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Not to be confused with hoe (the gardening tool), a ho is an offensive term for a sex worker or a promiscuous woman. Some people use the term to insult women in general while some women have reclaimed the term.

What are other forms of ho?

hoe

The slang ho comes from a pronunciation of whore in African American Vernacular English, which can drop word-final Rs. It’s been recorded as a term for a “prostitute” since the 1950s.

In the 1960s, ho became vulgar slang for any “woman.” In the 1970s, ho added a verb form, “to prostitute oneself.” It expanded to include sexually promiscuous men in the 1980s. Come the 1990s, ho was also insulting men seen as cowardly and effeminate. As is true of many disparaging slang terms, ho was reclaimed among some speakers as a term of address in the 2000s.

In the 2000s, an unrelated ho emerged as a slang abbreviation for half-ounce, referring to a half-ounce of drugs, typically marijuana.

Ho is a very insulting term for a sex worker or woman (compare bitch or slut). However, like those latter two words, some women may use ho in a reappropriated, affectionate way among friends (e.g., What’s up, ho?). Here, ho might even imply a sort of sassy, sexy personality and empowered womanhood.

happy birthday ho

— thareal_DDawg🔌🏚 (@gang_broskiDee)

While ho can deride men, it’s most often used of women. When insulting men, it may be seen as more cute or playful. In hip-hop, ho is sometimes used as a generic term for a woman (e.g., bitches and hoes). We don’t recommend you go around calling just any woman a ho, however.

I'M SO GLAD EVERYONE KNEW WHAT AN EMOTIONAL HO I AM!!

— Aimee…af 🔪❤ (@AimNicRob)

More examples of ho:

“You’re going to see Cardi B in a whole new light…She’s doing crazy sketches, like she has this thing called ‘Ho Etiquette’ where she does this character where she tells how do women to handle their inner ho and how to do a relationship.”

—Rip Michaels quoted by Kristin McNamara and Leah Bitsky, Page Six, August 2018