FRANCE: Gigolos Licensed

Gloom, distress and shame descended, last week, upon the sleek, waxen faced, bandolined and faintly perfumed gigolos of Paris.

These young men have been accustomed to consider themselves superior to their female counterparts. But Prefect of Police Jean Chiappe has now sternly ruled that each gigolo must obtain a license and carry an identity card exactly similar to those issued to common prostitutes.

Though the precise origin of the noun gigolo (zhi-go-lo) is obscure, it probably derives from the verb gigotter "to kick about," the adjective gigotté "strong sinewed'' and the noun gigots "legs," or "shanks."

Particularly gigotté and appetizing was a...

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