Who says ''Merkins''?

[Alice Faber]

RonButters at AOL.COM wrote:
> In a message dated 10/20/06 1:03:01 AM, truespel at HOTMAIL.COM writes:
>
>
>> I've never consciously heard "merkins" for "Americans" until a post I got
>> from an Australian who spelled it out so I suppose they say it that way in
>> the outback.  I do know folks from Philly call the state of Maryland
>> "Merlin".
>>
>
> It was a commonplace joke during the earlier years of the Viet Nam War that
> the president of the United States addressed the country as "My fellow
> Merkins." He was from Texas. Our dicitonaries told us that MERKIN means 'artifical
> pubic hair'.

And in some newsgroups, it's part of the local community jargon.


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Alice Faber                                    faber at haskins.yale.edu
Haskins Laboratories                           tel: (203) 865-6163 x258
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