[Ads-l] Japanese duel was Re: Antedating of "Cold War" in General Sense

[Amy West]

On 5/30/23 00:00, ADS-L automatic digest system wrote:
> Date:    Mon, 29 May 2023 11:05:01 -0400
> From:    Laurence Horn<laurence.horn at YALE.EDU>
> Subject: Re: Antedating of "Cold War" in General Sense
>
> 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

Well, it's ironic, and I think instead of the mutual assured destruction 
of a "Mexican stand-off", the "Japanese duel" has mutual 
*self*-destruction in it.

---Amy West

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