The man was a hooker

[meliss]

Hi, I'm really confused here. It's from the book "You Can Heal Your Life" by Louise Hay, the chapter about prosperity. Was that man a ... prostitute? Thank you.
"These Ideas Are for Everyone. The man was a hooker and wanted to increase his business, so he came to me for a prosperity session. He felt he was good at his profession and wanted to make $100,000 a year. I gave him the same ideas I am giving you, and soon he had money to put into Chinese
porcelains. He spent so much time at home, he wanted to enjoy the beauty of his ever-increasing investments."

 

[SoothingDave]

Yes, that seems to be correct.

 

[GoesStation]

Although male prostitutes certainly exist, calling one a hooker​ looks really odd to me.

 

[meliss]

If not a prostitute, who's hooker then?

 

[GoesStation]

When I hear the word hooker I think of a female prostitute. I think I've heard slang words for the males in that sad profession, but I can't think of any of them right now.

 

[SoothingDave]

"Gigolo" is the usual term for males.

 

[Tarheel]

Dictionary.com says (for hooker):

1. A person or thing that hooks.

It's unclear to me what that means specifically. Context would help.

 

[GoesStation]

"Gigolo" is the usual term for males.

That sounds a bit dated to me. Not knowing a more recent term, I guess I might use it anyway.

 

[Rover_KE]

He's a rent boy if his customers are male and an escort* if they're female.

(A hooker is also a rugby player who, as the 'the central forward in the front row of a scrum, has the job of hooking the ball' (Collins), but that doesn't apply in this thread.)

* with or without rumpy-pumpy.

 

[Tdol]

If I heard that a man was a hooker, I would assume they played rugby, but that doesn't fit with spending so much time at home. This is the first time I have come across this usage. Sex worker is the gender-neutral term I hear.

https://en.oxforddictionaries.com/definition/us/hooker#hooker-3

 

[meliss]

So, may I sum up that nobody doubts the man is a sex worker?

 

[Tdol]

I think that is what he is, but it is an unusual usage and I am prepared to be wrong about this.

 

[TheParser]

He's a rent boy if his customers are male and an escort* if they're female.

NOT A TEACHER


Here in the United States, a male sex worker catering to other males has traditionally been called a "hustler."

Nowadays, however, he would simply be referred to as an "escort" (for legal reasons).

 

[Rover_KE]

If I heard that a man was a hooker, I would assume they played rugby, but that doesn't fit with spending so much time at home.

Additionally, a rugby hooker is hardly likely to make $100,000 a year by sitting around at home.

 

[Amigos4]

Let's leave the traditional definition 'hooker means physical sex' out of the OP. I believe the word 'hooker' in the OP is a derogatory term used for a man who would do almost anything in exchange for money. His main purpose in life is to acquire lots of money and he would sell his soul to attain that goal.

 

[probus]

Let me sum up by saying that when I played rugby our interest in beer was enormous. Our interest in Chinese porcelain not so much.;-)

 

[GoesStation]

Let me sum up by saying that when I played rugby our interest in beer was enormous. Our interest in Chinese porcelain not so much.;-)

Didn't it make a delightful crunching sound when it got into a scrum?

 

[Tdol]

Here in the United States, a male sex worker catering to other males has traditionally been called a "hustler."

In the UK, the slang term rent boy has been used for younger men doing this, as in this Pet Shop Boys song: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UfCg50a7RbE

To us, a hustler is just someone trying to get cash from us somehow, closer to a con artist.

 

[GoesStation]

To us, a hustler is just someone trying to get cash from us somehow, closer to a con artist.

That's more or less how this AmE-speaker understands the word.