Leksyka dotycząca „najstarszego zawodu świata” w polskim socjolekcie przestępczym z XIX i początku XX wieku

Abstract

The author presents an erotic lexicon belonging to the category of “prostitution” and appearing in historical criminal jargon. He excerpted lexical material from Polish historical studies from the 19th century and the beginning the 20th century (38 words). In the article the author presents the provenance of some expressivisms. He analyses less familiar and forgotten names of brothel, prostitute and pimp: i.e.: bajzel, majdan, binia, nafke, marucha, lupa, chonte, babustyna, szantrapa, rachla, gonia, wytyczka, przydupnik, maciornik, luj, bratpolski, alfons). Most of the studied words constitute neo-semantism, less often – borrowings. The author presents the etymology of this vocabulary, but he also hypothesises the origin of several lexemes. He puts the analysed words in the context of linguistic and cultural taboos (he mentions euphemisation and vulgarisation). The text invites discussion; some of the author’s observations provoke debate.