Orin Hargraves

Subscriber Bertha from England asks:

I enjoyed reading your article Writer's Craft in March, and will take great care when using the word "craft." I was actually surprised to learn that using it with regard to writing a position paper amounts to some abuse (or misuse! I have often stated that in my work!

On to what I really want to comment on: a recent word of the day "preen." I looked up synonyms and discovered one "primp" whose meaning appears to be similar if not the same as a word used in the US "pimp" as in "pimp my car." I first heard this expression while watching a television programme showing a group of mechanics who transform an old, beaten up, rusty car into a new wonderful and very attractive vehicles with all sorts of fittings in the interior. At the end when the owner of the vehicle sees how transformed it is they exclaim, "Thank you Mr. X for pimping my ride!" Now, I wonder, are the two words the same?