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Comment by acqq | Hacker News Reader

> Pimp has multiple usages

...checking the American dictionary (descriptive, not prescriptive):

https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/pimp

noun: "a criminal who is associated with, usually exerts control over, and lives off the earnings of one or more prostitutes"

"transitive verb: to make use of often dishonorably for one's own gain or benefit"

"intransitive verb: to work as a pimp"

And yes, I know that there's also MTV. And a "pimp-gate" related to Clinton's daughter and a journalist, as per my other comment here.

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From the same source:

> We get a lot of hate mail from people who think slang doesn’t belong in the dictionary. Comments on our definition for OMG include “I am a high school English teacher and heard that this was added to the dictionary and hoped that I heard incorrectly.” and “The human race is heading somewhere very sad.” These people are barking up the wrong tree: We follow language and delight in tracking its changes.

https://www.merriam-webster.com/words-at-play/slang-and-the-...

and

> Some “new” words are already in the dictionary. New words like hashtag and selfie get a lot of attention, but many of the new words we add are new meanings of words that are already staples in our language: think of the recent meanings of mouse and cookie that have nothing to do with rodents or baked goods.

>What about words that don’t make it into the dictionary? They’re still real words!

https://www.merriam-webster.com/words-at-play/how-does-a-wor...

Dictionaries are not end all authoritative sources. They often do not keep up with slang. As a native English speaker I can say that "pimp" has both that usage and the usage coined from "pimp my ride". I don't have hard numbers on that usage of pimp, but I believe that it's entered the public lexicon at least for my generation. I don't think anyone my age would be confused by that usage.

You are technically correct, and also wrong at the same time by insisting that the way people actually use words in real life is "wrong" because the dictionary says so. If people use "pimp" in that manner, then it is correct.

And execute means killing the helpless. Does that mean those who execute plans are either cold blooded killers or it is a slanderous comparison of them to such?

Trying to be offended by taking the worst possible meaning as presumed most relevant is unproductive at best even when both parties are trying to polish the same communications. More likely counterproductive to the goal of seeming better.

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