[Ads-l] QOTY? "It was not my first sword dance." --- Rex Tillerson.

[Marc Sacks]

There are lots of sword dances in the world. I'm most familiar with the
English (longsword and rapper) and Scottish varieties. I've never done or
seen a sword dance from the Arab world, so I have no idea what they look
like.

I never knew that the phrase had a gay connotation, and I doubt that
Tillerson does either.

Marc Sacks

On Wed, May 24, 2017 at 11:07 AM, Peter Reitan <pjreitan at hotmail.com> wrote:

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> Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
> Poster:       Peter Reitan <pjreitan at HOTMAIL.COM>
> Subject:      Re: QOTY? "It was not my first sword dance." --- Rex
> Tillerson.
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>
> It was response to a comment comparing and contrasting Tillerson's smooth
> p=
> erformance in an actual Saudi sword dance to Trump's less skillful
> performa=
> nce.
> ________________________________
> From: Shawnee Moon<mailto:moon.shawnee at GMAIL.COM>
> Sent: =FD5/=FD23/=FD2017 23:23
> To: ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU<mailto:ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
> Subject: Re: QOTY? "It was not my first sword dance." --- Rex Tillerson.
>
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> Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
> Poster:       Shawnee Moon <moon.shawnee at GMAIL.COM>
> Subject:      Re: QOTY? "It was not my first sword dance." --- Rex
> Tillerso=
> n.
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> ----
>
> Not at all meaning to be crude, but "sword dance" immediately made me
> think=
>  i=3D
> t was a reference to gay men dancing, as I have heard "sword fight" used
> in=
>  r=3D
> eference to gay male sexual shenanigans.=3D20
>
> Certainly haven't heard that phrase before. Perhaps he was describing
> fancy=
>  f=3D
> ootwork in fencing or sword fighting to avoid being struck...?
>
> Mailed from the Moon =3DF0=3D9F=3D8C=3D9C
>
> > On May 23, 2017, at 6:11 PM, W Brewer <brewerwa at GMAIL.COM> wrote:
> >=3D20
> > "I hadn't been practicing, Chris, but it was not my first sword dance,"
> > Secretary of State Rex Tillerson said in responding to "Fox News Sunday"
> > host Chris Wallace, Sunday 21 May 2017.
> >=3D20
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> > The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org
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