Crib

Posted by ESC on August 23, 2002

In Reply to: Cribhouse posted by ESC on August 23, 2002

: : "The problem with defending the purity of the English language is that English is about as pure as a cribhouse w h o r e. We don't just borrow words; on occasion, English has pursued other languages down alleyways to beat them unconscious and rifle their pockets for new vocabulary." - James D. Nicoll

: : It's a great quote, but what precisely is a cribhouse? Crib could refer to a bed, or it could refer to cheating. Does it mean a "ranch" or is this a term from the era of house detectives and illicit "no-tell motels"?

: I am away from my library. It seems to me that a "crib" originally was a stall-like facility, located right off the street, used by prostitutes. Maybe in New Orleans? Later "crib" came to mean one's apartment or other living quarters. As the dictionaries say, usually considered vulgar.

"In the early part of the 20th century, many visitors came to New Orleans seeking the entertainments of 'jolly good fellows.' According to the euphemisms of the times, such 'fellows' were prostitutes. And passengers arriving at the Basin Street train station couldn't help but fall into their arms...The bordellos of Storyville became great mansions of vice. Many madams became extraordinarily wealthy. As did saloon owners and politicians and policemen who took a large cut in graft...And while many of the bordellos, like Lulu White's Mahogany Hall, were lavish and catered to customers who could meet her prices, there were also hundreds and hundreds of 'crib' girls, who charged much lower rates and worked out of small one and two room cribs, furnished with only a bed and a chair. They might rent a crib for a night for as much as three dollars. Then they might charge men anywhere from ten to fifty cents. Competition tended to keep the prices brutally low in the cribs..." www.bigeasy.com

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