walker

walker
 n.— «Twenty years ago, men who went out constantly in high society were known as “walkers,” a quippy term coined by John Fairchild, then the publisher of Women’s Wear Daily, to describe Jerry Zipkin, the steadfast escort and trusted confidant of grandes dames. The job description was codified: those usually gay men accompanied women whose husbands abhorred the black-tie circuit; the men were well dressed and cultured and knew to step aside when photographers raised their cameras. After the party, they escorted their dates to their front doors, and no farther. “The term walker is an overused term,” said David Patrick Columbia, who documents New York’s society scene on another Web site, newyorksocialdiary.com.» —“The Socialite Wore a Black Tie” by Peter Davis New York Times Apr. 23, 2006. (source: Double-Tongued Dictionary)