In university hospitals, attending physicians "pimp" medical students / interns
by asking a series of very difficult questions.

I find the name for this (asking "pimp" questions or "pimping" medical
students) very peculiar and would like to know the origin of this
usage of that word.

A humorous article by Frederick Brancati makes some claims about the
origin, but, given the nature of this article, I am skeptical of it's
veracity.

http://www.neonatology.org/pearls/pimping.html

Please find the origins (or provide references to back up Brancati's claims).

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Clarification of Question by bogonflux-ga on 11 Sep 2004 10:58 PDT

The comments were very insightful.  Although my curiosity is not
totally sated, I recognize that this is a low value question, so I
would like to accept the comment of denco-ga as an answer.

Thanks denco, for acting as a "pitiful goer-between" to procure a bit
of history for me.

Howdy bogonflux-ga,

Appreciate you accepting this as an answer.

I would imagine that it is all derived from the use of the word "pimp"
to mean to "pandar" (the old way to spell pander) or to procure.

TheFreeDictionary.com definition of procure.
http://www.thefreedictionary.com/procure

1) "get by extra effort"
2) ... pimp, pander

Pander (pandar) goes back to before Shakespeare.
http://www.worldwidewords.org/topicalwords/tw-pan2.htm

"In fact, he?d used it himself in the very last scene of the Merry Wives
of Windsor back in 1598: 'Marry, sir, we?ll bring you to Windsor, to one
Master Brook, that you have cozen?d of money, to whom you should have been
a pander'."

So, I would think that pander and pimp were pretty much in common usage
sometime (at least) in the 1500s, and had the alternative meaning of "get
by extra effort" even then.

For whatever it is worth, on the streets of Chicago, to "pimp" someone has
always (well, for a long time) meant to get on someone's case, to place some
pressure on that person, or badger them, more out of fun than anything.

If you need any clarification, feel free to ask.


Search strategy:

Already knew about the pimp/pander/procure connection.

Looking Forward, denco-ga - Google Answers Researcher

I love the Brancati article! Thanks for the link.

I agree that Brancati is a questionable reference source. For one
thing, the quote from Harvey appears online only in relation to its
citation by Brancati.

Even the unabridged OED doesn't give a clue to the origins of
"pimping" in its medical sense. I hope someone can find an answer,
because I've wondered about this for years.

One more thing: "bogonflux" has got to be one of the best usernames on
all of Google Answers. I literally laughed out loud.

Howdy bogonflux-ga,

I would imagine that it is all derived from the use of the word "pimp"
to mean to "pandar" (the "modern" spelling of pander) or to procure.

TheFreeDictionary.com definition of procure.
http://www.thefreedictionary.com/procure

1) "get by extra effort"
2) ... pimp, pander

Pander (pandar) goes back to before Shakespeare.
http://www.worldwidewords.org/topicalwords/tw-pan2.htm

"In fact, he?d used it himself in the very last scene of the Merry Wives
of Windsor back in 1598: 'Marry, sir, we?ll bring you to Windsor, to one
Master Brook, that you have cozen?d of money, to whom you should have been
a pander'."

So, I would think that pander and pimp were pretty much in common usage
sometime (at least) in the 1500s, and had the alternative meaning of "get
by extra effort" even then.

Looking Forward, denco-ga - Google Answers Researcher (IIW)

This is mere speculation, but I wonder whether "pimping" may initially
have been a deliberate corruption of "pumping," as in "pumping someone
for information."

In my mind's ear, I can hear Peter Sellers, as Inspector Clouseau,
saying "So, mon ami, you have pimped him for details about ze crime?"

Much thanks for the 5 star rating, bogonflux-ga.

Looking Forward, denco-ga - Google Answers Researcher