Geographical euphemisms?

[Baker, John]

        Actually, a Dutch auction is a descending-price auction, with several variations in practice.  It derives from the auction system used in the Netherlands to auction tulips.  It is believed to produce higher prices than traditional ascending-price auctions, at least in some contexts.

John Baker


-----Original Message-----
From: Laurence Horn [mailto:laurence.horn at YALE.EDU]
Sent: Friday, January 03, 2003 10:51 AM
To: ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU
Subject: Re: Geographical euphemisms?


Here are a few, some overlapping with the above or with other posted
nominees, from a paper ("Spitten Image") I've submitted to _American
Speech_:

[snip]

Dutch auction:  a sale at minimum prices

[snip]

In the paper, I dub these "ironyms".

Larry