Googling doesn’t seem to support this, but I’d been under the impression that the titular phrase was a set euphemism for a prositute’s patrons…
Entirely wrong, or do I just read too many old books?
Also used for suitors IIRC, particularly of a widow. Probably hence the connection with prostitutes.
I always thought of it as a general term for a boyfriend or a suitor. Wiki seems to bear me out.
I was under the impression it had some Southern flavor to it.
I understood it to mean male visitors with some romantic interest in the female hostess. I didn’t understand it to suggest prostitution, but can’t say I understood it not to, either.
Put me down for “romantic suitor” as well. Like **bbs2k[/], I associate it with the South.
Not exclusively, to the extent that the euphemism took over the entire word as happened to “gay.” Perhaps because it wasn’t just a polite alternative phrase but rather one that might lend plausible deniability in case of an arrest.
BTW, “gentleman caller” was used for in-calls, while “light housekeeping” was used for out-calls.
(“Bisexual” - what a Southern prostitute says when using no euphemisms at all)
Yes, a suitor, but probably turned into a euphemism for johns under certain circumstances, if my grandmother is to be believed. One wouldn’t suggest a lady was a whore, but might raise an eyebrow at the number of “gentlemen callers” she received. Still, Gramma was unclear whether this meant the “lady” in question was an actual prostitute or just a slut, bless her heart (and, actually, Gramma might not have drawn a distinction, anyway.)
ETA: “Light housekeeping”?! :eek: I had no idea! I thought it meant…y’know…light housekeeping!
Probably because the only place one is likely to hear the phrase in this day and age is a production of The Glass Menagerie.
That’s what I was thinking as well. If Laura was supposed to be a hooker, I totally misunderstood the play.
I shall soundly thrash any cur base enough to impute scandal to the social calls which I made while courting the gallant and honorable widow Jenkins. Any such knave would be unfit to blacken my boots, much less be admitted into polite conversation in any sort of decent society.
I think the proper term is “trick”.