Geographical euphemisms?

[Joyce, Thomas F.]

The phrase "Chinese wall" seems to be becoming politically incorrect in legal English.

-----Original Message-----
From: James A. Landau [mailto:JJJRLandau at AOL.COM]
Sent: Friday, January 03, 2003 8:15 AM
To: ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU
Subject: Re: Geographical euphemisms?


The dividing line between your "geographical euphemisms" and ethnic slurs is
arbitrary---e.g. how would you classify "Mexican standoff"?

That said, here are my contributions:

"to shanghai"

any number of terms for diarrhea, such as "Virginia quickstep" or "Bangkok
belly" (although the latter may refer specifically to amebal dysentery)

"Sloane Ranger" (the reference is to Sloane Square in London)

"Kentucky breakfast" which consists of a steak, a bulldog, and a bottle of
bourbon.  This may be a nonce usage---it appeared in the obituary of a
Kentucky mountains resident in 1961-2.  Why the bulldog?  To eat the steak.

"Bronx cowboy"---again a possible nonce usage, from Harry Harrison's _The
Technicolor Time Machine_

"mountain dew" (not the soft drink but moonshine whiskey---the stereotype is
that moonshiners are exclusively mountaineers)

"Acapulco gold" (either marijuana in general or a specific grade of marijuana)

"Night of the Sicilian Vespers" (the original one, not the 20th Century
re-enactment)

"Welsh rabbit"

"prairie oysters"

"Hudson seal"

        - Jim Landau


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