"People of color" was; Re: Whom Hispanics call "Hispanic" -- or not

[Mark Mandel]

On Sun, May 31, 2009 at 7:37 PM, Wilson Gray <hwgray at gmail.com> wrote:

>    Jews, yes. But including them would put me in a trick, because of the

"In a trick" is a new one to me. Google finds a lot of uses of "trick
bag/box"; Urban Dictionary  (
http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=trick%20bag) has 4 defs for
"trick bag". This one is the simplest:

2. Bad situation. Sticky situation. Getting yourself in a situation that is
not good, complex, or can lead to bad things. Getting in a heap of trouble.
ex: You took that gangsta's girlfriend? Boy, you in a trick bag now.

#1 & #4 have a component of trickery and may describe the original sense:

1. A situation which can lead to a disastorous outcome, normally intitated
by someone who dislikes you.
ex: My ex girlfriend called my mom and told her a bunch of lies. She's
trying to put me in a trick bag.

4. A scheme, manipulation, or situation that seemed legitimate, honest
and/or innocent, at first. Usually referred to at time when it may or may
not be too late to avoid the full consequences and/or embarrassment.
ex: “My mortgage ended up a lot more expensive than they implied. The bank
put me in a ‘trick bag’, but I had already moved my family in.”

And #3 is even more specific:

3. (prison use) A situation where one prisoner attempts to frame, set up,
blackmail, extort, or abuse another weaker inmate, usually through seemingly
innocent acts or requests
ex: Marcus got Jeff in a real trick bag, got him to carry those drugs and
then informed on him.

(Off-topic comments sent off-list.)

-- 
Mark Mandel

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