[Ads-l] Antedating of "Cold War" in General Sense

[Laurence Horn]

I was wondering about that too--but a Mexican standoff is more of a
reference to mutual assured destruction, where the threat is that each will
slit the other's throat, not their own. "Japanese duel" seems more like a
reference to hara-kiri and/or seppuku (I've never understood the
difference, assuming there is one), although I'm not sure how those
practices would relate to duels.

LH

On Mon, May 29, 2023 at 8:18 AM Amy West <medievalist at w-sts.com> wrote:

> On 5/29/23 00:00, ADS-L automatic digest system wrote:
> > Date:    Sun, 28 May 2023 14:43:02 -0400
> > From:    ADSGarson O'Toole<adsgarsonotoole at GMAIL.COM>
> > Subject: Re: Antedating of "Cold War" in General Sense
> >
> > Interesting topic and excellent citations, Fred.
> > The 1909 citation below might fit the general sense of "cold war".
> >
> > Date: April 7, 1909
> > Newspaper: The Manchester Guardian
> > Newspaper Location: Manchester, England
> > Article: Labour and the "Navy Scare": A Resolution Moved by Mr. E.
> > Bernstein, (Edward Bernstein)
> > Quote Page 8, Column 2
> > Database: Newspapers.com
> >
> https://www.newspapers.com/image/258515580/?terms=%22cold%20war%22&match=1
> >
> > [Begin excerpt]
> > If we look at it, what is this peace given to us by the ruling classes
> > and by the parties in power at present in most of the countries?
> > Peace, let us say, in bandages-(laughter),-peace that has written upon
> > it "Very fragile"-(laughter),-peace rather like war in regard to its
> > cost-(cheers),-peace, in fact, more costly than most of the wars of
> > the past. In Germany it has been called "a cold war." It is a kind of
> > Japanese duel, where each of the two duellists cuts his own
> > throat."-(Cheers.)
> > [End excerpt]
>
> I think there's a bonus cit here for "Japanese duel," which is new to me
> (cue recency fallacy) and parallels "Mexican stand-off" . . . (?)
>
> ---Amy West
>
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