Don't Misunderestimate This Fellow

Junk English 2 is Ken Smith's second assault on everything that's wrong with the way we speak and write English today. (Well, okay, not me and you, but all those other twerps. You know the ones I mean.) The book isn't his only weapon, though: he's blogging. His no-punches-pulled approach won't please all the people all the time, but I can't help but smile at this item about Evel Knievel's failed lawsuit against an extreme sports website that called him a pimp:

Evel's lawsuit was dismissed, first by a Montana district court, and now by the U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals.  Both courts accepted the explanation that "pimp" is now jargon for "stud," at least among EXPN.com readers.  It is a term of praise, not ridicule.

Evel does not accept this.  His reply to the courts left no doubt as to the meaning of his words, although it did undercut the argument that he could be scandalized by language.  "What good is law in the United States of America," he said, "if five or six goddamn bimbos are going to rule against it?"