ye go; a Pimp whisk; a tatter demallion; tittle tattle.
1725		New Canting Dict. [as cit. c.1698].
1785, 1788, 1796		Grose Classical Dict. of the Vulgar Tongue n.p.: Pimp whiskin, A top trader in pimping.
1811		Lex. Balatronicum.
1823		Egan Grose’s Classical Dict. of the Vulgar Tongue.

2. a mean-spirited, bigoted man.

c.1698

B.E. Dict. Canting Crew n.p.: Pimp-whisking [...] a little mean-spirited, narrow-soul’d Fellow.

see pimp stride