After reading, What's the difference between 変態 and 痴女 (or 痴漢)?, I did a few word searches.

Jisho lists multiple words when searching for the term Whore:

  • 売女 - prostitute; whore​

  • 街娼 - prostitute; whore; streetwalker​

Can someone explain the difference?

See also:


Both 売女{ばいた} and 街娼{がいしょう} are derogatory terms. So, they aren't used at all. The following are more often heard:

風俗嬢{ふうぞくじょう} is used as "prostitute".

立{た}ちんぼ is used as "streetwalker"​.

These words do not connote "puta madre" in Spanish. So you can't use them as a compliment.

  • Interesting note regarding the Spanish terminology. I am quite aware that they are both derogatory, but why would they not be used at all? For example, what would be used in a character description for a story highlighting this on TV for the news? – rage Sep 26 '19 at 12:25
  • @ラメージルーカス I do not know the true reason for not being used often tho. However, I assume 売女{ばいた} was not officially permitted different from other 遊女 . Wikipedia explains 「遊郭以外で売春するものを隠売女と称し、厳しく取り締まった」The police strictly controlled prostitutes working other than brothel called 遊郭{ゆうかく} where government officially permits prostitution and named them 隠売女{いんばいた}. They should have been ranked lower among prostitutes for the reason. That's why the term has still not been paid attention to. For 街娼, it could be the similar reason. – kimi Tanaka Sep 26 '19 at 14:35

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