Mark asked:
>I'm curious, anyone know at what point "punk"
switched from meaning a
homosexual, especially in prison, to its later meaning of a
juvenile delinquent?
My copy of the *Dictionary Of American Underworld Lingo"
(1950) lists these definitions:
1. (Prison) A passive pederast or oral sodomist. "That kid
chivved (knifed) three wolves (active pederasts) who tried to
mugg him (employ a crushing headlock) and make a punk out of
him."
2. (Rare, because of confusion with implications of
degeneracy) A young boy.
3. (Prison and hobo) Bread
By implication, the early 50s is when the word began to shift
meaning.
Jim Stephenson
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