Words, words.

A question which arose at a recent family gathering was - why are prostitutes called "hookers"? (Not that we're that sort of family!)  It seems to be American slang, so the origin is probably American.  The most quoted answer is that it refers to a Civil War general by the name of Joseph Hooker, who used to invite prostitutes into his camp, and they became known as "Hooker's Division", which quickly became shortened to "hookers".  Only problem with that is that the word is known to have been in use at least 20 years before the Civil War.  So another theory is that it arose from a district of New York known back then as "The Hook" where said ladies were wont to ply their trade.