Haymarket ware
noun · first attested 19th century
The street was London's best known market for sex, and the slang treated the women as stock.
Dated British slang for a prostitute, especially one working the street.
51.5086°N -0.1319°W · Q893034
Record
- Relationship
- Named from the place
- Confidence
- Well attestedThe place link is the standard scholarly account.
- Attested
- 19th century
- Part of speech
- noun
Explanations here are written for this atlas. Dictionary text is not copied; the sources are linked so the claim can be checked.
- Step 1
Haymarket
- In English
Haymarket ware
The Haymarket, running south from Piccadilly Circus past the Theatre Royal, was the most notorious pickup ground in early nineteenth century London, at its busiest once the theaters emptied. The phrase is built like trade tags such as Brummagem ware for the cheap and showy goods of Birmingham. It survives today mostly in Regency romance novels, from Georgette Heyer onward.