“Johns”, “Tricks”

I'd feel like some sleazy douche from some big american city. That's the instant image that pops in my head.
MissInsomnia said:
I’ve never heard a provider call clients “Johns” before, but some of the freestyling ladies that I know still use the word “trick”.. and they’re in their 20’s. Didn’t know that the word was old-fashioned.
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Here's a good read that I quickly looked around for:

https://english.stackexchange.com/q...-trick-in-the-phrase-turning-tricks-come-from
I've got a possible interpretation, for which however, I'm afraid there is actually little hard evidence (but considering the scarcity of etymology studies dealing with prostitution professional vocabulary, this is hardly surprising). However if you connect the dots, it kind of makes sense.

For each dot, in the conjecture below, I will add a confidence level (abbreviated as CL), so that hopefully other contributors might fill the gaps.

Here it goes anyway:

It all comes from... Surprise, surprise.... French argot (slung).

  1. "trique" in popular French is a word for a wooden stick (CL 100%). French donkey's are sometimes motivated using "des coups de trique". It is believed to come from Northern French dialectal "estrique" and is akin to "strike" in English, "streik" in German and so on. Also gives "tricoter" (to knit) in French.
  2. "avoir la trique" or "triquer" means to have an erection (CL 100%).
    Passing the boundary between popular and argotic here.
  3. By extension "triquer" or "trequer" means, for a man to make love, in a careless/bestial way to his partner. (CL 100%). Please refer to a famous novel named "Prostitution" by Pierre Guyotat, easy to find on the web. Just Google for "Guyotat triquer" and you should net a large number of hits.
  4. The verb "triquer" used as "to have sex with a prostitute" was particularly common in the world of French prostitution in the previous century at least (CL 50%). Can't back this from personal experience, I'm afraid ;-).
  5. The idiomatic expression passes in the English language somehow (CL 20%).
  6. A trick in English in the context of prostitution has both the meaning of a customer or the act itself. (CL 100%).
  7. To "turn tricks" is to engage in acts of prostitution with "Johns" or "Tricks".
 
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TAG Manager said:
I'd feel like some sleazy douche from some big american city. That's the instant image that pops in my head.

Here's a good read that I quickly looked around for:

https://english.stackexchange.com/q...-trick-in-the-phrase-turning-tricks-come-from
I've got a possible interpretation, for which however, I'm afraid there is actually little hard evidence (but considering the scarcity of etymology studies dealing with prostitution professional vocabulary, this is hardly surprising). However if you connect the dots, it kind of makes sense.

For each dot, in the conjecture below, I will add a confidence level (abbreviated as CL), so that hopefully other contributors might fill the gaps.

Here it goes anyway:

It all comes from... Surprise, surprise.... French argot (slung).

  1. "trique" in popular French is a word for a wooden stick (CL 100%). French donkey's are sometimes motivated using "des coups de trique". It is believed to come from Northern French dialectal "estrique" and is akin to "strike" in English, "streik" in German and so on. Also gives "tricoter" (to knit) in French.
  2. "avoir la trique" or "triquer" means to have an erection (CL 100%).
    Passing the boundary between popular and argotic here.
  3. By extension "triquer" or "trequer" means, for a man to make love, in a careless/bestial way to his partner. (CL 100%). Please refer to a famous novel named "Prostitution" by Pierre Guyotat, easy to find on the web. Just Google for "Guyotat triquer" and you should net a large number of hits.
  4. The verb "triquer" used as "to have sex with a prostitute" was particularly common in the world of French prostitution in the previous century at least (CL 50%). Can't back this from personal experience, I'm afraid ;-).
  5. The idiomatic expression passes in the English language somehow (CL 20%).
  6. A trick in English in the context of prostitution has both the meaning of a customer or the act itself. (CL 100%).
  7. To "turn tricks" is to engage in acts of prostitution with "Johns" or "Tricks".
Click to expand...

Those dirty, nasty, shameless French again...:D
 
Frenchy said:
Those dirty, nasty, shameless French again...:D
Click to expand...

french_meanwhile.jpg
 
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MissInsomnia said:
I’ve never heard a provider call clients “Johns” before, but some of the freestyling ladies that I know still use the word “trick”.. and they’re in their 20’s. Didn’t know that the word was old-fashioned.
Click to expand...

I'm pretty sure that both terms (in their prostitution meanings) are older than the net, indeed older than computers...in fact even older than me!

Interesting to hear that they are still in play with currently young folks.

-Ww
 
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MissInsomnia said:
I’ve never heard a provider call clients “Johns” before, but some of the freestyling ladies that I know still use the word “trick”.. and they’re in their 20’s. Didn’t know that the word was old-fashioned.
Click to expand...
I’ve seen the term “trick” on a stripper website, I think it was called “Surviving the club”. I can actually paraphrase that sentence because it left a huge void in my soul: “I’ve been a 200 dolar ho, I’ve been a 2000 dollar ho, but a trick is a trick and you should keep your child away from him”. I can’t relate to single mother lifestyle but can imagine the hardships women are going through.

For me, it sounds very sleazy. I wouldn’t use it for men simply because I don’t want to be called a “ho” (or its variants) in return. We are two people having mutual respect for each other and there’s no need to use such slurs.

Sometimes I get silly emails but the clients I actually get to meet are usually nice people, they are kind to me & do their best so I enjoy the session as well. I can’t disrespect them like that, I don’t have any reason to.
 
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"Johns" is pretty anachronistic. Haven't seen that term used in years.

Tricks, though, that's been around forever and is still in current usage. It's mainly seemed to be used by providers on the lower end of the spectrum, streetwalkers and the like.
 
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Acid Burn said:
Surprised to hear those terms are still used. Feels like I’m in the 80’s when I hear those terms. Lol. IMO, they have a negative connotation when I hear them used. I prefer client and provider better.
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Arent we all just Lovers in the Oneness of Perfect Harmony? :)
 
People say "turning tricks" don't they? Makes it sound like going around pickpocketing or something.
 
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