Talk:Bolivian marching powder

RFD discussion: February–April 2022

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Bolivian marching powder

SOP. The actual lemma is marching powder, and various demonyms can be added to the beginning. In addition to Bolivian marching powder, I can find examples on Usenet of Brazilian marching powder, Colombian marching powder, Columbian marching powder^[sic], Mexican marching powder, Peruvian marching powder, and even Swiss marching powder. Binarystep (talk) 09:12, 28 February 2022 (UTC)

Looks like Bolivian marching powder was one of the earliest instances and the other ones are derivatives. Green's Dictionary of Slang has entries for both. – Jberkel 09:50, 28 February 2022 (UTC)

Interesting. If Bolivian marching powder is indeed the original form, I wouldn't be opposed to keeping it. Binarystep (talk) 09:56, 28 February 2022 (UTC)

Keep - for the same reason we have both ugly as sin and as sin. Overlordnat1 (talk) 10:01, 28 February 2022 (UTC)

Here are a 1979 use and a a 1981 use of the term Peruvian marching powder; these predate the earliest uses I saw of the term Bolivian marching powder by a couple of years.  --Lambiam 10:25, 28 February 2022 (UTC)

Was surprised to see Peru there, but it was the leading producer through most of the 1980s and 1990s. –Jberkel 18:30, 28 February 2022 (UTC)

Anecdotal: I'm pretty sure this is well known in UK and was a long-running term in the satirical Private Eye magazine; cf. Ugandan affairs. I haven't tried to dig up proof though. Equinox ◑ 22:08, 28 February 2022 (UTC)

Keep – Peruvian/Bolivian are the ur-forms, marching powder is just a shortening. – Jberkel 17:08, 2 March 2022 (UTC)

Of course, originally the term marching powder referred to something you put in your socks, probably talcum powder,^[1] to keep blisters and such from forming.  --Lambiam 12:07, 3 March 2022 (UTC)

Thanks, added. – Jberkel 13:11, 3 March 2022 (UTC)

I see now that in older uses the German slang term Marschierpulver has the sense “poison”, a substance that can dispatch someone to the other side, already used in that sense in the 19th century^[2] and extending to the 1970s.^[3][4] The term reportedly originally meant ”medicinal preparation”.^[5][6] I wonder what the connection is.  --Lambiam 12:45, 5 March 2022 (UTC)

• RFD-kept. ·~ dictátor·mundꟾ 18:27, 5 April 2022 (UTC)