Hacker News Reader

Comment by village-idiot | Hacker News Reader

I always thought that hustler was synonymous with confidence artist or a low level scammer. That it’s now considered a positive word is fascinating to me.

View on HN

Hustler is used a lot in rap. It's always been there. A hustler hustles. They put in work. They are in the grind. It's all about turning a nickel into a dime. In other words, they sell a lot of crack. Nothing deep.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xZbwTCrnktY - Cassidy - I'm a hustler

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sv6CbP4kVno - Lil Wayne - Hustler Muzic

Selling drugs is pretty deep, try it sometime. You really feel every dollar. Now I’m more connected to money and survival. Great capitalism experience 10/10.

Depends on the drug and where you are. Selling crack on Chicago’s southwest side used to be more fatal than Texas’ death row.

Reminds me of the other usage of hustling which is an incongruous clash with the macho image - male prostitution mostly to other men and the occasional older women. Not judging either and I fully understand that it is a serious situation - just noting the inadvertent humor in linguistic drift.

Technically I believe it often meant any odd job to make money whether legal, illegal or a grey area. So selling weed, shoveling a driveway, and busking where you could get kicked out at worst all count.

Hustler yes, but hustling is a verb, often used in e.g. sports movies / events.

I first learned the word hustler in the mid 80s when my soccer coach had a "hustler of the day" award for every game. It went to whoever worked the hardest that day.

A hustler hustles, but one who hustles isn't always a hustler.

Poetic, but that could be said about anything;

A programmer programs, but one who programs isn't always a programmer...

Yes, it could be said about anything. And if someone thought that someone who programs must be a programmer I'd have said the same you said.

The word was gentrified.

Reply on news.ycombinator.com