nice joints

[George Thompson]

At the race track the other day, investing in losers, I was sitting a
few rows in front of a couple of vacationing priests, one of whom did
considerable loud yakking on his cellphone.  At one point he said "I've
been thrown out of nicer joints than that. . . ."

Ths is an expression that I have known and used, when appropriate,
since the early 60s, even though I have never attended a seminary.  My
usual formulation is "better places".  Once I earned the admiration of
my friends by getting thrown out of the Two Gentlemen bar in Allston,
Mass., a feat thought by many to have been impossible.  But I had help
on that occasion.

Sorry for the outburst of sentimental memories.  I posted this to ask
the geographic spread and historical depth of this expression.

GAT

George A. Thompson
Author of A Documentary History of "The African Theatre", Northwestern
Univ. Pr., 1998, but nothing much lately.