June 15, 2001 at 12:00 am #24082
Jerry-S30962
Participant
Although many such terms are derogatory (‘Dutch courage’), many are not. As was observed, the terms are often used to convey something exotic or desirable, particularly when it comes to food. Think of what Americans call ‘Danish,’ the French call ‘a la russe’ and so on. Whether any of these had a basis in some ethnic cuisine, they persist in menus. I don’t know if Chinese checkers originated in China or not, but there is such a thing as Chinese chess, which somewhat resembles Western chess.