Haymarket ware
English
editEtymology
editA reference to the prostitution that was common in Haymarket area of London in the United Kingdom in the early 19th century.
Noun
edit- (dated, British slang) A prostitute, especially a low-class, on-street prostitute.
- 1956, Georgette Heyer, Sprig Muslin:
- You take the advice of a man who’s older than you, my boy, and has seen more of the world than you ever will! If she ain't Haymarket ware, hedge off!
- 1985, Rosina Pyatt, To Catch an Earl:
- Who was she, then, this girl? Or rather, what was she? An actress? A piece of Haymarket ware paid to alter her profession temporarily? If so, she was a most delectable item of merchandise.
- 1995, Evelyn Richardson, Lady Alex's Gamble:
- "Women!" Christopher fumed. "They are nothing but vain parasites, every one of them after attention, wealth, or a title, or all three, and the worst of their sex are those in the ton. Give me honest Haymarket-ware anytime. At least with them you know what you are getting into. They only exact payment for services rendered, not for a lifetime […] "
- 2004, Blair Bancroft, The Harem Bride:
- She looked like Haymarket ware. A veritable trollop. Good God, she had chosen something Mrs. Daphne Coleraine might wear!
- 2011, Anne Barbour, Escapades:
- Melody's velvet gray eyes were transformed instantly into boiling little infernos of fury. "How dare you, sir! Do you think me Haymarket ware?"
Synonyms
editSee also
edit- Bankside lady, City Road African, Covent Garden nun, Drury Lane vestal, Essex girl, Fleet Street dove, Fulham virgin, St. John's Wood vestal
References
edit- John S[tephen] Farmer; W[illiam] E[rnest] Henley, compilers (1893) “Haymarket ware”, in Slang and Its Analogues Past and Present. […], volume III, [London: […] Harrison and Sons] […], →OCLC, page 283.