A.W.A.D. - Words Marking Other Countries/Cities

A reader sent this query:

Our elementary PTA is hosting a Chinese Auction. A parent who has two Chinese children has contacted us indicating that she feels this term is offensive. What is the origin of this term?

Before changing the event name, we wish to educate ourselves on this issue and make an informed decision. Can you help me understand this term? A Chinese auction is a combination of auction and raffle. You can buy one or many tickets and bid them on various items. All the bidding tickets for an item are kept in a box. At the end of the event the owner of the ticket that's drawn from a box gets the item. The more tickets you bid on an item, the more your chances of winning, but the bidder with the most tickets is not guaranteed to be the winner.

I believe the term is no more offensive than, say, Chinese checkers. Having said that, I must mention that some of these stereotypical terms associated with nationalities are indeed offensive. It's often because the English didn't particularly like the Dutch or the Irish or the French. Many years of hostility, war, and antagonism have had an effect on the language. These disparaging terms are not unique to English though. The French have perhaps as many terms for the English, "filer à l'anglaise" (English leave), the French equivalent of the British expression "French leave", for example.

This week we'll look at a few words marking various countries and cities.

Chinese puzzle
PRONUNCIATION: (CHAI-neez PUZ-uhl)
MEANING: noun: A very intricate puzzle or problem.

ETYMOLOGY: From the allusion to the complexity of puzzles from China.

Toronto blessing
PRONUNCIATION: (tuh-RON-toh BLES-ing)
MEANING: noun: A form of religious rapture marked by outbreaks of mass fainting, laughter, shaking, weeping, fainting, speaking in tongues, etc.

ETYMOLOGY: After Toronto, Canada, where the phenomenon was experienced in a church in Jan 1994.

Bristol fashion
PRONUNCIATION: (BRIS-tl FASH-uhn)
MEANING: adjective: In good order.

ETYMOLOGY: We know the term is coined after Bristol, England, but we are not so certain why. Some believe the term alludes to the prosperity of the city from its flourishing shipping business. Others claim that the term arose as a result of the very high tidal range of the port of Bristol: at low tides ships moored here would go aground and if everything on the ship was not stowed away properly, chaos would result. The term is often used to describe boats and typically used in the phrase "shipshape and Bristol fashion".

Roman nose
PRONUNCIATION: (RO-muhn noz)
MEANING: noun: A nose having a prominent bridge. Also known as a hook nose or aquiline nose.

ETYMOLOGY: From the supposed belief that this type of nose was common among the Romans.

Glasgow kiss
PRONUNCIATION: (GLAS-go kis, GLAZ-)
MEANING: noun: A headbutt: a strike with the head to someone's sensitive area (such as the nose).

ETYMOLOGY: This slang for headbutt is relatively recent. The OED shows this 1982 citation from the Daily Mirror as the first printed use of the term: "Glasgow has its own way of welcoming people ... There is a broken bottle gripped in the fist of greeting. Or there's the Glasgow Kiss -- a sharp whack on the nose with the forehead." The term arose from allusion to violence in part of the city. An earlier term is a Liverpool kiss.

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