Ameneh
Is there any special reason or any story for that? To shanghai means to force someone to do something or go somewhere. Or, I'm from Missouri means I'm a skeptic person. Another example is a Philadelphia lawyer which denotes to an outstanding lawyer. Do these idioms or the verb mean that people of these regions were famous for those reasons? I would be really happy if you could let me know about the other similar terms as well. Thanks in advance for your helps.
28 апр. 2013 г., 8:37
Ответы · 6
1
Originally "to shanghai" meant to force someone to work on a ship. In the 19th century, many ship crews were either kidnapped or tricked into working on board. The widely accepted view is that the word "shanghai" was used, as this was the destination of many of the ships at that time (China was just starting to open up to the Western world). Philadelphia lawyer I believe is reference to an actual lawyer from Philadelphia in the 18th century who won a difficult case - I don't know the details. I’m from Missouri; you’ve got to show me was a phrase famously used by an US congressman back in the 19th century; in other words he was saying that he needed proof of something before he would believe it.
28 апреля 2013 г.
Thank you @Alex.
29 апреля 2013 г.
"Or, I'm from Missouri, which means that I'm a skeptical person." or "Or, I'm from Missouri, which means that I'm a skeptic." or ".....that I'm skeptical of things." The way you wrote it is grammatically wrong. By the way, Missouri is a place name of native American origin, and Kansas City is not in Kansas. It's like, right on the Western border of Missouri. The Kansas City Royals is the major league baseball team and the Harry Truman presidential library is there.
29 апреля 2013 г.
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