What's In A Word?

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Not Much For Fighting, But What A Recruiter!

While "Fighting Joe" Hooker's headquarters was, according to Charles Adams--presidential grandson, not the cartoonist--"a place where no self-respecting man liked to go, and no decent woman could go. It was a combination of barroom and brothel", the term was used a full 15 years prior to the start of the war. N.E. Eliason in "Tarheel Talk," published in 1856, records that the term was used in North Carolina as early as 1845. John Russell Bartlett also recorded the term in 1859.

Folks in 1863 did refer to Washington DC's red-light district as "Hooker's Division," but that was obviously a double entendre.

The actual origin of the term is unknown. Possible origins include: "Corlear's Hook," a New York City red light district thievery, an activity prostitutes sometimes use to supplement their income

Debunked: US Civil War General Hooker is the source for a common term for streetwalkers.

Documented: ...Though he helped popularize it.

References:

• Urban Legends Archive: Hooker
• Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd Edition
• Random House Historical Dictionary of American Slang, Vol. II