geographical slanders/euphemisms

[Dave Wilton]

Over the holidays, my mother used the 19th century term "Boston marriage,"
meaning long-term cohabitation by two women. In the 19th century such
cohabitations were publically assumed to be nonsexual, although viewed with
21st century sensibility many were undoubtedly closeted lesbian
relationships.

The term isn't in the OED, DARE, or HDAS; it is in AHD4, which suggests the
term may be inspired the women depicted in Henry James's "The Bostonians."
There is also a recent David Mamet play titled "Boston Marriage" (which may
be what reminded my mother of the term).