P_I_M_P_O_L_O_G_Y 101

It was a funny instance at work that lends itself to the inspiration for this post...A coworker of mine asked me about another coworker's name plate and how someone had written "The Pimp" next to the person's name on the name plate with a dry erase marker. I knew who wrote it on there only because the person who wrote it on there is very close in age to the person who's name plate had "The Pimp" written on it and has a desk near this person as well. The coworker who asked me about this is not very close to the age of the two coworkers involved in the name plate incident. This coworker was very close to being offended by such an act almost to the point of informing upper management and was visibly shaken at the idea of anyone being called a pimp. I told the person that I also wondered who would have wrote such a derogatory thing about someone as I was yawning in my mind and wondering how lame this whole conversation was.

It's just kind of a funny example of generations not being aligned in terms of vernacular and slang that is harmless amongst people within the same generation. One could think of so many words that have changed (in terms of context) over the years and how generations disagree about the use and become offended. I understand the language of academia and business and calling someone “The Pimp” in a professional setting is probably not the best move, but a casual setting is a much different situation in terms of verbiage used amongst those “in the know.”