Odd expression
James A. Landau
JJJRLandau at AOL.COM
Fri May 16 13:54:10 UTC 2003
In a message dated 5/16/2003 5:24:23 AM Eastern Standard Time,
TheEditor at WORLDWIDEWORDS.ORG writes:
> >I have always heard my father say the phrase "boccatadi papason".
> >He says he heard it often while in the navy during the Korean
> >conflict. It has become a joke among our family, especially
> >because dad can't remember what it means. He says it something
> >like "crazy dad".
Just a guess:
"papason" looks like a phonetic spelling of "papa-san", an expression
commonly used by Americans in the Far East, used to refer to (I think) an
Asian man of relatively advanced years. If "boccatadi" (a word I don't
recognize) happens to be an insulting term for someone's mental state, then
"crazy dad" would be a free but probably reasonably accurate translation of
"boccatadi papa-san".
- Jim Landau
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